by: Daniel Bazac
Studies show that after email, searching the Web is the most popular activity on the Internet. Searching is easy; finding what you're looking for can sometimes be difficult. Hopefully the advice below will make your next Web search a breeze.
Do you really need the Web?
Before using the Web to search for information, you'll have to ask yourself if the Web is the most appropriate medium to use to find your information. You can find a florist shop in your neighborhood faster by using the local, printed Yellow Pages instead of using the Web. And sometimes a library can give you better, more comprehensive answers than the Web.
However, in most of the cases, the best and fastest way to find information is... a Web search.
Obviously, the first thing you need to search the Web is a computer with Internet access.
Before really starting your search, you'll have to decide which browser you are going to use. As a reminder, a browser, according to WhatIs.com is a program "that provides a way to look at and interact with all the information on the World Wide Web." You can select a popular browser such as Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla or Opera or you can use an alternative browser. My favorite: Avant Browser. (I have NO connection with MyBookmarks.com) Keep in mind that some browsers are faster or have more options. You can download these browsers from their companies' web sites.
Tools for searching the Web
There are many search tools available: search engines, subject directories / virtual libraries, invisible (deep) web databases, meta search engines, etc.
A search engine is a keyword searchable database of Internet files that uses a software program to continually scour the Web. The resulting information is then indexed and stored in its database.
My favorite search engines are:
A subject directory (web directory) is a searchable collection of Web pages gathered, selected and organized by human editors into hierarchically subject categories. A virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians.
Web directories cover a much smaller proportion of the Web but using them will bring you more highly relevant results. The largest web directories index a few million pages compared with the billions of pages indexed by some major search engines.
Remember that the web directories - like the search engines - do not search the Web directly. Instead, they search their own databases of indexed Web pages. Also, be aware that directories might not be up-to-date. Some search engines are in fact hybrid search tools because they are both search engines and web directories. (Google™, for example, has a search engine and a directory, powered by Open Directory Project)
Some widely used web directories are:
Popular virtual libraries include:
The so-called invisible (deep) web is a collection of online information stored in live databases accessible on the Web but not indexed by traditional search engines. Examples of excellent invisible web databases are:
A meta search engine (also known as metacrawler or multithreaded engine) is a search tool that sends your query simultaneously to several search engines, web directories and sometimes to the so-called invisible (deep) web. After collecting the results, the meta search engine removes the duplicate links and - according to its algorithm - will combine and rank the results into a single merged list.
Because most of the meta search engines take only the top 10 or 20 from each search engine, you can expect excellent results, "la creme de la creme."
But be aware that because some search engines and web directories do not support advanced searching techniques - such as quotation marks to enclose phrases or Boolean operators - no results from those search engines will appear in the meta search engines' results list when those techniques are used.
Remember, meta search engines do not maintain their own databases and therefore cannot accept web site submissions.
The best meta search engines are:
A special kind of meta search engine is the search utility (also called desktop search programs or client-side search software). Unlike the web-based meta search engines listed above, search utilities are software programs that you download to your computer. The most popular are:
Meta search engines are excellent tools, but they do not eliminate the need for search engines.
For more about meta search engines, see my article: The Meta Search Engines: A Web Searcher's Best Friends.
Which Search Tool Should You Choose?
There are thousands of search engines, hundreds of meta search engines and dozens of web directories and specialized databases. Choosing the right search tool - from the start - can make the difference between a successful search and a frustrating experience.
Before Starting the Search
The easiest way to find information is when you know a web page Internet address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) such as Fortune Magazine at http://www.fortune.com. You can find these addresses on business cards, TV commercials or newspapers. Simply type the URL in the browser's address box and hit the (PC) or (Mac) key.
Be aware that in most browsers, you do not have to type "http://" or even "www" before the domain name. You can access a site simply typing the domain name such as "sony.com."
Special note: Be careful when you copy and paste a long URL from an email message or from some web sites. URLs that span two lines have a gap (space) between the last character of the first line and the first character on the second line. First, get rid of the gap and then paste it in the browser's address line.
Other times you may not know the URL but... you can guess it. Often companies will use their name, acronym or abbreviated name followed by ".com", such as ibm.com or apple.com. The same thing is true for educational institutions (add the ".edu" suffix) or government sites (add ".gov") So, whenever you don't know an URL, you can try to guess it.
If you do not know the URL, you'll have to find it by searching the Internet. In many cases, a simple search on the name of an organization within most search engines will return a direct hit on their web site.
Tips For Searching Smarter:
Be sure to save the new "settings" or "search preferences" for the next time you use the search tools. Also, set the browser you use to accept cookies.
Tips To Make Your Search Faster:
If you're searching for information and you are not interested in graphics on the pages you see, turn off or disable graphics. You can also turn off sounds, animation, Java, JavaScript, etc. See your browser documentation for instructions.
If you decide to keep the graphics, in the case of a "heavy" page, you can always press the button in the browser, immediately after you see the text and before the graphics are entirely loaded.
More Tips:
Remember, don't expect perfect translations because that seldom happens.
So, let's start searching!
Most of the search tools can be searched using keywords. Web directories and the invisible web databases can also be searched by browsing categories and subcategories.
Start with a popular search engine such as Google™, for example.
Before typing the keywords, take your time and brainstorm relevant words. Create a list of search terms. Write them down. A few seconds of brainstorming could save you minutes or hours of retrieving irrelevant results.
Advice for Searching Better:
Note: Some search tools, such as Ask Jeeves allow you to use the so-called "natural language." This means that you can construct a query as a question in plain English, such as "What's the weather in LA?" When you have a specific question in mind, these tools can be helpful.
Checking the Results:
After typing your keywords into the search box press either the "enter" key on the keyboard or, click on the "search," "find" or "go" button on the search tool's homepage. You will receive a list of documents that - hopefully - match your query. If you do not, it may be because some unscrupulous webmasters use unethical methods to cheat the search engines and achieve undeserved, top rankings for their sites. To learn more about this topic, please read my article, "Search Engine Spamming Sucks!"
The results returned, also called "matches" or "hits" will be web pages related to the subject you're searching for, ranked in order of relevancy according to the search tool's algorithm or by date, URL, title, etc.
Each result will contain information such as the title of the page, a short description, the page's URL and the size of the page.
Now you have a tough job. You have to decide which of the search results will take you to the most informative site. Your best bet is to take a look at the title and description of the page. Are they relevant to your search? If yes, open the page. If not, check the next result, by scrolling down on the right side of the browser.
To view a page you have two options:
If you use the first method most likely you will not use the back button to go back to the results page, but instead you will simply close the window, losing the search page altogether.
Criteria for Evaluating a Web Resource:
First of all, don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Recently I found a page where it stated that Google™ has about one billion web pages indexed. Well, according to Google™, it indexes 3,307,998,701 web pages. Be careful what you believe. Governmental agencies, educational institutions, libraries and prestigious publications are the most reliable sources of information. Be circumspect with information found on personal sites stored in free hosts.
Six Tips For Evaluating A Site:
Four Additional Tips:
What To Do When You Get TOO MANY Results:
It's common to receive millions of results, often unrelated to the search. To receive more relevant results you'll have to refine or even rethink the search. Here are some ideas to help you refine your search:
What To Do When You Get Too Few Or Irrelevant Results:
Sometimes you will get messages like "Your search did not match any documents" or "No pages were found containing your query" or "No results." Other times you may get few or irrelevant results.
What You Should Do:
Remember: if you're doing a serious research, consider asking a professional Web searcher to do the job. In a few hours, he may find information that would have taken you days to find.
If you receive the message "The page cannot be displayed" or "Not found" the page has been discontinued.
What you can do:
Sometimes a search tool simply will not work. Why? Because it may be disabled or undergoing changes. Try again later. Other times you might receive messages like "503 Server is busy" or "Too many users. " Check back later. For U.S. residents, early morning and late night are the least busy times.
Qualities Of A Good Web Searcher:
And yes, practice, practice, practice. The more you search, the more you'll know and soon you will be scoring the most relevant results in the timeliest manner.
A final piece of advice: use bookmarks or favorites.
When visiting a page that you think you might want to visit again, it's wise to save its web address (URL) in your "bookmarks" or "favorites" folder in your browser or - much better - in a Web-based bookmarks manager - such as MyBookmarks.com - which allows you to access your bookmarks from any computer at any location. (I have NO connection with MyBookmarks.com)
The next time you want to visit that page, you simply open the saved bookmark instead of searching again or typing the page's URL.
Be aware that in time you can collect thousands of bookmarks. Be smart and organize them in thoughtfully labeled categories and subcategories.
Last but not least, back-up your bookmarks just like all the other important information you back-up from your computer.
Rest assured that finding information on the Web is never a question of luck. Instead it is the result of a thorough understanding of how search tools work, combined with mastering the art of creating a targeted search query. Searching the Web is not difficult. Like any task, you simply must press the right buttons.
Good luck with your searches!
Note: Google™ is a trademark of Google Inc.
Do you have searching tips not listed above? Please send them to mailto:danielbazac@hotmail.com. Thank you.