There are literally millions of sites on the internet concerning home business opportunities. I like the analogy of looking out a spaceship window. There are literally billions of pages of information online. Without the right guidance system, one can easily get lost and find themselves drifting off into nowhere. Or settling down on the first planet they happen to run into. If you are online looking for real possibilities, you are likely overwhelmed by site after site attempting to sell you on one thing or another! I have been working as an internet marketer for some time now and I have learned a lot about how search engines actually work. Here are a few golden tips to help you find the information you are looking for.
Overview of How Search Engines Work
Be assured with over a billion sites on the net the answers you are looking for are out there! Having a basic understanding of SEO (search engine optimization) can help. The algorithms vary between search engines Edwin Urrutia and are a closely guarded secret; however there are a few things we do know. The search engines attempt to find the “most relevant” sites based off the keywords entered and the “most valuable” based off of the size of the site and number of back “links” it has on the internet. So if you are running into a lot of sites that are not providing what you are looking for the reason can be threefold: 1) There are some big sites in the way 2) There are some popular sites in the way 3) There are some well promoted sites in the way. None of these reasons necessarily denote value; so let’s look at some techniques to utilize the search engines more effectively.
Boolean Searches
In a nutshell, some search engines allow you use connecting words to include or exclude certain keywords. For example: and, or, not. If you were searching for “ice cream” and kept running into sites about “winter” you could search for; “ice cream not winter.” If you wanted to find just one type of ice cream you could search for “strawberry and ice cream.” This would take out sites concerning strawberries and not ice cream, and sites concerning ice cream and not “strawberry ice cream”
Try your niche without other popular keywords
If you are searching for something that has millions of sites covering it, try leaving out any popular keywords. For example leaving out “home based business” will often improve the quality of your search. If you are looking for “home based businesses making candles” try something such has “making and selling candles.” Then you will forgo pulling up the millions of sites with “home based business” as keywords.
Long-tail Keyword Phrases
Be aware of what keywords you are using to search. In general, the more words- and especially phrases you use, the more relevant the search will likely be. This is called using “long-tail keywords.” For many search engines you need to put quotation marks around your keywords to search for that exact phrase.
Metasearch Engines
Some folks prefer to use metasearch engines. You can find them by just searching for a list of “metasearch engines.” There are hundreds of them. They utilize several single search engines such as “Google” and “Yahoo” at the same time and attempt to pull up several of the most relevant sites from each search engine. They are largely used for academic purposes, but I have had a lot of luck using them to find all kinds of information when I feel buried by the regular searches.
Look for Sites That Review and List the Types of Business You Are Looking Into
If you are looking for a certainly niche, another thing to try is look for sites that “review” business opportunities. Many of these organizations will list hundreds of businesses in a single niche. Then you can bookmark the site and use it for a reference as you check out all the new found possibilities. Some of the reviews can also be helpful.