How to exclude a word from search

According to Statista, Google has the highest market share among all search engines. It is accountable for 87% of all web searches.

Smartphones have made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to look for information with a simple type on the search box.

Every day, Google processes billions of queries. The sophisticated search engine has made surfing the internet effortless and efficient. A search on the Google search bar will get you to the results page which has answers to almost all search terms. It will rarely leave your search query unanswered.

Google results have become better and better over the years, but it’s still hard to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Many times, when you search for something on Google, you’ll get a mix of relevant and completely irrelevant results.

Excluding words from your searches is a quick and effective way to dramatically improve the quality of your results.

To exclude words from your Google Search results, you just need to learn how to use a couple of search operators.

Search operators are symbols and expressions you can use within your search query to refine the results you get from Google.

If you’re in digital marketing, learning how to use search operators can help you:

• Get insight into your competitors’ SEO strategy
• Find massive business opportunities
• Estimate market size and competitiveness from similar websites.
• Make decisions about your content marketing strategy

All of it for free! No need to pay for expensive research tools.

Sidenote: If you’re getting started with search operators, download our free cheat sheet of operators and tactics below and keep it around as you get familiar with them.

Finding Exact Information on Google

Google has refined itself with time, but it is still tough to find the exact match you are searching for or reach a specific site on the internet. When you perform a Google search for something, you often receive a mix of relevant and irrelevant results.

However, the search engine is far more than most of us realize. With the google search tips and search techniques discussed in this article, your experience with Google search will significantly improve.

Learning how to use search operators and excluding words from your search will effectively improve the quality of your Google search results.

How to Exclude Words From Google Search

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the minus (-) sign operator with other operators to exclude words from google search. Plus, we’ll throw in a couple of bonus tips so you can use the minus sign like a pro.

Minus (-) sign

The minus (-) sign allows you to remove results that contain a specific word or term.

When you use a minus sign or hyphen in front of your web search, the google search algorithm will omit all web pages containing that term.

For example, let’s say I want to buy an electric scooter to get to work. Your Google Search results might look something like this:

When you check the pages listed there, you realize a lot of those include lists from 2019, which might be out of date.

If you use the minus sign, you can exclude the term 2019 from your results.

It’s as simple as that.

Quotes (“”)

If you surround a term with quotation marks and use it in conjunction with the minus symbol, you’ll exclude results that contain exactly that exact phrase.

For example, you might use this if you’re looking for vacation ideas but want to avoid a specific destination.

site:

If you want to avoid getting results from a specific website, you can do that using the site: operator followed by a minus sign. Make sure not to leave any white space between the site: operator and the minus sign, else you wouldn’t get the desired search result.

For example, if you’re looking for a coffee table but want to avoid amazon.com, your search on the search results page could look something like this:

In Conclusion

Now you know how to exclude words from Google searches. These were the basic search operators to help you exclude words from the Google search engine. If you want to take this further, don’t forget to check out our guide on how to use Google Search Operators for SEO.

One of the most useful Google tricks that you can learn, is knowing how to exclude words from Google search results.

Why?

Because it can help you make your search techniques smarter and more targeted…

…so you only end up with the results you need.

What are Search Operators?

Search operators are a set of commands that allow you to be more specific with your Google search.

In other words:

These commands can help you communicate to Google exactly what you are looking for.

By using these commands, a list of more relevant results will appear. This saves you time and gives you only the information you need, faster.

It’s like magic…

In this tutorial, I will show you how to exclude words from Google search and get the most accurate results possible.

You’re probably thinking:

“Why would I want to exclude words or phrases from my Google search in the first place?”

Depending on how broad your search query is, Google will find a range of websites for the search query you typed. Those websites aren’t necessarily relevant to the intent that you had.

For example-

If you google “gyms near me“, Google will likely show you any gyms within your local area.

This could include:

And more. You get the point.

A broad search = broad results from Google.

Depending on the kind of gym you want, you can ask Google to exclude the other types of gyms. You then get a more refined list that is relevant to what you are looking for.

Ready to make your searches more precise?

Let’s have a look at the three primary ways to exclude words from Google search.

1. Use The Minus (-) Sign To Exclude Multiple Words

Use the minus (-) sign to remove multiple words from any search result.

With the minus sign, you’re telling Google that you don’t want to see any results that contain those particular words.

Here is an example of this:

You are looking to buy a couple of big industrial steel drums for a project at home. So you head over to Google and search “steel drums“.

When you look through the search results, you realise that most of them are related to the musical instrument steel drums.

Not the kind of steel drums you want.

So you do another search but this time using the minus symbol (-) for the words “music” and “instrument“.

Google now excludes any websites that contain the words “music” or “instrument” in them.

With those words excluded, you get a refined list of websites with the industrial steel drums you want.

It’s THAT easy.

2. Use Quotes (“”) To Exclude Results That Mention Precise Terms

Using quotation marks tells Google that you want to exclude any results that mention a specific phrase or term.

For example-

You need a new laptop computer for work. You are looking for a higher-end laptop because you need to run heavier software.

That means that you don’t want a cheap, budget laptop that cannot handle your work.

Putting the words “budget laptop” in quotation marks means Google won’t show you any websites that mention that phrase.

You will now only see results for higher-end work laptops that are relevant to what you want to buy.

3. Use “Site:” To Exclude Results From Specific Websites

The “site:” search operator is my favourite way to exclude in Google search.

Using the “site:” search operator allows you to exclude a specific website from your search results.

Let’s say you want to buy a new basketball hoop but don’t want to buy it from Amazon.

The site search operator excludes amazon.com, so you don’t see it as an option in the search results.

Why Using Search Operators to Filter Your Results Is Important

When you search, Google’s algorithm considers two things:

The algorithm brings back a list of results it thinks will be the most relevant for you, personally.

But they don’t always understand exactly what you are searching for. That’s why you often get dished up results you’re not interested in.

That’s where the power of search operators come in.

They help Google’s search engine filter the results and give you the information you were looking for.

Here are two reasons why you should regularly exclude words from Google search.

Get More Valuable, Relevant And Updated Results

Remember:

Google usually delivers a mix of both relevant and irrelevant results which make you spending more time sifting through each result, clicking back and forth.

When you use any of the three examples in your search, you quickly exclude:

All of which aren’t relevant to your search.

You tell Google that you aren’t interested in those things.

This immediately helps Google refine the search bringing back more valuable and updated results for you.

Find The Information You Need Quickly

The most significant benefit of excluding words from your Google search is…

…the amount of time it will save you.

Think of a typical Google search that you would make that doesn’t exclude any words.

Let’s say you are looking for a new laptop stand:

The search would look something like this:

1. You search “laptop stands” in Google
2. Google delivers the first ten results
3. You go through each result, hoping to find a good laptop stand
4. After skimming and scanning the results, you realise that a lot of the results contain “standing” laptop stands which you aren’t interested in

Because the results aren’t filtered and you didn’t exclude the word “standing” from your search, you had to skim through a ton of results that weren’t relevant to what you wanted.

Now imagine if you did the same thing…

…But this time, excluding the word “standing“.

With a list of more relevant results, you’re finding a laptop stand that you’re actually interested in…faster.

You see when you use the search operator to remove results that contain specific words, Google is bringing back even more specific results.

Who doesn’t want to cut their search time in half right?

Wrapping it Up

So there you have it: how to exclude words from Google Search results.

Excluding words from your Google searches helps the algorithm know what you want.

You will:

Google is smart…

…but there is still room for improvement.

We are in charge of making Google work for us (not against us).

Take advantage of the ability to make your search more targeted and relevant for you-

Next time you are Googling something, think about how you can exclude irrelevant words, phrases and websites to refine your search.

It might seem confusing at first, but choose one of the three ways to exclude words and it will become more simple.

Once you get the hang of it-

You won’t go back to the old way of searching on Google.

Start improving the accuracy of your searches by using the three primary search operators that exclude words from the search.

Get Google working smarter for you and save yourself time in the process.

To remove unimportant search words from your query, simply write a minus symbol before each one. For example, if you want to find a site about interesting books, but you aren’t looking to buy them, you can write the following: << Previous: Search for Similar Websites. Next: Google, Privacy, and Bias >>

How do I remove a keyword from a Google search?

How to remove keywords

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Click Keywords in the page menu on the left, then click Search keywords or Display/Video keywords along the top.
3. Check the box next to the keywords you want to remove.
4. Click Edit and select Remove. In the dialogue box that opens, click Remove again.

How do you exclude words from a search?

You can exclude a word from your search by putting a minus sign (“-“) immediately in front of the term you want to exclude. Make sure you include a space before the minus sign. For example, the search: will return pages about bass that do not contain the word “music.”

How do I exclude sites from a Google search?

Exclude sites from your search engine:

1. From the control panel, select the search engine you want to edit.
2. Click Setup from the menu on the left.
3. In the Basics tab, click Advanced under Sites to Search to expand the Sites to exclude section.
4. Click Add under Sites to exclude.

How do I exclude words from Google Scholar?

Exclude specific terms by using the – operator. You can exclude as many terms as you want, e.g., mercury –ford –freddy –outboards –planet.

How do I filter Google searches?

Add or remove filters

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open your mobile browser, like Chrome. or the Google app .
2. Do a search on google.com.
3. Below the search box, choose the type of results you want, like All, Images, or News.
4. Based on your mobile browser, follow one of these steps:

How do I exclude multiple words from Google search?

1. Use The Minus (-) Sign To Exclude Multiple Words. Use the minus (-) sign to remove multiple words from any search result. With the minus sign, you’re telling Google that you don’t want to see any results that contain those particular words.

How do I block keywords on Chrome Android?

How to Block Websites on Chrome Android (Mobile)

1. Open the Google Play Store and install the “BlockSite” app.
2. Open the downloaded BlockSite app.
3. “Enable” the app in your phone’s settings to allow the app to block websites.
4. Tap the green “+” icon to block your first website or app.

What symbol will you use when you want to exclude certain words in your search?

You can exclude words from your search by using the – operator; any word in your query preceded by the – sign is automatically excluded from the search results. Remember to always include a space before the – sign, and none after.

How do I refine Google Scholar search?

Options to refine your search include:

1. synonyms. Google automatically searches for matching and similar meaning words tourism finds tourist.
2. “phrase searching” use quotation marks around phrases.
3. OR. results include either search term.
4. exclude.
5. include.
6. intitle:
7. author:
8. date range.

How do I exclude books from Google Scholar?

You can also restrict your search to only books by clicking “more” on the Google homepage and clicking the Books link on the left.

How can I improve my Google search skills?

Here are 20 Google search tips and tricks to maximize your search efficiency:

1. Use the tabs.
2. Use quotes.
3. Use a hyphen to exclude words.
4. Use a colon to search specific sites.
5. Find a page that links to another page.
6. Use the asterisk wildcard.
7. Find sites that are similar to other sites.
8. Use Google search to do math.

How do you search for specific words on Google?

Here’s an overview of some of the most useful Google search tricks, from basic tips to new features just recently released.

1. Use quotes to search for an exact phrase.
2. Use an asterisk within quotes to specify unknown or variable words.
3. Compare foods using “vs”

Why does Google filter my searches?

Google uses the information it collects about you to make your search results more accurate and relevant. But by shaping the content you see to match your perceived interests, it also places you in a “filter bubble.” This means you may miss out on useful sites that Google’s algorithms deem less suitable for you.

How do I exclude from Google search on Pinterest?

I’m very glad you find them useful. To answer your question, you can easily exclude Pinterest posts (or pages from any website for that matter) from your Google searches. All you have to do is simply append -site:pinterest.com to the end of your search query.

Which is most popular search engine?

List of Top 12 Best Search Engines in The World

1. Google. Google Search Engine is the best search engine in the world and it is also one of most popular products from Google.
2. Bing. Bing is Microsoft’s answer to Google and it was launched in 2009.
3. Yahoo.
4. Baidu.
5. AOL.
6. Ask.com.
7. Excite.
8. DuckDuckGo.

How do I block keywords?

To block a keyword in the YouTube section of a policy:

1. Select the Keywords tab within the YouTube section of the policy:
2. Click on the field that says “Enter a Keyword,” then type in the desired keyword and click the red button to the right labeled Block:

Can I block Google searches?

Google announced you can now hide or block certain sites from showing up in the Google search results.But if you want the site to remain blocked on future searches, you have to login and confirm the block request. At the bottom of the search results it will show you that there are blocked sites.

How do you block words on your phone?

How to block text messages on Android

1. Start the Messages app and tap a message that you want to block.
2. Tap the three-dot menu at the top right of the screen.
3. In the drop-down menu, choose “Details.”
4. On the Details page, tap “Block & report spam.”

What symbol will you use to let you find variations of a word?

Using the tilde symbol: You can find words with spellings similar to your search term by using the tilde (~) symbol at the end of a search term.

What does * mean when searching?

Wildcard
Basic Search Operators
Similar terms – Use the “~” symbol to return similar terms.Wildcard – The “*” symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you’re trying to find a phrase, but don’t know a particular term in that phrase.

I suspect you’re doing it exactly right — use «tribal -tattoo» to search for anything «tribal» but exclude anything «tattoo». However, I can see the search results for this in Google Images are still filled with tattoo designs…

Unfortunately you’re hitting the combined problem of (a) generic search terms, and (b) generically-named images. Clicking through, a lot of those images really are described as «tribal» in some way, but they’re not described as «tattoos». They’re «tribal art», or «tribal design» or something else. So excluding «tattoo» from the search results doesn’t really help you.

So if you can’t easily exclude what you don’t want, try being more specific in what you do want — I don’t know what you’re after exactly, but any of the following might give you more useful results:

• tribal -tattoo dancing

• tribal -tattoo costume

• tribal -tattoo africa

• tribal -tattoo hunting