Mastering Google Searches for B2B Prospecting

The ability to do precise Google searches and getting relevant results is a superpower that is easy to acquire but most people don't have it.

The goal of this post is:

• to provide simple and tangible examples to help you gain this superpower
• to show you how you can leverage Google for prospecting.

Google Search Operators

Google search operators (also known as “advanced operators”) are commands that extend the capabilities of regular text searches.  With Google search operators you can do anything from market analysis, prospecting people on LinkedIn, retrieving fundraising news, finding emails, etc. Understanding the basics of Google search operators will drastically improve the quality of your search results.

How do Google search operators work?

Even though there are lots of search operators for you to use, they usually follow a similar syntax like this one:

Some of the most common search operators are:

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Examples for sales, growth, and marketing use cases:

 Find: Google spreadsheets that include “startups” and “2020” in the title

site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets intitle:startups 2020

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Use case: This search will provide you with several links to lists of Google spreadsheets with data about startups and the year 2020. For example, if you offer services for startups that are hiring remotely you’ve just found a list with 900+ potential leads.

 Find: List of LinkedIn profiles that mention “Founder” and the words “We’re hiring”

site:linkedin.com/in/ "founder We're hiring"

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Use case: This search should retrieve a list of founders at startups/companies that are hiring and managing a growing team. For example, if these founders match with your ICP you can directly click on the link and reach out to this person.

 Find: Google docs that contain the words “SaaS”, “conference” and “2020” in the body

site:docs.google.com saas conferences 2020

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Use case: This search should find you documents related to SaaS conferences in 2020. For example, you can find lists to make sure you don’t miss out on any important event in your industry. Furthermore, you can connect with thousands of potential customers by making sure you attend and reach out to the people participating in these conferences.

 Find: Airtable bases/lists that contain “investors” in the URL

site:airtable.com inurl:investors

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Use case: Airtable has been creating tons of content with relevant lists that help you access more information about companies. For example, here you can find lists of investors that may be relevant to your fundraising needs or that fit your ICP. Keep in mind that these lists not only provide you with the names of the investors, but they also share relevant information about each one of them.

 Find: Industry reports from multiple sources

inurl:report intitle:"SaaS trends" filetype:pdf

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Use case: This search will help you stay up to date with your industry trends. With a quick search you can immediately find the most relevant docs for your market research activities.

Wrapping up…

I hope these examples will help you gain a better understanding of how Google search operators work and save you huge amounts of time during your prospecting initiatives.

If you want to learn more about successful B2B prospecting tactics that save you a lot of time and help you convert more qualified leads, you may find these resources helpful:

👉 11 B2B Lead Generation Strategies & Tactics to close more deals in 2021

👉 Amplemarket Lists - here you can find several manually curated lists of companies based on relevant information from our database for free.

If you’re struggling with prospecting or lead generation activities reach out to team@amplemarket.com. There’s no shame on it and we won’t ask anything in return 😇