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Remember web bots read web content not just metatags
1. Searching for information on the computer can be much faster than searching in books and magazines, however, computer searching can also lead to many things that are meaningless to you. It takes a great deal of time to “surf the web”.
When you use a search engine and you are trying to narrow your search use “quotation marks” around the key words.
2. Keyword searching with very general words will lead to too many sources to search: apparel, clothing, fashion, clothes, dress, costume
Getting more precise in your key word search will help:
EXAMPLE — apparel “what”
apparel trends, apparel production, apparel manufacturers, apparel imports, apparel designers, apparel prices, etc.
EXAMPLE — fashion “what”
fashion forecasts, fashion fabrics, fashion designers, etc.
3. Searching for an exact name is usually simple if you have the correct name. EXAMPLE – Tommy Hilfiger should lead to a number of sites that relate to these products.
However, you may still need to “weed” the information and the sites to find data that is meaningful to you.
4. Finding an industry association is often a great place to get started on a search since an association is not in direct competition with other vendors and may have a series of links for your use.
5. Keeping track of useful information is critical. Keep a URL list of sites visited (keep a WORD document on your USB device called URLs). You may not be able to find the same site by conducting the exact search in the future because search engines are updated constantly and not all sites will appear the same way in your next search. Of course, you can save websites under Favorites, but never count on a computer, it could crash so keep a list of favorite sites.
