Choose unique and specific keywords
The broader your keywords, the more likely it is that your search will produce unrelated content. For instance, if you’re looking for information about golden retrievers and you use a broad keyword like “dogs,” you’ll likely pull up results about many types of dogs, not just golden retrievers. For a more effective Internet searching technique that will provide the desired information more quickly, choose keywords that are unique and highly specific. Using very specific keywords will produce results that will more closely match your search.
Use quotation marks
Search engines are very smart, but they’re not mind readers. Sometimes search engines will pull results that they feel closely resemble your search query, such as pulling results for actors when you search for “action.” A good way to combat this is by surrounding your keyword or phrase with quotation marks. Using quotation marks will ensure that the search engine only pulls results for that keyword and not other words that may look similar. This is especially useful if you’re searching for a specific phrase, like “vice president of public relations.” Without the quotation marks, a search engine will look at each of the words in this phrase as its own keyword and may pull results that only include the word “vice president” but not “public relations.” Surrounding this phrase with quotation marks will ensure that the phrase remains intact, and your search will provide more accurate results.
Utilize advanced search options
Many search engines have advanced search options to help you narrow results even further to find exactly what you’re looking for. These advanced search options will allow you to exclude results that include specific words or phrases and can even narrow results by language or region. Additionally, these advanced search options even allow you to refine your search results to specific domain names, such as .org or .gov, which is very helpful when searching for credible sources. Websites with these types of domain names often provide more reliable information, ensuring that your results are highly credible.