My wife and I can search the internet for information and I find what we need faster then she will and most of the time will find more relevant information then her. Why? I think for one reason is that I have been using the internet and searched more then she has. People will ask me a question about a problem with thier computer, if I do not know the answer to the problem, I do a search on Google, until I find the right answer. So what is it that I do different then my wife or some of my website users?

Well, we first start with the search engine, I have always used Google. I have tried other search engines like Yahoo, MSN and AltaVista, but for some reason I have better results with Google. It also has a lot to do with how you search and what you are searching for. Lets say you are searching for an error code that came up on your computer. The first thing I would do is go to Microsoft and search their website for that error. Now mind you I have to dig deep into the MS site to find related support docs for that error and use smaller bits of the error message to bring up a doc that has links to other docs that eventually gives me the information I need.

Another thing to keep I mind is how you search for information. Use as few words as possible in the search engines, search box. What is most important when searching is "Key Words" leave out the an, and, of, only go with the keywords that describe the information you are looking for. If you are looking for information on a medical condition, only use the main words. Lets say you are searching for information on a pain in your right side, first search for "pain right side" not, "a pain in my right side" then try "pain side" if it is a specific pain like, "a very sharp pain in my right side near my stomach" the keywords would be? They would be "sharp pain right stomach" or "sharp pain side" then start checking the searches that are presented. Another trick is to use if looking for and information on a book, refrigerator, software, car, whatever it is. I also use different terms after the main keyword to checkout if people are unhappy with something, perhaps I want to buy a certain TV I do a search for "model of TV errors" then "----Problems" or "------help" or "bad----" that is a way to find out if other people are having bad experiences with a product or service or software before I buy it.

Keywords are in the top of this page "meta name=keywords" go to View-Source in Internet Explorer and at the top of the page is where that meta tag is. Why is it there? That is what the search engines use to send web users to this page. Now their are millions of pages on the internet, probably a couple million on "pain right side" you need to refine your keyword search to what a site would have in those meta tags. You also need to check out several different sites which contain the information you need. Why? It is the internet, anyone can say anything they want. By checking many different sites a common thread of information begins to develop, the truth in other words. You then are able to go to more relevant links from the good sites. Then from those, you eventually find the exact information you were looking for.

So what have we learned about searching on the internet: