There are many reasons why you may not be able to find information on the Internet. The trouble is, simply typing in a couple of keywords into a major search engine such as Google, will usually give you back hundreds if not thousands of potentially good web sites, or absolutely nothing of use at all. The question is why?

• The keywords that you have chosen to search for may not be the most appropriate. Remember that different people use different words to mean the same thing. For example HR, Human Resources, Personnel. You might also like to consider that some organisations are known by acronyms rather than their full titles – NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
• The person who created the web site didn't name each page – if you open up your web browser, and have a look at the very top blue bar – this "name" should be unique for each page that is created. When creating a "hit list" the search engines use this information to begin their ranking process. If each page says the same thing, the automated trawlers will assume the site has little or nothing of value and may not index the additional pages.
• The page properties have not been set. Again, the trawlers use this information to rank the sites. If you are planning on building a web site for yourself or your organisation please ensure that you add the page properties.
• If the web site is frames based however, the trawlers may not see the additional pages as all the pages look alike at this point. One thing you will notice is that following the main URL are the words /webframe.htm
• The site has been created using Java script, flashes, whizz bangs and is short on words, it may also be hidden behind firewalls or is password protected. Any site that needs you to input a question before it can generate the answer may not be visible to the major search engines. Which is why you will rarely (if ever) find name, telephone and address information in a "hit list". Yellowpages, Whitepages and Amazon are all good examples of these kinds of sites. The information is contained within a database and the results are only generated once you have asked the right kind of question(s).
• Your search terms aren't spelt correctly, or differently – whilst missing out letters in the initial search strategy may have returned a few results, consider that we spell things differently to other countries – in particular the UK and the US. For example DEFENCE and DEFENSE. In order to find all the information relating to a particular area you will need to ensure that your search string contains both/all the variations, and separate each "like" term with an OR eg defense OR defence. The OR should always be in capital letters otherwise the search engines will assume you are looking for sites that contain both defence and defense and the word "or".
• And talking of spelling, remember different words can mean the same thing – depending on which country you live in. For example Trunk and Boot; Elevator and Lift; Sidewalk and Pavement etc etc.
• You haven't used the correct mix of keywords in your search strategy. If you are looking for information on a subject and the keywords are usually found next to one another, for example: World Health Organisation it is important to search for all the variations relating to that organisational name.

o        World Health Organisation

o        World Health Organization

o        WHO

However, when typing in the key words remember that unless you tell the search engine that these words should appear next to one another, you will receive hits with the words World and Health and Organisation in them. In order to force the search engine to search for them together add quotation marks around the phrase – "World Health Organisation". In order to search for all the variations within the same search string you simply add the word OR between the phrases or words – "World Health Organisation" OR "World Health Organization" OR WHO

• Remember to utilise the Advanced Search options – usually hidden as a tiny link next to the main search box. You can tell the search engine that you are only interested in searching for a particular domain eg government information, or if you only want information in a certain language. This can dramatically reduce the number of hits.
• You don't really know what you are searching for. Fishing expeditions don't usually produce quality results. Once you have spent a little time working out the terms you need to search for – use the advanced search option and narrow your search.