Those familiar with online research know that searching for specific topics on the Internet is much more complicated than the term ‘Google it’ can imply. Simply entering a word in the text box can often lead to results that are not exactly what you were looking for.
It’s not easy to find the most related results unless you can narrow your search results efficiently. In the following article, we will show you how to search for a specific website with Google along with Google syntax terms to help you find what you are looking for.
How to search for a site with Google
For many people, searching for topics or topics on Google involves typing in the search term and then hitting the search button. For most casual searches, this will work, especially if you’re not looking for any particular site. However, if you are looking for a particular site, try the following to get exactly what you are looking for:
Type “search item + site: site name” without commas. For example, if you were looking for articles related to Microsoft Word on Alphr.com, you would type: “Microsoft Word site: Alphr.com.” Google will then present you with links to the most relevant search results for that website.
The ‘site’ command is just one of several Google syntax options that you can use to narrow down any search term. A discussion of additional Google syntax operators is provided in the next section.
How to search for a site with Google syntax
- If you want specific results to appear in your Google searches, you can use certain words in combination with your search terms to get more related links. These words are called Google syntax search operators. These Google syntax terms are:
- “Search element”
- Enclosing your search term in open and closed quotation marks tells Google that you want an exact match to what you just typed. This is useful for removing synonyms and words that are only closely related to the term you are looking for.
- Syntax example: “Minecraft”
- This tells Google to search for any of the terms you enter in the search box, with the links most related to each one at the top. It is important to note that you must write the syntax in uppercase or you will get different results. Also, the pipe symbol ‘|’ it can be used as a substitute for “O” or can be typed using Shift + on normal PC or Mac keyboards and in the Symbols menu on virtual keyboards on mobile devices.
- Syntax example: Minecraft OR Roblox
- Typing this returns results related to both search terms between the AND command. Google does this by default, but it becomes more useful if you combine them with other Google syntax operators.
- Syntax example: Minecraft AND Roblox
- Using this operator will exclude the search term from the results. This is useful when the search term you are using is closely related to topics that are not exactly the topic you want. In the example below, the results will show terms related to actual doors and will not show any related to Microsoft or Bill Gates. If you get results that are not related to what you want, just add them to the – syntax.
- Syntax example: gates -bill -Microsoft -corporation
- This is a wildcard operator. It will return results with all the terms you entered plus other related words or phrases. In the example below, typing it will give links related to Minecraft blocks of different types. This syntax is useful if you are unsure of the exact search term to use.
- Syntax example: Minecraft * block
- Similar to math operations, parenthesis symbols group syntax arguments together and tell Google which arguments to do first.
- Syntax example: (Minecraft OR Roblox) -Company
- It will show the results with dollar signs on them. This is great if you are looking for items with exact prices. This also works for euros (€), but for some reason it doesn’t work for British pounds (£).
- Syntax example: iPhone $ 200
- It uses the built-in dictionary of Google search to give you the definition of the term you enter.
- Syntax example: define: commiserate
- Using this syntax Google will display the latest cached versions of the search term you entered. Note that the web page itself must have been indexed; otherwise there will be no cached versions to display.
- Cache example: Minecraft.com
- Type of file
- This operator will tell Google to show results for only a certain type of file.
- Example: Minecraft file type: pdf
- As explained above, this limits the search to the results of a specific website.
- Example: Microsoft Word site: Alphr.com
- Using this term will display links related to the given search domain. Websites with unique domains or unrelated sites will not show any results.
- Example: related: microsoft.com
- Using this operator will display results that have the search term in their title.
- Example: title: Minecraft
- All in title
- Unlike the previous operator, this one will only show links to sites that have ALL search terms in the title.
- Ejemplo: allintitle: Minecraft Roblox
- Also similar to the two operators above, this option targets the URL or web address of a site to find the defined search term instead of the title. In the example below, any website with Minecraft at your address will be displayed.
- Example: inurl: Minecraft
- This works almost exactly like inurl except that it will display websites with all the terms given in their web address.
- Ejemplo: allinurl: Minecraft Roblox
- In the text
- This Google syntax will search for web pages that contain the terms you entered.
- Example: text: Minecraft
- All in text
- As with similar operators, it will search for all given search terms within the content of a web page.
- Ejemplo: allintext: Minecraft Roblox
- AROUND (X)
- This Google syntax operator requires two search words and will return results that have both terms within X words of each other. This is useful if you are looking for a specific phrase and not just websites that have both words, probably within a paragraph of each other.
- Example: Minecraft AROUND (5) Roblox
- It will show the weather for a specified location.
- Example: weather: California
- This will display relevant stock information related to the search term.
- Example: Actions: Microsoft
- Using this syntax will display map information for search terms that have them. If the search term entered is fictitious or does not have map information, the most relevant results are displayed instead.
- Example: map: California
- This will display reviews, release dates, and other data about the movies with the title you include as a search term. If you have locations turned on, this will also show nearby cinemas that may be showing the movie at your location, if any.
- Example: movie: Avengers Endgame
- A conversion operator, using this syntax, will display one unit of measure in terms of another. Useful for weight, temperature, length, currency and other similar conversions. This will also display an editable conversion calculator for the measurements you entered.
- Example: 100 inches in centimeters
- This will scan the given website for related news or blog posts on the search term that was entered.
- Example: Minecraft source: Alphr.com
How to search a website with Google Chrome
If you use Google Chrome as your preferred browser, you can search for specific terms on a website that is already open by following these instructions:
- In Google Chrome, open the web page you want to search for.
- Click on the three dots icon in the upper right corner of the browser page.
- In the drop-down menu, click Search. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + F on your keyboard.
- Enter your search term in the text box. If you hear a sound notification, this means that the search cannot find the word as it was typed. Correct your spelling. If your sound notifications are turned off, you’ll notice that Google Chrome stops highlighting text when it can’t find your search term. Otherwise, all like terms will be highlighted.
- Use the up and down arrows to the right of the search box to navigate between the results.
How do I use Google to search a specific website?
If you want to search for terms on a default website, you can use a Google search syntax or the Search function in Google Chrome. As for the former, enter your search terms followed by syntax as above. As for the latter, see the instructions for using a search in Google Chrome.
How do I get my website on Google?
When you create a website, it can usually take a long time to appear on the first few pages of Google. Don’t be discouraged though, there are a few things you can do to speed up the process. These are:
• Submit your website’s sitemap to Google search center. They have a very extensive tutorial on how to make sure their algorithm finds your page quickly.
• However, do not do this without the permission of the website owner. Not only is this a bad etiquette on the net, but doing it often enough can get you blacklisted in Google’s spam search. A good place to start would be your social media pages, if you have them.
• Use keywords and SEO tools. When a user searches for a keyword, Google’s search engine uses an algorithm to find the most relevant web pages to display. Although this algorithm changes from time to time, using the right keywords is still useful. Try Google Keyword planner to see what search terms to include.
• Use meta tags on your web pages. Google has an extensive, though not exclusive goal list tags that your algorithm can recognize. Check the list to see which ones apply to your page.
• Make sure your website is conveniently viewable on mobile devices. A large part of internet browsing is now done on phones and tablets, so it needs to be optimized for different screen sizes. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, you are missing out on a larger target market that surfs the net using cell phones.
How do I search for a specific article on Google?
Please refer to the Google syntax operators listed above to refine your search results when searching for specific items on Google.
Can I search a website for a particular word?
Yes. Google Chrome’s Search command will scan the content of a web page for the word you type. See the instructions above to do so.
Knowing how to search a specific website with Google can make a big difference to your search experience. It can be the difference between an endless and inefficient browsing afternoon or finding what you’re looking for with the click of a button. You will be surprised how much more enjoyable and efficient your Google searches can be if you become familiar with these techniques.