Using the "site:" operator

May 14, 2007 17:31 GMT  ·  By

Google's search technology is even more powerful than you know, because you can use it easier to obtain more relevant results. Let's suppose you want to search a website for a certain article. For example, you want to find an article on Softpedia. All you need to do is enter Google and type site:www.softpedia.com "how to search google wisely". The search engine should return you the link stored on Softpedia and allow you to access it with a single click. The Mountain View company describes the operator as a simple way of viewing the indexed pages of a certain website because it will return you all the information by typing "site:www.softpedia.com".

"Because this change to show all results for site: queries doesn't affect search rankings at all, it will probably happen in the normal course of events as we merge this change into the next time that we push a new executable for handling the site: command. As a result, it may be several weeks or so before you start to see this change, but we'll keep monitoring it to make sure the change goes out," it is mentioned in a Google blog post.

Now, there are a lot of secret operators to be used on Google Search, but most of them are quite anonymous as only the experienced searchers try to use them. For example, if you type "flag Romania" in the Google search box, the product returns you several pictures with the country's flag.

However, Google advises its searchers to use the operators because they might get more relevant results for their queries. If you encounter any problem with the site: operator, it is recommended to click on the "repeat the search with omitted results included" link to see all the links indexed for a certain website. Every once in a while, Google updates the information provided by the operator so you may not be able to see the details requested through the operator.