How To Search The Internet
Part 1: Add A 'Discovery' Keyword And Relevant Keywords To Your Search
Discovery Keyword
A 'Discovery' keyword is a special keyword that, when used in conjunction with most general keywords, can help you quickly find extremely useful search results related to your topic.
Here are some 'discovery' keyword examples:
- tips
- articles
- guide
- checklist
- FAQs
- resources
So, instead of searching for 'paris travel', search for 'paris travel tips', 'paris travel articles', 'paris travel guide', and so on.
Instead of searching for 'buying a home', search for 'buying a home tips', or 'buying a home guide'.
You'll be amazed at the jump in quality search results you'll get.
Part 2: Use Relevant Searches
Nearly every person, place, or thing you'll search for information on has a series of terms related to it.
If you can discover these you will tap into a goldmine of relevant, related information that may be more helpful in your search for content than you can imagine.
For example, if you're looking for information about Germany travel, can you think of any keywords that might help you find information *related* to Germany travel?
How about:
- Oktoberfest
- Berlin
- Rhine River
- Black Forest
- Castles
Would knowing these keywords and searching for information about them help in your overall quest for information about Germany travel?
More than likely, yes!
Part 3: Building A Search Engine Toolbox
Are you strictly a Googler?
If you solely rely on Google for all your search needs, you're missing out on a lot of great content.
Google is a great resource, but it's far from a 'perfect' resource.
Try to find audio with it and you'll understand.
So expand your horizons when it comes to the tools you use to find content online.
When doing a Web search, if you're not finding what you're looking for using Google, simply run your search through a different search engine.
Each search engine has its own 'personality' which is reflected in the results it returns.
For example, if you search for 'dog' on Google, in addition to the regular search results, you might also see book experts with the term 'dog' in them, as a bonus from Google.
The same search on Yahoo might turn up regular search results, in addition to links to Yahoo's extensive pet portal.
Part 4: Search Specific Domains
There are literally millions of Websites online. While it's great that there are so many resources you can access in the blink of an eye, it's also a detriment when you go searching for information.
You've experienced the search results pages that show 77,456,900 results related to your keyword.
This occurs because every site that 'simply mentions' your keyword is returned.
The following search technique is going to show you how to easily narrow that down to 10, 20, or 30 GREAT results, which is probably all you really need.
When searching for information about a specific topic, first stop and think if there are any domains/sites you're familiar with that would have information related to what you're interested in, and search that domain only.
For example, if you're looking for information related to Tiger Woods, why search the entire Web when www.golf.com probably has all the information you need?
By narrowing your search to a specific site, related to your keyword(s), you can quickly eliminate the millions of pages of clutter that a general Web search inherently brings with it.
Part 5: Use Shortcuts
Using shortcuts is a simple ways of telling a search engine that your query is related to a specific search task.
They're a great example of just how useful and smart search engines have become.
The Big-3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Ask) all offer search shortcuts. They may call them different things, but they essentially all work the same.
Here's how:
If you want the weather for your zip code, head over to Google, and enter the following: weather 47401
or on Yahoo, do it this way:
weather Berlin
Want a definition for a word?
Google, Yahoo, and Ask will all allow you to find it quickly by entering your search the following way:
define slurp
The addition of the term 'define' to you query tells the search engine you're looking for a definition for the word that follows.
These are just a couple of the dozens of search shortcuts the various search engines provide.
With search shortcuts you can quickly find:
- The weather
- Flight information
- Movie showtimes
- Gas prices for a zip code
- Scores for a particular sports team
- Exchange rates
- Hotels information for a city or zip code
and much more...
Part 6: Using Lesser Known Google Features
While you need to expand your search horizons beyond just using Google, it has to be acknowledged that Google is probably the most powerful search engine there is.
Understanding Google inside and out, how it works, and some of the untold hundreds of ways you can use it, will give you a skill/advantage that puts you well ahead of 95% of the people online today - including your competitors.
Remember, in the information-age, what skill could be more valuable than finding quality information and other forms of content (audio, video, ebooks, and so on)?
Just visit the following URL, and soak-in all the search-goodness that Google has to offer. (The page may take a while to load due to the large amount of content.)
Part 7: Finding Different File Types
Here's a simple method for finding the second most popular file on the Web (besides Webpages themselves) - PDF documents. You might know them also as ebooks.
These are multipage documents that people create for all sorts of reasons, including:
- Instructional materials
- Textbooks
- Catalogs
- Reports
- Brochures
and more . . .
You can download them to your computer for viewing at any time.
There are tons of them online, for practically any subject, waiting for you.
Finding PDF Documents
To find PDF documents with Google, you simply enter something similar to the following into Google's search box:
sailing tips filetype:pdf
The addition of 'filetype:pdf' tells Google to find PDF documents related to sailing tips.
That's all there is to it.
