We’ve all been through the experience of searching the Internet for information that we just can’t seem to find. You go in fully expecting the first web page you click on to contain the exact information you need, but sometimes that just isn’t the case.
Over the past few years, search engines have optimized the way we carry out research; information that was previously difficult or near-impossible to find is now at the tip of our fingers. Where once we had to slave over stacks of physical copies of books to find relevant information, we can now run a simple search and locate that information. Like anything else, however, efficiently searching the Internet is a skill. Here are a few searching tips that may help you hone that skill.
What are Internet search techniques?
Internet search techniques are the methods used to get useful search results. They are a means of effectively communicating with and reaching computerized resources. With the right searching techniques, you can significantly improve your search results.
The most efficient way to conduct a search
Here are 10 searching tips to help you refine your search results and obtain more relevant results while surfing the Internet for information.
- Use multiple search engines
Remember that no single search engine is perfect and each one is unique, which is why you should try out multiple ones. Google, for example, has the largest variety with the most catalog pages; Bing has a more extensive range of autocomplete results; and Yahoo includes services like news and shopping in its search results. Specialist search engines like Google Scholar and Wolfram Alpha are great for when you need to perform more specific searches. Other useful engines include Ecosia, Dogpile, and DuckDuckGo.
- Use an appropriate and safe search engine
The most effective search method for searching for information on the Internet involves turning to go to the website, one that won’t store your search queries or private information. When picking one of these engines, ensure that it fits the following criteria:
- High accuracy in search results
- Does not track or store data
- Does not use tracking cookies
- Is credible and verified
A few of our top picks for some of the safest search engines include Brave Search,
DuckDuckGo, MetaGer, Mojeek, Qwant, Startpage, Private.sh, Searx, Swisscows, and
Ecoasia.
- Be specific with your keywords
While typing out your queries, use specific keywords to enhance the quality and efficiency of your search. For example, if you’re looking for a good coffee place in your area, just typing out ‘coffee’ may not be very helpful. Tweaking that keyword to include the type of coffee you’re looking for, as well as the area in which you’re looking for the coffee store, will usually be enough to provide you with the results you’re after.
- Keep it simple
Some search engines utilize stop words like ‘in,’ ‘on,’ ‘and,’ ‘but,’ ‘a,’ ‘an,’ etc. while conducting searches. These increase the quantity of search results significantly. Avoid using stop words where you can for more refined results and information.
- Use quotation marks
Quotations around a phrase informs the search engine that you only need results with the search terms in exactly the same order as you have typed them out. This will hyper-focus your results and won’t give you individual results for each component word in your query.
- Utilize operators
Some operators will limit the quantity of search results. (+), for example, will provide you with results including the stop words in your query; (~) will provide results that include synonyms of the typed word; (*) will provide results including the typed term, as well as other relevant terms; and (OR), will return results with either one of the two terms in your query.
- Search within a web address
By using the ‘inurl’ command through Google, you can search for words within the URL and find sites that you may not come across simply by entering a term. By doing this, your results will only contain sites with that term in their URL.
- Explore advanced searches
Advanced options will give you way better results. With Yahoo, for example, while searching for an image or video, you can pick the color, type, resolution, and size/length of media you’re looking for. With Google, you can pick options to find pdfs, word docs, and other kinds of files.
- Use numeric ranges
Using numeric ranges can further refine your searches by returning search-specific ranges. To do this, you need to supply the unit of measurement (for example: Windows XP 2003..2005, PC $700 $800).
- Steer clear of pitfalls
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has allowed companies to tweak the way they word the information on their pages so they are listed at the top of your results. This doesn’t mean that those results will always contain the information you’re looking for. Therefore, you need to carefully check for the credibility and reliability of any and all information you decide to use.
Conclusion
The Internet is a great place for those who know how to use it to serve them. By adopting these searching tips into your everyday Internet usage, you can easily and swiftly find all that you need, while filtering out all that you don’t.
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