What To Do When Google Doesn't Have The Answer

Imagine this familiar scenario - Somebody asked how you knew something, and you answered with, "Oh, I Googled it". You didn't just tell them you searched for the answer but instead mentioned "Google". 

The simple fact is that almost everybody (91.38% to be precise) searches on Google for pretty much everything.

To illustrate this point even further, the third-most searched term on the second biggest search engine, Bing, after Facebook and YouTube, is 'Google'. This means that in some cases, people already had a search engine open in front of them, but rather than type in their query, they instead used it to find the search engine they believed would give them a better answer.

Google is undoubtedly a powerful tool for making the most of the internet, but it doesn't always have all of the answers. With that in mind, here are a few places you can go to find out what you want to know, even when the world's biggest search engine is stumped.

#1 Ask on Forums

Because the internet consists of some 6 billion indexed pages, it means there is a forum for just about everything full of people with years of experience and a desire to share their experiences with others. From a specific car model to wood-burning stoves, there is a forum for everything.

Find the forum you need (using Google of course) and post your question. It won't be as instant as Google, but the answer(s) you'll get would be more specific and possibly more helpful.

#2 Use specialist search engines

If Google doesn't have the answer, you could always go 'niche'. It's a bit like visiting the local hardware store when they haven't got what you want at large outlets. There are several industry-specific search engines that can give you what you want if you know where to look.

For instance, many blog writers will tell you the best royalty-free image search tool is Pixabay, and many electrical engineers will tell you the best datasheet website is Octopart. While there isn't a specialist search engine for everything, there probably is one if it's about a job or a profession.

#3 Ask an expert

This is in many ways similar to the forum solution but instead goes straight to the source, or more precisely, the college. Academic institutions are full of experts in all sorts of fields and, unlike many forum members, have experience explaining things to people in a way they will understand.

Searching for the most appropriate college or university to answer your question does not need to be difficult, as there are several dedicated colleges for each academic field in most institutions. Sending an email and asking that it be forwarded to the right person may well give you the answer you want, however, it could be a much slower alternative.