1.Never use only one search engine. Often the results in one search engine will be different from those in another. You can even try using a multiple search engines site such at dogpile.com or metacrawler.com. Another less used but useful search engine is clusty.com. This search engine has a different way of processing results thus often giving out different sites than the others.
2.Try searching directories. Google and Yahoo both have directories you can search as well as their standard search engines. You can also do a search engine search for a specialized directory related to the topic you are looking for. For example, if you are looking for home based business directories, you can type in: home based business directories and then browse and do searches within the individual results in order to increase your results and chances of finding the information you are seeking.
3.Remember that simply entering in a generic term will usually not produce the results you desire. Try using synonyms for a word, using Boolean terms such as and, or and not, an * at the end of a term as a wildcard, or the advanced search feature of the search engine. The advanced search feature is often ignored or underused by most people and it can be very useful. Remember the more specific the search the less likely you are to find a large amount of results and the more general the search the more likely you are to pull up results which have nothing or little to do with your desired topic.
4.Remember to use databases. These can usually be accessed by going to your local public library and accessing their home page on the internet and then accessing them from there. There are many, which are available, online either for free to the general public or for free if you have a library card at a certain library. The information in these is usually different from what you can find in the search engines. This is especially a good idea if you are seeking information of a scholarly nature or the kind of information generally found in newspapers, journals and magazines.
5.Do not forget blogs. Although search engines usually index them, it can be difficult to find all of their content in a search engine. It is usually best to locate blog directories or blog specific search engines and then do a separate search. Nowadays you can find a lot of useful information in them as well as links to informative and helpful sites.
