Have you ever wondered how often your competitors post content? How about finding hundreds of websites linking to your competitors and use it to reach out to those websites and ask them to link back to you?
You can get the above-said results and more with Google’s advanced search operators. Sometimes the search operators are called Google search commands, Google search shortcuts, or Google search parameters.
If you know how to use Google advanced search operators, they can become powerful tools in your SEO arsenal to get pinpoint and highly focused results for your queries.
Google search operators make your job easier by narrowing and fine-tuning results. They help in clearing the clutter and let you concentrate on important things like optimizing conversion rates.
With Google search operators, you can find link-building opportunities, direct competitors, and plagiarized content.
Search for Link Building Opportunities
Are you finding it difficult to get authoritative backlinks to your site? How about stealing them from your competition? Use the search operators intext, -, and site: to get backlinks pointing out to your competition. The following search syntax can help you get backlinks of your competitors.
Here weight loss is the keyword, and bodybuilding.com is your competition.
- intext:weight loss -site:bodybuilding.com
A quick note. The displayed URLs on SERPs may not contain the backlinks, but you can find them on the same domain URLs.
Finding Competitors with Google Search Operators
You can find your competitors in three ways using Google search operators.
Type the search term you want to rank for in Google in double-quotes. For example, take the search term, how to train my dog. Type the search term in double-quotes like this “how to train my dog” in Google. Google will display your competitors using the search term in the title or body of the article on its search engine results pages (SERPs).
You can do the same exercise to find plagiarized content. Type or copy the sentences in Google in double-quotes. It’ll display the websites containing plagiarized content.
Another way to find your competitors is to use the search operator inurl: in Google. For instance, if you want to know how many of your competitors used the long-tail keyword “get rid of belly fat” in their URL, you can type the following in Google to get the results.
- inurl:get rid of belly fat
If you want to know your exact competition, you’ve to find how many are using the keyword in the title. You can use the search operator intitle: in Google to find your competition. You can use the following syntax to use the search operator.
- intitle:get rid of belly fat
Title tags are the first thing the readers see on SERPs, and failing to write an optimized title may hurt your rankings.
As title tags decide your click-through rate, let’s look at how to create them.
How to Write Title Tags
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), even minor details can significantly impact your rankings. The title tag is one such aspect that’s often overlooked but packs a bigger punch than you would imagine.
Just as you’re drawn to a book by its title, the title of a web page attracts readers’ attention. It’s the first thing they see on SERPs, and if your title isn’t useful or attractive enough, they move to your competitors’ websites in a few seconds.
So, it’s crucial to write the title of your web page with a keyword that’s interesting enough to make the readers click it.
What is a title tag?
It’s an HTML tag that specifies a web page’s title. In HTML, it’s written as <title> under the <head> section. The HTML title tag meets the search bots criteria, and it appears as blue text in SERPs that readers click to visit your web page.
The title of a web page appears in your browser tab, SERPs, and external websites.
As the title of a web page carries a lot of weight in SERPs, here are some tips for writing an SEO-friendly title tag.
1. Create an Original Title
Search engines check for unique, descriptive title tags on each page of your website. If you’re using duplicate titles on various pages of your website with similar content, search engines may find it difficult to understand which page they’re on, and in turn, it may hurt your rankings.
When you’re targeting keywords, try to incorporate your business characteristics in your SEO title tag. Create a clear title that’s creative and represents your services and products.
2. Headline Formulas
Even if your websites have thousands of pages, you can create unique SEO titles by following simple headline formulas.
Listed below are some of the popular headline formulas.
- How-to guides: How to Lose Weight Quickly
- Listicles: 7 Steps to Become a Millionaire
- Giving a solution to a problem: Get Rid of Excess Weight
- Question headline: Are You Suffering from Obesity?
- Celebrity headline: How to Become a Billionaire Like Elon Musk
3. Insert Your Primary Keywords
Since familiar phrases in the title will draw more users and conform to search engine standards, it’s important to use your primary keywords in the SEO title tag.
When looking for something on search engines, users glance through SERPs quickly. They have a short attention span and want quick answers to their problems. So, try to insert your main keywords at the beginning of the title tags, making them easily visible to the reader. It’ll catch their attention and significantly improve the click-through rate of your web page on SERPs.
Using long-tail keywords in the title tag helps you target a particular category of customers. Search for three or more related keywords. Inserting long-tail keywords in title tags may help you target keywords with less competition.
Wrapping It Up
If you’re looking to rank on Google, you may face fierce competition for the search terms. Learn advanced SEO to get ahead of your competition. Google’s advanced search operator can help you with link-building opportunities and the level of competition. Write title tags that catch the readers’ attention. The faster you catch the readers’ attention, the better your click-through rates.
