Use the General search engines for your basic,
well-rounded searches. These will often display the results in a weighted order
starting with the best matches first and includes both websites and pages.
If you're looking for specific websites or types of websites, use the Relevant search
engines. The results will display all websites matching your search criteria,
sorted by categories.
If you would like to find all pages with a reference to your search criteria,
use one of the Thorough search engines. The results are often quite large, but
will include all web pages that include the word or words you search for. These
are great for searching for rare or off-the-wall information.
Most search engines have advanced features to perform better and more specific
searches - I highly recommend using these features. These features will vary from
site to site, but most will support the following:
AND - Used to search for pages that include two or more words (i.e., microsoft
AND windows). Some sites use + for these searches.
OR - Used to search for pages that include either of two or more words.
NEAR - Used to search for pages that include two words near each other
(the number of words between them will vary between sites).
"" - Enclose a full name or phrase in quotes to search text as a
whole.
