Google supports query words that have special meaning to Google. These are known as advanced operators and modify a search in some way or tell Google to do a different type of search. Quite a few of these operators use punctuation instead of words and quite a few of them are accessible from the Advanced Search page of Google. Here is a list of the more common types and what they do.

1. link: Using the query [link:www.webpage.com] will list web pages that have links to the web page you specify. Make sure you do not put a space between the “link:” and the web page URL.
2. related: The query [related:www.webpage.com] will list web sites that are similar to the web page you specified. Again, you cannot leave a space between the colon and the web site specified.
3. site: This query [site:www.webpage.com] allows Google to restrict the results to the web sites in the given domain.
4. allintitle: This query [allintitle:example search] restricts the search results to ones with all of the query words in the title.
5. intitle: [intitle:example search] restricts the results to documents containing the word you search for in the title.
6. allinurl: [allinurl:example search] limits the results to ones will all of the query words in the URL. This query works on words only and not URL components.
7. inurl: [inurl:example search] confines the search results to documents containing that word in the URL.

Keep in mind there can be no space between the colon and the first word in any of these queries. Using these advanced Google searches as well as the additional ones found on Google can help you with your search engine optimization

The goal of personalized search engines is to provide results which cater to the individual person who conducts each search. Existing implementations of this concept require user registration, but it might also be accomplished by using browser cookies to keep track of the searcher’s interests. Read on to learn more about how this is accomplished, its potential implications, and the web sites which are currently offering personalized search features.

Google’s personalized search feature is integrated into its Web History system, which keeps track of the web sites users visit and the searches they perform. It then provides personalized results with the record of previous internet use as a basis. Members can choose to install a toolbar which records all web sites they visit, or just have it monitor the search keywords they use on Google.

Nsyght.com is another example of personalized search; it allows members to enter bookmarks or import them from social bookmarking services, then uses the member’s bookmarks to customize their results. Users can also “block” listings they aren’t interested in from showing up in their personalized results again. Nsyght has a very short registration form and does not use a toolbar.

One possible example might be that someone interested in radio communications would see police scanners in their personalized results when searching for “scanner”, whereas a person more interested in computers would see results pertaining to image scanners. Such a system could possibly divide the traffic from a particular keyword among a greater number of sites. If effective, it may also result in searchers entering fewer words to describe their searches, except when they are on subjects the user is not usually interested in.

Potential obstacles to the success of personalized search systems include privacy concerns and technical demands. Some internet users are likely to worry about having all of their searches and/or other online activity indefinitely stored by search engines. These systems must have the capacity to store a large amount of data on each user, which could dissuade smaller engines from adopting this concept.

Overall, personalized search is likely to provide searchers with results more relevant to them, except when they look for information on subjects they weren’t previously interested in. It also offers a way for engines to provide additionally user-targeted advertisements. If personalized searching becomes more widespread, it may complicate search engine optimization efforts because people will see different results depending upon their interests.

Google’s universal search returns results that include web pages, video, news postings, images and even maps. With all of these varied results you may be wondering how to take full advantage of universal search. Never fear, Google itself has posted tips on how to do this. Here are the highlights.

If you have a site that has news content you should submit it for inclusion in Google News. Once Google includes your site you can submit a News Sitemap to let them know about your most recent articles. This feature only works for English sites currently though. You can also submit any past news content for inclusion in the News Archive Search.

Additionally, if your site has images you can opt in to enhanced image search in your webmaster tools. This will let Google gather metadata about your images that can help them decide if your images should be returned as a search result.

Also, you can use your location to your advantage. Provide your geographical information to Google’s local business center and they will return your business when it’s relevant to a local search.

Finally, if you have any video content host it on any video hosting service such as Google Video or YouTube. If your video is relevant to the search then Google will show it in the results. Better yet, that video can be played directly from the search results page.

All of these tactics will help you place higher in Google’s new universal search. But, continue doing whatever was working for you before to make sure that you still turn up for regular results, too.

A new, open-source search engine based upon the “wiki” concept has been introduced. It applies some of the same techniques and processes used in Wiki sites like Wikipedia or Wiktionary to a search engine. It went live on January 7th, 2008.

Like any search engine, Wikia search lets users enter one or more words and returns a list of websites which are related to them. However, there are a number of differences. For example, a “discuss these results” link is located at the top of each list of results; as with other Wiki based systems, it lets users start a discussion on the results to searches for a particular word or phrase.

Another interesting feature of Wikia is that an area for a “mini article” on the search keyword appears at the top of results; if an article has been created, it will appear there. Anyone can create or edit such an article, just like  wiki encyclopedia or dictionary pages. If utilized, this feature will allow users to find brief information on some subjects without using any of the websites listed in the search results.

Wikia also offers a People Search feature integrated into the web search, as well as a website rating system. If the cursor is placed over the number next to the word “Cached” below each result, a row of five stars will appear and users can click on a star if desired (based upon how well they rate the site in question).

As of January 15th (about a week after it went live), the  results Wikia provides are acceptable for some searches, but insufficient for finding information on many specific subjects. A message on the home page acknowledges this, and calls upon users to help improve the result quality. Another problem is that the site listings will not display on some web browsers, and parts of the results page are overlapped at low screen resolutions.

For the most part, websites based upon the wiki concept have strengths with regard to updating quickly and generating large quantities of content at little cost. On the other hand, wiki systems do little to reward contributors and are open to manipulation by marketers or people promoting specific beliefs and opinions.

Basically, this new Wiki-based search engine currently has some flaws which need correction (as do many sites right after they go live), but it offers an interesting alternative to typical search engines which may prove effective in the months and years to come.

Getting other web sites to add links to your site is an important part of building up the amount of traffic your site receives. A link on another web site can both provide direct traffic from people clicking on the link, as well as additional hits from search engines, both of which will improve your site’s search ranking.  Read on to learn about some of the basics of web site link building…

First, it is important to know what type of link building actually benefits your web site. Any link on a website which is at least minimally popular will increase hits to your site, but will generate many more hits if it is on a website about a related topic. Links also are more effective for building up your search engine ranking if they are on related web sites. To affect your web site’s placement in search results, it must be possible for search engines to find the link. If the link is in a javascript menu (not text-based), has a “no_follow” attribute/tag in its code, is located in a frame (which isn’t linked to elsewhere), or is in a membership-only area of the website, it may not be possible for search engine “spiders” to find and index it.

Next, there are a number of methods for building links to a website. Among other options, they can be gained by sending articles with links in them to free article directories, requesting them from other website owners you know, winning a website contest, distributing free software which is attributed to the website, or posting links to individual pages on social bookmarking services; each with its own advantages and set of basics which needs to be understood beforehand. Another approach to building links is to simply try to put the most interesting, unique, and high quality content on the website, in hope that other people will voluntarily link to it so as to recommend it to others. An effective way to produce this result is often to provide information on a niche subject which no one else has a web page or site about.

Overall, building search engine readable links to your site from other websites on related topics is most beneficial. Understanding these basics is important, but deciding upon the best link building strategy for your web site requires substantial research and careful consideration. No one solution is best, and the effectiveness of each technique is debatable.

Google has evolved into Google Custom Search Engine which allows sites to develop a vertical search engine using Google technologies. IDG has already implemented this vertical search capacity at Macworld and we’ve replaced the Macworld internal search with CSE.Macworld.com experimented with Google Co-Op after it debuted, says Jason Snell, VP and editorial director of Mac Publishing. “We looked at it as a way to better define our content and to improve our traffic,” he says.

Upon discovering that his colleagues frequently used Google in conjunction with the “site:” operator to search their own site (rather than using the built-in search engine), Snell says his publication jumped at the chance to create a CSE as a replacement for Macworld.com’s unsatisfactory search capabilities. The fact that his company was already a participant in Google’s AdSense program made the decision easier.

A critical distinction between Google Co-Op and CSE is control. “Co-Op was really a part of Google,” Snell says. “This is controlled by us.”

We plan to announce further developments shortly. Check out the tags – news, reviews, blogs, tips etc. Search is now filtered to improve the results. Google has been trying to improve the quality of their results – Google’s Custom Search Engine is a step in the right direction.

>Learn More at Google Co-Op