Some search engines let you search URL’s, by specifying that a keyword must be present in the address of the returned pages. For example, both Yahoo and Google use the now somewhat standard search term “inurl:keyword” to specify that returned results must have “keyword” somewhere in the URL. Google also enables use of the term “site:sitename” to narrow your search to a single site.
You can use this technique to search a site that doesn’t provide its own search engine by composing your search as normal, and then adding a URL keyword to limit the search to the site. For example, the search function on this site uses this feature to invoke the Google search engine to search LivingInternet.com.
The form of the URL search command might be different for each search engine. Where supported it’s usually described on the site’s advanced search page, and is identified where known in the capability summaries in the search sites section. A few example URL searches are shown below:
- florida AND inurl:travel — Google search for pages that have the word “florida” in the text and “travel” in the URL.
- garden AND inurl:yahoo — Yahoo search for pages that have the word “garden” in the text and “Yahoo” in the URL.
- site:livinginternet.com “words actually in the URL” — Google search of the LivingInternet.com site for the phrase “words actually in the URL”.