Strategy 1: URL Guessing and Cutting

For many sites, do not even bother with a directory or search engines. When you are searching for a specific organization's Web site, first try guessing the central URL for the organization. The following steps may help:

1. With Netscape and Internet Explorer, leave off http://
2. Try the common www to start the machine address
3. Use the name, acronym, or brief name of the organization (nra, honda, uwyo) in the middle
4. Add the appropriate top level domain, most often .com. See a complete list or try one of the following common endings:

   com for commercial edu for educational org for other organizations gov for U.S. federal government mil for U.S. military net for Internet service providers and networks

URL guessing can help in finding pages for URLs that no longer work and links that lead to dead ends. Try chopping off parts of the URL starting on the right-hand side and stopping at every /