I do most of my e-searching off the web, not on it. Whenever I pass a newsstand or a bookstore or I'm just sitting in a waiting room, I always make a point of scanning the available magazines, particularly trade publications which focus on a specific industry such as woodworking or aerospace or insurance. Such articles lead me instantly to the top web resources in a given category, and save me the time and trouble of doing it myself. For even the most seasoned Internet user, scouring the Internet for information can be a totally frustrating experience, and doing even a minimum of offline research will do much to greatly enhance your online productivity. Know and use ALL the leading search engines and directories .
Test drive all the leading search tools online.
A lot of people I know just use Yahoo for searching, and that's it. As good as he is, there's no way he can take on an entire team by himself. So too with search engines. Each has different subject specialties, coverage areas, and classification systems, and each will produce different results for the same keywords. Read the manuals .