While the first thing that you need to find the right information that you are looking for on the Web is a search engine, a little know-how goes a long way in helping you find what you are looking for as soon as possible.

So, with this in mind, here are 4 tips to consider when conducting a search over the internet:

#1: Learn how to search from the search engine itself

If you are using Google, then the best way to learn how to search can be done by using Google’s “Basic search help” as well as “Tips & Tricks” pages. You can be sure to find a number of tricks and shortcuts too.

#2: Look for a phrase

If you’re looking for an exact phrase and not pages that contain each of its words, then the best way to do this is by putting the phrase in quotation marks. You’ll find that the number of searches it throws back are far lesser (since it looks for an exact phrase match) than otherwise.

#3: Be as specific as possible

Let’s say you are looking for articles that show you how to manage bookmarks on an iPhone running Safari on iOS 7. Don’t just type “manage bookmarks” in the search bar but type as many keywords as possible such as “manage bookmarks iPhone Safari iOS 7” to find exactly what you need.

#4: Try the ‘advanced search’ option

If you’re not able to find what you are looking for from Basic Search, then it’s a good idea to try narrowing your search by using ‘Advanced search’ in the process. You can do this by clicking the gear icon that you can find to the top right hand corner of your screen.