Join us for today’s WordCount Last Wednesday chat where we’ll tackle the subject of search – how writers can avoid spammy search results and use Google and its alternatives more effectively for research and to find story sources.
The chat takes place today, Jan. 26, from 10 to 11 a.m. Pacific time on Twitter. To follow along, use the hashtag #wclw.
To help prepare, here are the questions I’ll use to guide our conversation.
- What’s your secret for getting the most relevant results from Google searches?
- Do you use Twitter to search for sources, and if so, how helpful is it?
- Besides Google and Twitter, what other online search tools do you recommend?
- If you use Help a Reporter Out, what tips do you have for getting the best results?
- What other methods do you use to track down sources?
- Open discussion – what else do you want to know about search and story sources?
More on search – For background reading, here are a number of posts I’ve done on search and finding story sources:
- 8 secrets for getting better HARO query results
- HARO’s Shankman to reporters: We haven’t sold you out
- Goodbye Google: 8 Internet search alternatives
- Once a source, always a source
- New ways to use LinkedIn to find story sources
- Stalking the reluctant source – 10 secrets to getting anybody to talk
- HARO rescues writers stuck for sources
- How to keep track of story sources
- How Writers Can Use LinkedIn, Part I