Can’t find it? Don’t stress out! Here are some tips on how to search smarter (part 1 of 3):

In order to obtain a significant increase in obtaining useful results from your searches, it is best to always keep in mind the 3 golden rules of searching the Internet:

1) Restrict. 2) Expand. 3) Obtain.

Let's see what each rule involves when applied to key word searches and what benefits you'll get if you apply them to the letter.

Restrict

• Avoid terms that are too general and "buzzwords" from the start, and cut the results you get back in half.
• Only use nouns as query keywords. Never use articles (a, the), pronouns (he, it), conjunctions (and, or), or prepositions (to, from).
• Limit your query to no more than 8 keywords.
• Check your word order, spelling, and use lower case letters (certain search engines are "case sensitive" which means they will only take into account words that are spelled correctly).
• Use speech marks where possible if your search contains several words you want it to take into account, e.g. "The Grand Canyon".
• Use the + sign and fine tune your search, e.g. to look for information that pertains only to homemade chicken soups: homemade+chicken+soup.

More to come