Media Post: Google Query Operators Assist Optimization
by Shimon Sandler
If you've recently optimized your Web site for search
engine crawlers and expected to see a jump in rankings but it hasn't yet, don't despair. Maybe you're wondering:
What's wrong? Didn't my changes have any effect? Well, more than likely, nothing is wrong. Google hasn't
spidered and indexed the changes yet. You can know for sure by using an advanced query in Google by using the query
operator: cache. The syntax would look like this in the Google search box: "cache:www.namehere.com".
Your site probably is caught in Everflux. Everflux is a term used when you see your site fluctuating in the rankings.
This is because Google does two types of crawls: a "fresh crawl" daily and a "deep crawl" monthly. Towards
the end of each month, depending on what's cached and which data center your search results reach, your rankings will fluctuate. Hence
the name, Everflux.
These query operators are great tools to aid in the
analysis of your site's optimization, as well as
those of your competitors. Another interesting
function, the cache query can retrieve lost Web
pages. Some Webmasters have used the Google cache
query to retrieve pages that have been lost due to
computer crashes, with no back-ups.
Additionally, since the cache query will save any
information that you had on your Web site, be
careful of putting any confidential information on
your site. It will remain viewable for a certain
period of time. Criminal investigators have used the
cache query to collect incriminating evidence.
If you want to prevent Google from caching your Web
site, you can use the "no cache" tag. Although, some
SEO professionals are afraid to use the "no cache"
tag for fear of losing search engine rankings. But,
Google says the "no cache" tag won't affect
rankings.
The LINK query is used to check how many sites are
linking to your site. Or, in Google language,
backlinks. Google and the other engines place a
heavy emphasis on this, and that has an impact on
the search engine rankings. The syntax for this is "link:http://www.namehere.com."
When this query is used on Google, only the links
indexed by Google will show in the results. If you
want a more comprehensive list, Marketleap has a
nice Link Popularity Tool where you can see the
backlinks from other search engines' indexes. If you
want to see how many pages of your site have been
indexed by Google then use the SITE query. The
syntax is "site:http://www.namehere.com." The SITE
query will also find a specific term you're looking
for within a site. For example, if I want to find
where the word "dynamic" is mentioned on
namehere.com, then I would use the search syntax:
"dynamic site:http://www.namehere.com."
If you are looking for a specific phrase on one
site, then the INURL query is useful. The syntax is:
"INURL:www.namehere.com validation." That will
produce all of the site's pages with the word
"validation" in the URL. If you are looking for a
particular keyword within the title tag of a site,
then the correct search query is "INTITLE:name" or "INTITLE:here."
The allinurl and allintitle are variations of the
above search queries. These are helpful if you are
looking for a string of keywords in a site or title
tag. The syntax for these queries is: "allinurl:namehere.com
dynamic pages." Using that search query will only
produce documents that have "dynamic" and "pages" in
the URL. However, INURL will return the same
results.
Shimon Sandler is a professional interactive
marketing manager. He can be reached at
www.shimonsandler.com. |
