Most search engines and directories offer two ways to search the Web:

• By category
• By keyword

Category Search

Most search engines and directories contain a list of general categories (e.g., Health, Lifestyle, Internet and Sports) on their homepage.

• Clicking on one of these categories will take you to a page with more specific topics and Web sites which relate to the category selected.
• From there, you can continue to hone your search by selecting ever-more specific topics, until you reach a very narrow topic that interests you.

A category search provides an excellent means of limiting a search when you're looking for something general (e.g., sites that relate to a favorite hobby), rather than specific information (e.g., biographies of George Washington Carver, reviews of a specific model of car, etc.).

Keyword Search

The other method of searching involves:

1. typing a word or phrase into the text field marked Search
2. pressing Return

If you have a specific topic in mind, a keyword search will likely help you find that information more quickly than moving through several layers of topics in a category search. Results are:

• instant
• ranked by relevance

Because the Web offers such a rich supply of resources, most keyword searches result in multiple pages of links, not all of which will truly relate to your search. Fortunately, there are a number of effective ways to limit a search.

TRY TO BE AS PRECISE AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR SEARCH QUERY.
If you're looking for information on a specific cancer treatment, don't search for "cancer." Instead, search for the name of the treatment you're researching. Phrases often produce better results than single words

USE QUOTATION MARKS TO GROUP RELATED WORDS.
If you're looking for information on George Washington Carver, put the name in quotation marks ("George Washington Carver") when you enter it in the search field. This will let the search engine or directory know to look only for sites where all of these words appear together. A + sign between words (without spaces) will produce this same effect (e.g. George+Washington+Carver).

AVOID CAPITALIZATION, EXCEPT PROPER NOUNS.
If you capitalize a word in a search field, the search engine or directory will only look for pages which contain capitalized examples of that word. However, if you type the word in all lowercase letters, the search engine or directory will look for pages in which the word appears in either form (capitalized or lowercase).

TRY AN ADVANCED SEARCH.
Most search engines and directories offer the option to do an Advanced Search. This option provides additional limiting commands and multiple search fields, so you can better hone your results.

READ THE SEARCH ENGINE'S HELP SCREEN OR FAQ LIST.
Because no two search engines or directories are exactly the same, it's important to know how the search vehicle you are using operates. Help screens and FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) lists provide a number of valuable tips for getting better results based on the way a particular search engine or directory operates.