[intro]Sometimes called ‘search operators’, the search terms listed in this Guide will help you learn how to filter search results on Google so you can quickly find data that will help you manage the content of your EKM online shop going forward.[/intro]

[summary]

[/summary]

In this Guide, when I refer to your ‘domain’, I’m referring to any content which is hosted on your domain or on subdomains of it, so this would be any Webpages, Product and Category Pages on your EKM online shop. 

[remember] Not all of the search operators for Google have been listed here, as not all of them pertain to uses that would be useful for an EKM online shop owner. [/remember]

Exact matches

By putting your search terms within quotation marks, Google will return any pages where the search terms have appeared on the page or within the URL. If you use a single word, the results will exclude related words and synonyms. 

Use this for:

  • Looking at what pages Google has listed from your EKM online shop;
  • Discovering the popularity of different keywords and product names;
  • Finding out if your Product Descriptions, Category Descriptions or other text on your EKM online shop is being copied and used elsewhere.

[remember]Google will ‘mark down’ websites and online shops that are using duplicate content, so it’s essential that the written copy on your EKM online shop is unique to you and your Products - don’t be tempted to copy text from another source as this will negatively affect your ranking with search engines. [/remember]

Exclude words

Using ‘[keyword] -[keyword]’ allows you to search for one keyword excluding the results of another. You can use this to search for suppliers of a specific product without listing suppliers in a specific area.

Use this for:

  • Identifying your competitors;
  • Targeting specific locations.

How many of my pages are listed on Google?

By using the ‘site:[yourdomainname]’ search term, you can do a search to quickly ascertain if the pages that Google has listed match up with what’s on your own domain.

Use this for:

  • Checking that you have no duplicate content;
  • Ensuring that the content is still relevant;
  • Looking at different domain names (such as review sites for example, where they may have reviewed competitors but not your domain yet).

[tips]This method only gives an approximation of what pages Google has listed for your EKM online shop. For an in-depth look at exactly what pages are listed, you need to look on Google Search Console by following the results in this Guide. [/tips]

How many times has my shop been mentioned on this website?

Using ‘[yourdomainname] source:[anotherdomainname]’ reveals if any content from your domain has been mentioned on the secondary domain. You can also do this by using ‘[keyword] source: [anotherdomainname]’ to see if a keyword - such as a brand name for example - has been referred to on a website.

Use this for:

  • Checking for references to your own content on referral and review sites;
  • Finding out if any news websites have made reference to your content.

Who else is selling the same product as me?

If you use ‘allintitle:[product name]’ the results will display all other online shops and websites that are selling the products with the same name. 

Use this for:

  • Find out who your competitors are:
  • Find out how competitive your prices are:
  • Work out how popular a particular long-tailed keyword is.

[tips] A keyword is a single word, whereas a ‘long-tailed keyword’ is a combination of two or more words. Long-tail keywords can be popular, such as ‘women’s leather boots’ (576,000 results) where the results will contain hundreds of thousands of websites and online shops. In other cases, long-tailed keywords can be more specific, such as ‘purple glitter women’s boots’ (92 results). 

These specific long-tailed keywords related to your products are what you should be using in the Product Titles, Product Descriptions and as keywords in your online advertising campaigns (if you’ve set any up).[/tips]

Who offers similar content to me?

‘Inurl:[keyword]’ returns results where the keyword is part of a URL, so you can see who stocks the same Products and brands as you do. 

Use this for:

  • Identifying the competition;
  • Checking how competitive your prices are.

[more]

[/more]

[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account-specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in the EKM Community. [/contact]