How to Find a Website

Common How To's Online / Search 101

How do you find a website? There are many different ways you can find a website.

Use a search engine.

Search engines make it very easy for you to find a website. In fact, most Web browsers have a search engine input field built in so you don’t even have to go to the search engine home page in order to do your search.

You can also go directly to a search engine home page, i.e., Google, and do your search from there (for more information on how to use Google effectively, try Google Search Overview. 

Use a Web directory.

If you’re not sure of the website you’re looking for, but you know what topic or category you’d like to search under, then using a Web directory is a good choice.Web directories are organized by subject and provide a categorical drill-down of Websites. Most directories are human-edited,so the chances are good you’ll find some good websites this way.

Refine your searches.

 Many beginning searchers make the mistake of either being too specific with their searches, or not specific enough.

For example, if you’re looking for pizza restaurants in San Francisco, merely typing in the word “pizza” will not get you what you want – it’s not specific enough!

Instead, you would type in “pizza San Francisco”; this search query will be MUCH more effective.

  • Looking for a Specific Phrase? Try Quotation Marks: If you are looking for a specific phrase, just typing it into a search engine will probably not get you the results you were hoping for. However, using quotation marks can solve this problem.
  • Use Basic Math to Search the Web: There are a few basic principles that you can successfully use in nearly all the search engines out there to find exactly what it is that you are looking for, and one of the most basic techniques is using the add and subtract symbols in your Web search string.
  • Web Search for Beginners: Searching the Web can be overwhelming to Web search beginners who don’t know where to start, what’s the best stuff to look at, or even how to navigate the Web successfully. There are a few very popular activities that most people use the Web for, and pretty soon, you’ll be surfing with the best of them.