If you’re like most people, you sometimes shiver at the thought of having to look for something online because you just know you’re going to have to wade through hundreds of “hits” that don’t get remotely close to providing the information you need. There are ways, however, to avoid this, and a few are listed here.
One way to make the most of internet searches is to use the shortest keywords possible. You may think you are going to get information that is more relevant if you use a very descriptive key phrase, but remember that hits are going to be returned which contain one or more sections of the entire key phrase. This can actually make for longer searches.
Another thing you can do is use websites that provide links to other websites. When you first open one of these, you may be slightly overwhelmed at all the different links. However, a good website link website will divide them up into different categories, which can make your search easier.
Another way to make Internet searches faster is to use quotation marks to surround a key phrase, then typing the category (.com, .edu, .org, .gov, and the others) outside the quotation marks. This will narrow the hits down considerably, especially when you use the less common ones (.com is the most common.)
Of course, the fastest way to make the most of your internet searches is by having all or part of the URL itself, such as earnmydegree.com. This will often take you right to the site you need. You need to check carefully, however, because the hits will contain any combination of the words. One slight change, such as another word at the front or end of the URL, or even a change from .com to .org, can take you to an entirely different website.