by Melissa J Luther

Created on: February 12, 2008

Finding contact information on the internet can be a little like finding a needle in a haystack. There are many resources available and choosing the right one can be daunting.

First you'll want to consider how much information you already have. Starting with more than just a first and last name can help immensely. Why? Because there is likely to be more than one person with the name you seek. Knowing a town, or at least a state, can narrow down your results quite a bit. I have found there are at least 17 listings of my name in the US. Adding a state to my search narrowed things down to three, and two of those appeared to be me. My husband's name is so common that even with a state I found 57 possibilities. Adding his middle initial got me much better results. Oddly, adding my middle initial wiped me out of the search results. The lesson here? Consider everything you know about the name and possible location, then try various combinations and see what comes up.

Another thing to remember is that there are both free and fee sources. Of course, nobody wants to pay unnecessarily, so start with free sources. The free people directories I like are switchboard.com, whitepages.com and anywho.com. These are fairly up-to-date and often provide what I need. Keep in mind however, that these only work for listed numbers. People who are unlisted or otherwise "hidden" will only show up in fee-based databases. I am one of those people because my phone has always been in my parents/roommates/husbands name. The free sites are generally partnered with fee-based sites and when they cannot find a match in their free listings, they provide links to the fee-based service.

If this happens, you need to consider whether or not you are willing to pay for the information. Most fee-based services let you do a preliminary search for free. The site provides a list of possible matches found in its database. Often the list will include a little extra information, like a middle initial, age, or even relatives' names to help you identify the right person. If you think the person you want is there, you can buy the list. Generally you get the whole list for a given price. You also usually get the option of paying for just the one name, or buying a subscription. The subscription is convenient if you expect to do a lot of people searching.

If the free directory listings are not working for you and you are not ready to pay, try one of the major search engines. It's not likely you will find contact information

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