LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 810 million members. With so many profiles on LinkedIn, it can be challenging to find the right people or companies you want to connect with. This is where using Google to search LinkedIn can help.
Google has indexed much of the publicly available information on LinkedIn. This means you can use Google to quickly search LinkedIn profiles, companies, groups, posts, and more. Using advanced search operators and filters, you can fine-tune your LinkedIn searches on Google to get more relevant results.
In this comprehensive guide, we will go over different ways to search LinkedIn on Google along with tips to get better search results.
How To Do A Basic LinkedIn Search On Google
Here are the basic steps to do a simple LinkedIn search on Google:
- Go to Google.com and type your search query in the search bar. For example, if you want to find someone named John Smith, type “John Smith site:linkedin.com”
- The “site:linkedin.com” tells Google to only show results from LinkedIn’s domain. This filters out other sites.
- Hit enter and you’ll see the Google search results page with listings only from LinkedIn profiles and pages.
- Go through the results to find the LinkedIn profile or content you’re searching for.
That’s the simplest way to search LinkedIn on Google. It limits results strictly to the LinkedIn platform.
But there are many other advanced search operators and filters you can use to get even more targeted LinkedIn search results on Google.
Search Only People’s Names On LinkedIn Using Google
To search for someone’s name or profile on LinkedIn via Google, use the “inname:” operator in your query.
For example:
“John Smith inname:linkedin”
This will show results only for LinkedIn profiles where the name “John Smith” appears.
You can also combine this with a location name to find people in specific regions, like this:
“John Smith inname:linkedin location:London”
Some tips for name searches on LinkedIn via Google:
- Use quotes around full names for precise name matches.
- Try variations of the name – like the full name, first/last name, etc.
- Check different locations if needed.
- Use filters like “past year” if searching for recently updated profiles.
Search LinkedIn Titles & Designations
You can search for LinkedIn profiles based on job titles, designations, or descriptions using the “intitle:” search operator:
“CEO intitle:linkedin”
This will show CEO profiles on LinkedIn. Some examples of what you can search for include:
- Job titles – intitle:software engineer linkedin
- Departments – intitle:marketing linkedin
- Certifications – intitle:PMP linkedin
- Skills – intitle:python linkedin
Make sure to try variations of the job titles or skills you’re searching for. For example, “software engineer” “software developer” “programmer” etc.
Search By Company Name
To find employees of a certain company on LinkedIn via Google, use these operators:
“at COMPANYNAME site:linkedin.com”
For example:
“at Microsoft site:linkedin.com”
This will show profiles of people who work at Microsoft. You can also combine this with a location, title, or name filter, like:
“John Smith at Microsoft site:linkedin.com”
To find company profiles themselves on LinkedIn, search like:
“Microsoft site:linkedin.com/company”
Search LinkedIn Groups
To find LinkedIn Groups focused on certain topics or industries, use:
“TOPIC site:linkedin.com/groups”
For example:
“marketing site:linkedin.com/groups”
This displays marketing groups on LinkedIn. Some other examples you can search for:
- Industries – healthcare site:linkedin.com/groups
- Interests – photography site:linkedin.com/groups
- Skills – leadership site:linkedin.com/groups
- Locations – vancouver site:linkedin.com/groups
Search LinkedIn Posts & Articles
To find LinkedIn posts and articles on specific topics, use:
“TOPIC site:linkedin.com/feed”
For example:
“leadership site:linkedin.com/feed”
This displays LinkedIn posts about leadership. Some other examples of what you can search for:
- Industry news – manufacturing site:linkedin.com/feed
- Job search tips – “find a job” site:linkedin.com/feed
- Business advice – management site:linkedin.com/feed
Search By LinkedIn Profile URL
If you have a LinkedIn profile URL but not the person’s name, you can still search for it on Google.
For example, if you have:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsmith
Search like:
“https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsmith”
This will display the LinkedIn profile even without the person’s full name.
Advanced Google Search Operators For LinkedIn
Here are some additional advanced Google search operators you can use to refine LinkedIn searches:
- site: – Restrict results to a specific domain, like site:linkedin.com
- inurl: – Find pages with a certain word in the URL like inurl:linkedin
- allintitle: – Pages with certain words in title like allintitle:linkedin
- intext: – Results containing specific keywords like intext:skills
- intitle: – Results with specific words in title like intitle:manager
- – – Use minus sign to exclude words like linkedin -facebook
You can combine these operators with location, date, and other filters to supercharge your LinkedIn searches on Google.
LinkedIn Search Tips To Get Better Results
Here are some additional tips to get better quality results when searching LinkedIn profiles on Google:
- Use quotes around multi-word names, job titles, skills, etc.
- Try alternative keywords and spellings.
- Add location names to find people in specific regions.
- Use minus sign (-) to exclude irrelevant keywords.
- Filter by date range if needed to get recent profiles.
- Combine operators like intext:, inname:, intitle: etc. for precise queries.
- Browse through several pages of results to find relevant profiles.
Use Google Alerts To Monitor LinkedIn Mentions
In addition to searching, you can also set up Google Alerts to monitor LinkedIn results over time.
Google Alerts notify you whenever new results matching your search query appear on the web.
For example, you can create an alert for:
“John Smith site:linkedin.com”
This will email you whenever John Smith’s LinkedIn profile is updated or mentioned on the web.
Some ways you can use LinkedIn Google Alerts:
- Monitor when you or company are mentioned by competitors.
- Get notified when industry leaders publish new content.
- Keep updated on new job postings or profiles.
- See who links to your LinkedIn profile.
Google Alerts allow you to easily track LinkedIn results without having to repeatedly search manually.
Use Third-Party LinkedIn Search Tools
In addition to Google, there are some third-party search engines and tools you can use to search LinkedIn profiles and content:
These professional LinkedIn search tools give you more options to find the right profiles beyond Google search.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some examples of good LinkedIn searches on Google?
Here are some example searches to find profiles, companies, or content on LinkedIn using Google:
- “John Smith site:linkedin.com” – Find a person’s profile
- “Software Engineer at Microsoft site:linkedin.com” – Find someone with a certain title/company
- “Microsoft site:linkedin.com/company” – Find a company page
- “leadership site:linkedin.com/groups” – Find groups on a topic
- “accounting site:linkedin.com/feed” – Find posts about a subject
Can I search private LinkedIn profiles on Google?
No, Google can only index and display information from public LinkedIn profiles. Private profiles or data will not show up in Google search results.
Is there a way to filter out old or irrelevant LinkedIn results in Google?
Yes, you can use the Google search tools menu to filter by date range. You can also add keywords like “2021” “2022” or “current” in your query to find newer profiles.
How can I get an alert whenever my name or company is mentioned on LinkedIn?
Set up a Google Alert! For example, create an alert for “John Smith site:linkedin.com” or your company name. Google will email you whenever new results appear on LinkedIn that match your query.
Conclusion
Using Google search operators makes it easy to find specific LinkedIn profiles, companies, groups, posts, and other content. With the right search query, you can filter LinkedIn results by keywords, titles, names, companies, locations, and more.
Mastering LinkedIn search on Google takes practice but can reveal the right professional connections for your needs. So next time you need to find someone or research a company on LinkedIn, use these advanced techniques to get better results!