T h e

S E O s

C o m p l e t e

G u i d e

t o

Advanced Search

Index
1.What is Advanced Search

2.Advanced Search Operators

3.Google Search Queries
4.Google Advanced Search Operators
5.Combined Google Queries
6.Advanced Query Operators for Microsoft Bing
7.Comparison of Advanced Operators across Major
Search Engines
8.A-Z of Advanced Search Operators Explained
9.Twitter Search Operators
10. LinkedIn Search Operators
11. Boolean Search Logic

1. What is Advanced Search

Advanced search enables increased accuracy of search results by using additional syntax to focus the
search. One or more search criteria or operators can be combined in order to tailor the results more
specifically towards your needs. These operators allow you to find what you're looking for quickly and
accurately. For Search Engine Optimisers (SEOs), advanced search operators are essential if you want to
peek under the hood by doing a much deeper and more accurate web searches.

2. Advanced Search Operators

The following 4 search operators are widely known on most search engines and can be used to adjust
search results to your current needs:
1. [-keyword] excludes the keyword from the search results, e.g., [loans -student] shows results for all
types of loans except students' ones
2. [+keyword] allows for a forced keyword inclusion (especially useful for including stopwords), e.g., [seo
+for]
3. ["key phrase"] shows search results for the exact phrase, e.g., ["seo company"]
4. [keyword1 OR keyword2] shows results for at least one of the keywords, e.g., [google OR yahoo]

3. Google Search Queries

The following table lists which search operators work best with each Google Search Service.

Search Service
Web Search

Search Operators
allinanchor:, allintext:, allintitle:, allinurl:, cache:, define:, filetype:, id:, inanchor:,
info:, intext:, intitle:, inurl:, link:, related:, site:

Image Search

allintitle:, allinurl:, filetype:, inurl:, intitle:, site:

Groups

allintext:, allintitle:, author:, group:, insubject:, intext:, intitle:

Directory

allintext:, allintitle:, allinurl:, ext:, filetype:, intext:, intitle:, inurl:

News

allintext:, allintitle:, allinurl:, intext:, intitle:, inurl:, location:, source:

Product Search

allintext:, allintitle:

4. Google Advanced Search Operators

Google supports a number of advanced search operators used to help resolve SEO issues. The table
below gives a brief overview of the queries, how they can be used for SEO purposes, and the examples of
usage:

Operator

Short Description

SEO Application

Examples

Shows approximately*
how many URLs are

[site:seomoz.org]

indexed by Google

(Site:) - Domain-

Narrows a search to (a)

Restricted Search

specific domain(s)

Includes subdomains
Shows sites of a
specific TLD

(InURL:) / (AllInUrl:) URL Keyword

Restricted Search

(InTitle:) / (AllInTitle:) Title Keyword

Restricted Search

Narrows the results to

Find web pages having

documents containing

your keyword in a file

(a) search term(s) in

path.

the URLs
Restricts the results to

Find web pages using

documents containing

your keyword in a page

(a) search term(s) in a

title

page title
Restricts the results to

(InAnchor:) /

documents containing

(AllInAnchor:) - Anchor

(a) search term(s) in

Text Keyword

the anchor text of

Restricted Search

backlinks pointing to a
page

(Intext:) - Body Text

Keyword Restricted
Search

(Ext:) / (Filetype) -

Restricts the results to

[site:google.com]

[site:.org]

[inurl:seo
inurl:company ]
=
[allinurl:seo company]
[intitle:seo
intitle:company]
=
[allintitle:seo company]

Find pages having

[inanchor:seo

most backlinks / most

inanchor:company]

powerful backlinks with

the keyword in the

[allinanchor:seo

anchor text

company]

Find pages containing

documents containing

most relevant /most

(a) search term(s) in

[intext:seo]

optimized body text

the body text a page

Narrows search results

A few of possible

[filetype:pdf]

Filetype Restricted

to the pages that end in

Search

a particular file

extensions/ filetypes:

extension

pdf ( Adobe
Portable
Document
Format)

html or htm (
Hypertext
Markup
Language)

xls ( Microsoft
Excel)

ppt ( Microsoft
PowerPoint)

doc (Microsoft
Word)
[seo * directory] returns

(*) - Wildcard Search

Means "insert any word

search for a phrase

"seo free directory",

here"

"partial match"

"seo friendly directory",

etc

Shows "related pages"

Compare:

by finding pages linking

(Related:) - Similar

to the site and looking

URLs Search

who else they tend to

Evaluate how relevant

the site's "neighbors"
are

link to (i.e., "cocitation")

[related:www.linkdiy.co
m]
and
[related:www.seomoz.o
rg]

Apart from providing

links for further URL
information, this search
(Info:) - Information

Gives information

can alert you of

about a URL Search

about the given page

possible site issues

(duplicate content or
possible DNS
problems)

[info:seomoz.org] will
show you the page title,
description and invite
you to view its related
pages, incoming links,
and page cached
version

Google's text version

(Cache:)

Shows Google's saved

of the page works the

SEOmoz home page

copy of the page

same way as SEO

text version of the page

Browser

* Display Bug: Not all indexed URLs might be displayed (even if you use the "repeat the search with omitted
results included" link to see the full list). To see more results, the following search patterns can be used:

[site:yourdomain.com/subdirectory1] + [site:yourdomain.com/subdirectory2] + etc (the "deeper" you dig, the

more/more accurate results you get)
[site:yourdomain.com inurl:keyword1] + [site:yourdomain.com inurl:keyword2] + etc (for subdirectoryspecific keywords)
[site:yourdomain.com intitle:keyword1] + [site:yourdomain.com intitle:keyword2] + etc

5. Combined Google Queries

To get more information from Google advanced search, learn how to effectively combine search operators.
The following table illustrates which search patterns can be applied to make the most of some important
SEO research tasks:
What for

Description

Competitive
Analysis

Search who mentions your

competitor; use the date range
operator within Google advanced
search to find most recent brand
mentions. The following brandspecific search terms can be used:
[domainname.com], [domain name],
[domainname], [site owner name],
etc.

Keyword
Research

Format

[domainname.com site:domainname.com]
(+ add &as_qdr=d
(past one day) to the
query string)

Example

[seomoz site:seomoz.org]
during past 24
hours

Evaluate the given keyword

competition (sites that apply proper
SEO to target the term).

[inanchor:keyword
intitle:keyword]

[inanchor:seo
intitle:seo]

Find more keyword phrases

[key * phrase]

[free * tools]

Learn if the site has canonical

problems

[site:domain.com inurl:www]

[site:iceposter.com
-inurl:www]

[ www
site:domain.com]

[www
site:seomoz.org]

[ tld site:domain.tld]

[org

SEO Site
Auditing
Find the site's most powerful pages

site:seomoz.org]
[inurl:domain
site:domain.com]

[inurl:seomoz
site:seomoz.org]

[domain
site:domain.com]

[seomoz
site:seomoz.org]

[site:domain.com
keyword]

[site:seomoz.org
seo]

[site:domain.com
intitle:keyword]

[site:seomoz.org
intitle:seo]

[site:domain
inanchor:keyword]

[site:seomoz.org
inanchor:seo]

Find the site's most relevant page

Find the site's most powerful page

related to the keyword

[site.:org bookmarks/
links/ "favorite sites"/]
Find authority sites offering a
backlink opportunity

[site.:gov bookmarks/
links/ "favorite sites"/]

[site.:org donors]

[site.:edu bookmarks/
links/ "favorite sites"/]

Link Building

Search for relevant forums and

discussion boards to participate in
discussions and probably link back
to your site

[inurl:forum OR
inurl:forums keyword]

[inurl:forum OR
inurl:forums seo]

6. Advanced Query Operators for Microsoft Bing

Operator

Description

altloc:

Used to specify a local search that is outside major markets

AND (all upper

Finds web pages that contain all the terms or phrases in a query. Same as & and

case)

&&

contains:

Keeps results focused on sites that have links to the file types that you specify

define

Triggers an Instant Answer definition for the specified word

domain:

Limits results to the specified domain

feed:

Finds RSS or Atom feeds pertaining to the term you specify

filetype:

Returns only web pages of the specified file type

hasfeed:

Finds web pages that contain both the term or terms for which you are querying
and one or more

RSS or Atom feeds

imagesize:

Constrains the size of returned images. Valid size parameters are "small",
"medium" and "large"

inanchor:

Returns web pages that contain the specified term in the anchor text

inbody:

Returns web pages that contain the specified term in the metadata or in the HTML
body

instreamset:

Checks to see if a string is present with one or more properties

intitle:

Returns web pages that contain the specified term in the metadata title of the site

ip:

Finds sites that are hosted by a specific IP address. The IP address must be a
dotted quad address

keyword

Takes a simple list as a parameter. All the elements in the list are ORed together.
See example in section below.

language:

Returns web pages written in a specific language.

literalmeta:

Any string within parentheses is interpreted literally; that is, with no word-breaking
or symbolic interpretation.

loc:

Returns web pages from a specific country or region

meta:

Allows the filtering of content based on special tags in HTML

msite:

Source filtering used to refine a query for a multimedia site

near:

Constrains the distance between terms so that documents that contain instances of

the specified terms within ten or fewer words of each other are returned before
those that dont. For closer associations use "near:n" where n is an integer.
noalter:

Keeps the query from being altered by the Alteration Service

norelax:

Makes sure queries return only terms that are in the query

NOT (all upper

Excludes web pages that contain the specified term or terms. Same as - .

case)
OR (all upper

Finds web pages that contain either the term that precedes the operator or the term

case)

that follows the operator. Same as | and ||.

site:

Returns web pages that belong to the specified site.

url:

Returns results that indicate whether the specified domain or URL is in the Bing
Index

"your search

Returns results that contain the specified phrase, exactly

query"

7. Comparison of Advanced Search Operators across Major Search Enignes

Google

Yahoo

Bing/MSN Live

Search Term

Meaning

site:

site:

site:

domain/ directory
path

Restricts search to
a given domain/
directory

link:

link:

URL

Searches for
pages linking to a
given page

linkdomain

domain

Searches for
pages linking to a
given domain
(including deep
links)

domain

Shows pages the

domain links out to

kwd

Searches for a
given keyword in
the file paths

kwd

Searches for a

(partial report)

linkfromdomain
inurl: / allinurl:

inurl:

intitle: / allintitle:

intitle:

intitle:

given keyword in
the page title
inanchor: /
allinanchor:

inanchor:

kwd

Searches for
pages that use the
given keyword as
the anchor text

intext:

inbody:

kwd

Searches for a
given keyword in
the page body text

filetype:

file type

Restricts search to
a given URL
extension

domain/ URL

Searches for
related sites and
pages (based on
co-citation)

ext: / filetype:

originurlextension:

related:

Inserts one or
more words

info:

URL

Gives additional
information about
the URL

cache:

URL

Shows the saved

copy of the page

region:

location: / loc:

specific location
identity code

Narrows search
results to the sites
belonging to a
particular territory

url:

url:

URL

Shows if the page

was indexed by
the SE

contains:

file type

Narrows search
results to pages
linking to a
specified file type

ip:

IP address

Shows sites
sharing one IP
address

feed:

kwd

Narrows search
results to terms
contained in RSS
or Atom feeds

10

8. A-Z of Advanced Operators Explained

The following is an alphabetical list of the search operators. Each entry typically includes the syntax, the
capabilities, and an example.
Note: Some of the search operators wont work as intended if you put a space between the colon (:) and
the subsequent query word.
allinanchor:

If you start your query with allinanchor:, Google restricts results to pages containing
all query terms you specify in the anchor text on links to the page. For example, [

allinanchor: best museums sydney ] will return only pages in which the anchor text on
links to the pages contain the words best, museums, and sydney.

Anchor text is the text on a page that is linked to another web page or a different
place on the current page. When you click on anchor text, you will be taken to the
page or place on the page to which it is linked. When using allinanchor: in your
query, do not include any other search operators. The functionality of allinanchor: is
also available through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

allintext:

If you start your query with allintext:, Google restricts results to those containing all
the query terms you specify in the text of the page. For example, [ allintext: travel
packing list ] will return only pages in which the words travel, packing, and list
appear in the text of the page. This functionality can also be obtained through the
Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

allintitle:

If you start your query with allintitle:, Google restricts results to those containing all
the query terms you specify in the title. For example, [ allintitle: detect plagiarism ] will
return only documents that contain the words detect and plagiarism in the title.

This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page,
under Occurrences.

The title of a webpage is usually displayed at the top of the browser window and in
the first line of Googles search results for a page. The author of a website specifies
the title of a page with the HTML TITLE element. Theres only one title in a webpage.
When using allintitle: in your query, do not include any other search operators. The
functionality of allintitle: is also available through the Advanced Web Search page,
under Occurrences.

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In Image Search, the operator allintitle: will return images in files whose names
contain the terms that you specify. In Google News, the operator allintitle: will return
articles whose titles include the terms you specify.
allinurl:

If you start your query with allinurl:, Google restricts results to those containing all the
query terms you specify in the URL. For example, [ allinurl: google faq ] will return
only documents that contain the words google and faq in the URL, such as
www.google.com/help/faq.html. This functionality can also be obtained through the
Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.
In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when youre
using allinurl:. In Google News, the operator allinurl: will return articles whose titles
include the terms you specify.

The Uniform Resource Locator, more commonly known as URL, is the address that
specifies the location of a file on the Internet. When using allinurl: in your query, do
not include any other search operators. The functionality of allinurl: is also available
through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.

author:

If you include author: in your query, Google will restrict your Google Groups results to
include newsgroup articles by the author you specify. The author can be a full or
partial name or email address. For example, [ children author:john author:doe ] or [
children author:doe@someaddress.com ] return articles that contain the word
children written by John Doe or doe@someaddress.com. Google will search for
exactly what you specify. If your query contains [ author:John Doe ] (with quotes),
Google wont find articles where the author is specified as Doe, John.

cache:

The query cache:url will display Googles cached version of a web page, instead of
the current version of the page. For example, [ cache:www.eff.org ] will show
Googles cached version of the Electronic Frontier Foundation home page.
Note: Do not put a space between cache: and the URL (web address).

On the cached version of a page, Google will highlight terms in your query that
appear

after

the

cache:

search

operator.

For

example,

cache:www.pandemonia.com/flying/ fly diary ] will show Googles cached version of

Flight Diary in which Hamish Reids documents whats involved in learning how to fly
with the terms fly and diary highlighted.

12

define:

If you start your query with define:, Google shows definitions from pages on the web for the
term that follows. This advanced search operator is useful for finding definitions of words,
phrases, and acronyms. For example, [ define: blog ] will show definitions for Blog (weB
LOG).

ext:

This is an undocumented alias for filetype:.

filetype:

If you include filetype:suffix in your query, Google will restrict the results to pages whose
names end in suffix. For example, [ web page evaluation checklist filetype:pdf ] will return
Adobe Acrobat pdf files that match the terms web, page, evaluation, and checklist.
You can restrict the results to pages whose names end with pdf and doc by using the OR
operator, e.g. [ email security filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc ]. When you dont specify a File
Format in the Advanced Search Form or the filetype: operator, Google searches a variety of
file formats; see the table in File Type Conversion.

group:

If you include group: in your query, Google will restrict your Google Groups results to
newsgroup

articles

from

certain

groups

or

subareas.

For

example,

sleep

group:misc.kids.moderated ] will return articles in the group misc.kids.moderated that contain

the word sleep and [ sleep group:misc.kids ] will return articles in the subarea misc.kids
that contain the word sleep.
id:

This is an undocumented alias for info:.

inanchor:

If you include inanchor: in your query, Google will restrict the results to pages containing the
query terms you specify in the anchor text or links to the page. For example, [ restaurants
inanchor:gourmet ] will return pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contain
the word gourmet and the page contains the word restaurants.

info:

The query info:URL will present some information about the corresponding web page. For
instance, [ Info:gothotel.com ] will show information about the national hotel directory
GotHotel.com home page.
Note: There must be no space between the info: and the web page URL. This functionality
can also be obtained by typing the web page URL directly into a Google search box.

insubject:

If you include insubject: in your query, Google will restrict articles in Google Groups to those
that contain the terms you specify in the subject. For example, [ insubject:falling asleep ]

13

will return Google Group articles that contain the phrase falling asleep in the subject.
Equivalent to intitle:.
intext:

The query intext:term restricts results to documents containing term in the text. For instance,
[ Hamish Reid intext:pandemonia ] will return documents that mention the word
pandemonia in the text, and mention the names Hamish and Reid anywhere in the
document (text or not). Note: There must be no space between the intext: and the following
word.

Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintext: at the front
of your query, e.g., [ intext:handsome intext:poets ] is the same as [ allintext: handsome
poets ].
intitle:

The query intitle:term restricts results to documents containing term in the title. For instance,
[ flu shot intitle:help ] will return documents that mention the word help in their titles, and
mention the words flu and shot anywhere in the document (title or not). Note: There must
be no space between the intitle: and the following word.

Putting intitle: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintitle: at the front
of your query, e.g., [ intitle:google intitle:search ] is the same as [ allintitle: google search ].
inurl:

If you include inurl: in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing
that word in the URL. For instance, [ inurl:print site:www.googleguide.com ] searches for
pages on Google Guide in which the URL contains the word print. It finds pdf files that are
in the directory or folder named print on the Google Guide website. The query [
inurl:healthy eating ] will return documents that mention the words healthy in their URL, and
mention the word eating anywhere in the document.

Note: There must be no space between the inurl: and the following word.

Putting inurl: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allinurl: at the front
of your query, e.g., [ inurl:healthy inurl:eating ] is the same as [ allinurl: healthy eating ].

In

URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when youre using inurl:.
link:

The query link:URL shows pages that point to that URL. For example, to find pages that
point to Google Guides home page, enter: [ link:www.googleguide.com ]

14

Note: According to Googles documentation, you cannot combine a link: search with a
regular keyword search. Also note that when you combine link: with another advanced
operator, Google may not return all the pages that match. The following queries should
return lots of results, as you can see if you remove the -site: term in each of these queries.
Find links to the Google home page not on Googles own site. [ link:www.google.com site:google.com ]

Find links to the UK Owners Direct home page not on its own site.
[ link:www.www.ownersdirect.co.uk -site:ownersdirect.co.uk ]

Location:

If you include location: in your query on Google News, only articles from the location you
specify will be returned. For example, [ queen location:canada ] will show articles that match
the term queen from sites in Canada. Many other country names work; try them and see.

Two-letter US state abbreviations match individual US states, and two-letter Canadian

province abbreviations (like NS for Nova Scotia) also work although some provinces dont
have many newspapers online, so you may not get many results. Some other two-letter
abbreviations such as UK for the United Kingdom are also available.
movie:

If you include movie: in your query, Google will find movie-related information. For examples,
see Googles Blog.
Related:

The query related:URL will list web pages that are similar to the web page you specify. For
instance, [ related:www.consumerreports.org ] will list web pages that are similar to the
Consumer Reports home page. Note: Dont include a space between the related: and the
web page url. You can also find similar pages from the Similar pages link on Googles
main results page, and from the similar selector in the Page-Specific Search area of the
Advanced Search page. If you expect to search frequently for similar pages, consider
installing a GoogleScout browser button, which scouts for similar pages.

site:

If you include site: in your query, Google will restrict your search results to the site or
domain you specify. For example, [ admissions site:www.lse.ac.uk ] will show admissions
information from London School of Economics site and [ peace site:gov ] will find pages
about peace within the .gov domain. You can specify a domain with or without a period, e.g.,
either as .gov or gov. Note: Do not include a space between the site: and the domain.

15

source:

If you include source: in your query, Google News will restrict your search to articles from the
news source with the ID you specify. For example, [ election source:new_york_times ] will
return articles with the word election that appear in the New York Times.

To find a news source ID, enter a query that includes a term and the name of the publication
youre seeking. You can also specify the publication name in the news source field in the
Advanced News Search form. Youll find the news source ID in the query box, following the
source: search operator. For example, lets say you enter the publication name Haaretz in
the News Source box, then you click the Google Search button. The results page appears,
and its search box contains [ peace source:ha_aretz__subscription_ ]. This means that the
news source ID is ha_aretz__subscription_. This query will only return articles that include
the word peace from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

9. Twitter Search Operators

Standard Search Operators for Twitter.

Operator

Short Description

twitter search

containing both "twitter" and "search". This is the default operator.

"happy hour"

containing the exact phrase "happy hour".

love OR hate

containing either "love" or "hate" (or both).

beer root

containing "beer" but not "root".

#haiku

containing the hashtag "haiku".

from:alexiskold

sent from person "alexiskold".

to:techcrunch

sent to person "techcrunch".

@mashable

referencing person "mashable".

16

"happy hour" near:"san

containing the exact phrase "happy hour" and sent near "san

francisco"

francisco".

near:NYC within:15mi

sent within 15 miles of "NYC".

superhero since:2009-06-29

containing "superhero" and sent since date "2009-06-29" (year-monthday).

ftw until:2009-06-29

containing "ftw" and sent up to date "2009-06-29".

movie -scary :)

containing "movie", but not "scary", and with a positive attitude.

flight :(

containing "flight" and with a negative attitude.

traffic ?

containing "traffic" and asking a question.

hilarious filter:links

containing "hilarious" and linking to URLs.

news source:twitterfeed

containing "news" and entered via TwitterFeed

Alternatively, you can use the advanced search form to automatically construct your query

10.

LinkedIn Search Operators

LinkedIn makes use of the Boolean Search Logic [Boolean search is explain further in this guide in section
11], however here is a quick guide to some of the main search operators that help you get desired results in
LinkedIn search and a few practical tips on how to use them:

Operator
Quoted Searches

Short Description
Like in search engines, we have an option to find the exact phrase. For
example we will take query1 which will provide the people who is in the
position of Sr. Manager (at a company), query2 will give you the project
manager profiles alone.
Query1: Sr. Manager
Query2:project manager

NOT

If you want to exclude some search terms from your results, you can
use NOT operator. For instance, if you want to search project manager

17

profile excluding results from the United Kingdom, your query should
be:
Query: project manager NOT United kingdom
OR

If you would like to search for profiles which include one of two or more
terms, you can use OR operator. For example, you want to know who
is Managing Director or CEO of a company, then you can separate
those terms with the upper-case word OR. Query: Managing Director
OR CEO

AND

If you would like to search for profiles which include two terms, you
need to use upper-case word AND to separate the terms
Query: Managing Director AND CEO

Parenthetical Searches

If you would like to do a complex search. For instance, find the Vice
Presidents or Directors of Divisions, you can combine terms like this:
VP OR (director AND division). This will find people who have VP in
their profiles, or have director AND division in their profiles.
Query: VP OR (director AND division)

Title

If you would like to find out the executive positions in an specific

industry, then the title operator will help you to do it. This operator will
help employers to find suitable candidates, will guide people in the
expansion of the network with similar title people. For example, we will
search for executives alone then title:executive will show your desired
result. However you can use present title as ptitle: and current title as
ctitle if you want to be more specific.
Query: title:executive

Company

If you would like to find out the specific company profiles then you can
use the operator called company:. Lets take an example of people
working in Yahoo, then you need to use company:yahoo inc. Further
you can divide it current company as ccompany and past company as
pcompany
Query: company:Yahoo Inc

School

If you would like to search for your school guys on LinkedIn, you have
an option called school operator. For instance, if you want to search
the profiles of your Anna University friends on LinkedIn, you need to

18

use
Query: school:Anna University
Country

Sometimes we require only people who from specific nations. The

country operator gets this done. This operator will help you to get some
peoples email address to reach them for business purpose too. For
example, you want to find the CEO list available in US to send them a
mail, you can use the following query
Query: title:CEO country:United States

11.

Boolean Search Logic

Boolean Searching on the Internet

Boolean logic consists of three logical operators: NOT, AND & OR. Each operator can be visually described
by using Venn diagrams, as shown below.

OR logic:

Most commonly used to search for synonymous terms or concepts. The more terms or
concepts we combine in a search with OR logic, the more results we will retrieve. E.g.
college OR university OR Campus

AND logic:

In this search, we retrieve records in which BOTH of the search terms are present. The more
terms or concepts we combine in a search with AND logic, the fewer results we will retrieve.
E.g. poverty AND crime AND gender

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NOT logic:

In this search, we retrieve records in which ONLY ONE of the terms is present, the one we
have selected by our search. NOT logic excludes records from your search results. Be
careful when you use NOT: the term you do want may be present in an important way in
documents that also contain the word you wish to avoid. E.g. Cats NOT dogs

This is illustrated by the shaded area with the word cats representing all the records
containing the word "cats" with no records are retrieved in the area overlapping the two
circles where the word "dogs" appears, even if the word "cats" appears there too

.
Combined

AND and
OR logic:

You can combine both AND and OR logic in a single search. The use of parentheses in this
search is known as forcing the order of processing. In this case, we surround the OR words
with parentheses so that the search engine will process the two related terms as a unit. The
search engine will use AND logic to combine this result with the second concept. Using this
method, we are assured that the semantically-related OR terms are kept together as a
logical unit. E.g. I want information about the behavior of cats. Search: behavior AND (cats
OR felines

Compiled by: Blue Magnet Digital Solutions 2012

Sources: SEOMoz.com, Googleguide.com, Twitter.com, Internettutorials.net, LinkedIn Blog, Dotcominfoway.

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