Creative Searches – Looking for something on the Internet, but can’t find it?
You might have better luck if you add a little creativity to your searches.
by LisaBeth Weber. copyright 2007
Searching 101. Where oh where do I begin?
Internet Searches. Web surfing, and the like. The world is literally and virtually at your fingertips. It’s a great big vast computer-planet, a campus of seemingly infinite highways, often leading to an overwhelming number of hits, resulting in bewilderment by the searcher. Fear not. There are many creative ways and outlets to narrow down your searches. Warning: this may result in talking to yourself and saying something like “Cool!” right in front of your computer.
It seems that one of the best ways to find what you’re looking for on the internet is by starting with a very basic concept; your own common sense. This may sound obvious, but utilized wisely, you will begin to see how frequently common sense is applied and how significant it is in finding what you’re looking for. This will aid and abet your ability to find results fast and efficiently. Though it’s practically impossible to not find what you’re looking for on the web, if your search proves fruitless, try an alternative approach through other websites, search terms, and portals.
Portals: The Window to the World
These days, there are search engines and then there are portals. A web portal is more like a variety store where you can find everything……e-mail, shopping, local and world news, weather, stock market info, and of course, a search engine to boot. You can even customize these sites for your own personal use based on your lifestyle. Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) is likely the most well known portal, and is a very convenient place for “one-stop surfing”. Since everything is right in front of you, all the creative search options are right at your disposal. You can also make virtually any portal (and many other websites) your “home page” so that it will open to that site whenever you launch your web browser. This can be handy to further your everyday searches should you have repeat needs such as checking the stock market, the weather, or when the Simpsons is being aired.
Standing Out From the Pack
Everyone’s doing it and so are their neighbors. It’s the latest craze that has swept the nation over the last 5 years or so. It’s a “Googling” world out there, and if you haven’t heard of Google, you really have been sleeping under a rock. When a search engine is so popular that the name is being used as a verb in every day language, you know it’s big. “To Google somebody” has become familiar language in the everyday vernacular, not to mention attaining an official listing in the Oxford English Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. And rightfully so. The Google team has cut to the core of search engine function and then taken it to new heights time and time again. Google has become so big, it now powers other “search engines” like AOL. Of course there are hundreds if not thousands of search engines, the top 5 being Google (www.google.com), Yahoo (www.yahoo.com), MSN (www.msn.com), Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com), and AOL (www.aol.com). Many people like the sparseness of the Google home page in addition to the service they provide. A lot of search engines have large and sometimes audible advertising on their home page, potentially alienating customers, while trying to get more. Google on the other hand keeps their home page exceptionally simple, and if people want more (and there is a LOT more), they simply click on “more”! Clicking there will bring the consumer to a vast array of search options, including the (still free) Google Earth, where you can search an address anywhere in the world and zoom in on an aerial photo of that location. Positively amazing.
Seeking Service? Trust in a Name.
This section is important for everyone, but especially imperative if you are new to web searching until you become accustomed to navigating your way. If you are about to pursue information further that you find on the web, go with names you trust. This cannot be emphasized enough, especially when you are seeking medical information and the like. Let’s say you’re conducting research for a medical condition. If you think about it, this could be one of the most “high-wire” risks you could take on the internet if you end up in the wrong place. If you are trying to do research on something as serious as back surgery for example, and two examples of your results are “John’s Hopkins Medical Center” and “Joe’s back surgery place”, the choice is more than obvious. This is an unrealistic comparison, but not far from what can be viewed on search results at times. It is good to show this advanced example to get the point across. If you look at the internet similarly to a phone book, or a library catalog, you will begin to see that it functions in a parallel way. If you were doing identical research in a library, you would undertake the search and utilize the results in a comparable manner.
Always check your sources, even when they look legitimate. Again, this will come with experience, but better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, unscrupulous people are on the web, just as they are in “real life”, and may, for whatever crazy reason, decide to create a website with false information that mimics another genuine website. This is rare, but “let the buyer beware”, and stay safe when steering through the web. It is a vast internet world out there, without much oversight. Most people think that is a good thing, but that’s a whole other article.
Sleuth away! You can be a detective on the keyboard!
The most challenging searches can be the ones with the most common name, product, or service, yielding an overwhelming number of hits. For example, let’s say you’re trying to do research on a person named John Smith. Though many searches will start with a less common name than that, this will demonstrate how functional the following techniques are in achieving specific results to your needs.
There has been a great amount of evidence to show that using quotation marks around the search term is the best method for searching. Everyone and their brother has an opinon on this, including skeptics who think it makes no difference. Yet it has been proven time and time again that if you place quotes around the entire phrase you are searching, it will instantly narrow down the results. At last glance, “John Smith” returned over 4.5 million results on Yahoo. And that was WITH quotation marks. Without quotation marks it yielded over 289 million! Clearly, this is an excessive example, but nevertheless, central in making this point, since you would want to narrow your search as much as possible.
So you’ve got 4.5 million hits. Now what? This is the time to use your sleuthing skills and find “the search within”. Other sites offer this option, but for this example, we’ll use Google. The area of their website called “search within results”, along with another section called “cached” will be your new best friends if used correctly.
Try to think of any other information you may already know about “John Smith”, even if you don’t think you do. For example, perhaps you know what city and state “John Smith” lives in, etc. Oftentimes, this isn’t as tricky as it may sound. Chances are there are already multiple reasons you are conducting a search, so it’s time to tap into those reasons and let them work for you. If you were trying to find “John Smith” because he is a doctor/lawyer/car mechanic, what have you, this additional information will be put to good use.
When you reach the first page of the 4.5 million, scroll directly down to the very bottom of the page to where it says, “Search Within Results”. Click there, and when the next page appears, type in the words you’ve chosen that pertain specifically to the search, such as “Ann Arbor, Michigan”, or “Cardiologist”, etc., in other words, terms that are associated with your particular “John Smith”.
Now it gets to be really fun. When that next page comes up, and you see sites that you want to go to, instead of clicking on the title bar of the site, click on the word “cached” toward the end of each result. When you do this, the subsequent pages will have your search terms highlighted, making them easy to see, especially in a very long page. This can be especially helpful on a page where there would be massive amounts of information such as marathon results with thousands of participants.
What are “sponsored searches”? I thought searching was free!
Can you imagine living in a world where you had to pay to search the internet? Thankfully this is not the case. However, the search engine companies had to come up with various ways to stay in business and make money, while at the same time, remaining “free” to searchers. One way they accomplish this is to have “sponsored searches” alongside and/or above the regular search results on a page. You’ve probably noticed this before, and maybe have put two and two together. If you’re still a bit perplexed, the way it works is this: a company with a product such as music CD’s can purchase ad space on a “per click” basis, meaning they only pay when the consumer clicks on their site. For example, if you put “CD’s” in on a search, you will receive over 50 million hits. This is an extreme example, but one that will show the inherent value of using sponsored searches. With 50 million hits that include everything from music CD’s to financial CD’s, (Certificates of Deposit), and all the rest, there’s no telling which sites will end up on the first few pages. To guarantee a company ends up on the first few pages, they have paid to be there, in hopes that YOU, the consumer will choose THEM.
It’s a type of win-win situation for everyone, though some consumers don’t like to see “advertising” on a search engine results page. However, just as with television and radio (pre-cable that is), the shows are “free” but you are subject to viewing commercial advertisements. There are advantages for the consumer however. If a company is paying to be on a search engine website, chances are good that they are a legitimate business, with name recognition and probably the reputation to back it up.
Creative Experimenting
To get the best results using creative search techniques, remember that you can always experiment. You can use “advanced search” to assist you in challenging searches. You can translate most any website into a huge assortment of languages. You can use “search tips” and “customize search”, etc. Ask friends and colleagues what their favorite search tips are. Take the time to explore alternative ways of navigating the web. It’s so vast, there are bound to be systems not found yet. Trying techniques that you don’t think would work may turn out to surprise you. Perhaps you’ll come up with the next great innovation through your creative searching!
SIDEBARS:
SAVE IN FAVES:
As you gather more and more websites of interest, you will want to be able to access them quickly. To keep them in an organized manner and one where you don’t have to rely on your memory, you can “bookmark” sites or place them in your “favorites”. These are sections found on your web browser that act as “filing cabinets” for your favorite websites. Click there and you can create folders and sub-folders to categorize each website for future viewing. Some browsers are now set-up to store this information on their server. This allows the viewer (with an assigned password) to access their “favorites” list from a web browser on any computer. Yet another innovation for creative web searching.
JOBS JOBS JOBS:
On a job hunt? Use your creative search techniques to get the job of your dreams. Be creative in ways built into sites, such as searching job types, regions, salaries, keywords, daily alerts, etc. The method of seeking a job is like no other time in history, and has added a whole new dimension to people entering the workplace.
www.monster.com
www.careerbuilder.com
www.hotjobs.yahoo.com
www.indeed.com
UTILIZE WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW:
If you are trying to sleuth out some particular lyrics or a particular phrase, put in a handful of words from the parts that you already know. For example, if you were looking for the lyrics for a fairly obscure song and couldn’t remember the title, you could put in part of the phrase (with quotes around it) on a search and chances are good that you will get the lyrics on the first try. Try typing in “birds fly over the rainbow” and see what you get.