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Searching Smarter Online

June 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

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When utilizing the many resources that are available on the internet, it can be tough to know how to find specific topics, articles, and information. For those who are new to the computer world, or even have been using the internet for years but aren’t successful at obtaining information, there are few easy steps to take in order to get the most information in the shortest amount of time.

A search engine is an online resource that provides a box in which users can type in just about anything, click the button, and receive pages and pages of results. Sometimes the pages listed won’t be exactly what the individual was seeking, so there are more specialized ways to search as well. For example, placing quotation marks around words that should only be searched together can help eliminate unrelated pages. Search engines have been around for more than twenty years, and one of the most popular sites is Google, since it provides a ranking of popularity, and how many users found the page useful when performing a similar web search. This is very helpful in knowing what other individuals are researching and finding to be informative. There are many other search engines available on the internet, and most provide service at no charge. Some companies choose to pay extra in order to have their product or business listed at the top of searches, or in bold type.

The internet is one of the greatest places to market, since hundreds of thousands are logged on at all times. Choosing to use a web search can help boost business and reduce the amount of information presented at once.

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Search Engines and Directories: What They Can Do For You

March 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

There are several different ways to search for information on the internet. Many people automatically turn to Google when they need to find information, but there may be a better way depending on the kind of information you are looking for.

Search Directories are databases that have results that are chosen by real people. Yahoo is a search engine that offers this through their special directory page. A directory is a good option when you only have a very general idea of what you need. A search directory uses text from the title and a description of the site instead of text from the actual site.

Search Engines. This is what we are all most familiar with. Google and Bing fall into this category and have the most amount of users. They use a computer program to search the web based on the words you enter into the query box. If you know what you are looking for these are a good option.

Metasearch engines. A metasearch engine search a number of search engines and directories all at the same time. This may be a good place to start, but there are shortfalls. Since different search engines use different languages, you may not get the best results from each individual database. If your query is complicated you should probably go right to a single search engine. The benefit of using a metasearch engine is that some of them have additional features such as clustering that are not found on the regular search engines.

Specialized search engines focus on only one kind of information such as news, blogs, or academic journals.

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Tips for Getting the Most out of a Search on Bing

February 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Bing is working very hard to capture its portion of the search engine market share. It has some good features and is a good alternative to other search engines that have been around for a while. If you are looking for ways to get the most out of your Bing search read these tips.

  • Use the summary. If you hover your mouse on the right side of the page you will see a summary of the results page. You don’t have to click on the result to get a good idea of whether or not it is what you need.
  • Use the related searches. The left side of your page on Bing will give you a list of relates search terms. Bing does a good job of changing it up enough to give you some different ideas that can be helpful.
  • Best match. This feature will give you the best match possible for your query.
  • Save your search. You can easily save a particular search in Bing. On the left side of your page you can also quickly see your search history. This is a good feature for when you find a result you have been looking for but can’t remember the keywords you used to get it.
  • Preview Videos. If you hover your mouse over video results you can get a preview of the video without having to actually click on it. This feature makes finding the video you really want to see quick and easy.
  • Bing at a glance. Click on this link and it will bring you to all the different search types Bing offers. Search for just shopping results, images, dictionaries, or social media.
Filed Under: Online Research, Search Engines Tagged With: , ,

The Different Search Engines and What They Do

December 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Image representing Bing as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

When you think of a search engine you probably are most likely to think of Google or Yahoo, or even Bing. These are all good options, and the most widely used, but there are also other types of search engines that may be even more helpful depending on what you are looking for.

Along with your basic search engines there is also what is known as the metasearch engine. These are search engines that combine the results of several different search engines one you enter in your keyword search. Instead of going to Google to see what you would get there and then to Yahoo to see what you would get there, you can use a metasearch engine to get the results from both of them at the same time. Most metasearch engines offer the results from five or more search engines.

One of the most comprehensive metasearch engines is Dogpile. Dogpile offers several different features to help you with your search along with combining the results from Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, and more. It can also compare the results from three different search engines so you can see where the good information is coming from.

Another metasearch engine is Clusty. Clusty takes information from several different search engines and organizes them for you. It puts them into folders with similar results. This is helpful when you enter a general search term. You don’t have to spend an hour looking through a ton of results that are not relevant. You can jump to the most helpful folder.

Zapmeta, Kartoo, Search, and Mamma are all metasearch engines as well with similar features. It may take some time and experimenting to find out which of these works best for you. It really depends on what kind of information you are looking for and how you need it organized to make your life easier.

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How to Recognize reputable Online Resources

December 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

There is a lot of good information on the internet. The issue is weeding out the information that is misleading whether intentionally or not, and there is a lot of content that is not necessarily based on fact, it is based on opinion. There are some questions you can ask yourself to evaluate the content of a website and its validity.

First you can look at the authority of the author. Check into who they are. Are they well known in the field they are writing about? Look into what else they have written, and question if they are stating facts or offering opinions.

Think about the source of the information. Where did the information originally come from, and is is a reputable organization? Check to see if the information has been looked at by others in the field to make sure it is accurate. It is also important to check into the sources they have cited.

Another important piece of information to look at is the date the article was written. The relevance of timeliness depends on what kind of information you are looking for, but current information is most likely better than old information. It is also important to look at the timeliness of their sources and any links they used. A link that is no longer available is not a good source.

Relevance is also something to look at. Is the information just fluff that you already know, or does it contain the depth that you need to broaden your knowledge of the subject? If it is just touching the surface, think about whether or not you need the source or if you should move on. You can also look at how the information is organized. Does it flow and make sense with a professional look?

It is always important to look at information on the internet with a critical eye. This will ensure you are getting good information.

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What is SEO

December 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered why when you do a search on Google or Yahoo that there are certain websites that will always come up on the top of the page? What about all those other millions of sites that could be relevant, but are hundreds of pages down the list?

A term that has become one of the most commonly used and recognized in the internet world is now SEO or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process that webmasters use to gain visibility on a search engine. It is used on the organic search engines, or the ones that use an algorithm to find the results of a search. There are also other search engines who use a payment system to rank their search results, but SEO only applies to the unpaid method.

There are a few methods that are used to increase the chances of a website appearing in a prominent position within the results of a search. Most notably is the use of keywords. Websites that contain content with a keyword or keywords that are frequently searched will be relevant to many users and a wide range of potential search queries. This will increase traffic to the website and improve their relevancy on a search engine.

Linking can also increase SEO. This method only applies to Google at this point, but the more a site is referenced and linked to to other sites, the better it will rank on Google. It can be thought of as a popularity contest, and the more popular a website is with other sites, the higher it will rank.

There are many websites out there that attempt to trick the algorithms used to rank websites. They will put hidden text in the site so the algorithm finds them, but the users can not read them and they have no relevant content.

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How to Make the Best Use of Search Engines

December 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Search engines are often the pathway to finding the information that you need for your research. They can be cumbersome if you are not comfortable in using keywords or knowing what sites are reputable to use. The good thing is that you have a variety of search engines to choose from, depending on what type of research you will be doing. Google is one of the most popular search engines, as it has a number of options you can take advantage of. For example, if you are doing history research there is an option for a time line. You simply type in the topic you are looking for and the search engine will place the different events in a time line with links to sites related to each one.  And if you are looking to download ares, you can type a term like aresgalaxy into the form and Google will lead you in the right direction.
If you have access to a university library, you have a number of golden search engines to use. For example, Wilson Web is a great search engine for educational resources, as well as a number of other various topics. You can pick to only view those articles that have a full text and have been peer-reviewed before being published. Other search engines are excellent to choose because they will search a large number of different search engines all at once. This saves you time in jumping between the different ones while researching.
One of the best ways to be efficient with a search engine is to use specific keywords for your topic. The broader the keyword, the more hits that you will get. Specific keywords reduce the number of unimportant sites that have a relevant information related to your topic. By keeping a list of keywords related to your topic next to you, you will be able to work more efficiently as well. It is also a good idea to keep a file on your computer of good websites that you have used in the past.

Search engines are often the pathway to finding the information that you need for your research. They can be cumbersome if you are not comfortable in using keywords or knowing what sites are reputable to use. The good thing is that you have a variety of search engines to choose from, depending on what type of research you will be doing. Google is one of the most popular search engines, as it has a number of options you can take advantage of. For example, if you are doing history research there is an option for a time line. You simply type in the topic you are looking for and the search engine will place the different events in a time line with links to sites related to each one.  And if you are looking to download ares, you can type a term like aresgalaxy into the form and Google will lead you in the right direction.
If you have access to a university library, you have a number of golden search engines to use. For example, Wilson Web is a great search engine for educational resources, as well as a number of other various topics. You can pick to only view those articles that have a full text and have been peer-reviewed before being published. Other search engines are excellent to choose because they will search a large number of different search engines all at once. This saves you time in jumping between the different ones while researching.
One of the best ways to be efficient with a search engine is to use specific keywords for your topic. The broader the keyword, the more hits that you will get. Specific keywords reduce the number of unimportant sites that have a relevant information related to your topic. By keeping a list of keywords related to your topic next to you, you will be able to work more efficiently as well. It is also a good idea to keep a file on your computer of good websites that you have used in the past.

Filed Under: Search Engines Tagged With: , ,