I recently had the opportunity to experiment with new software specifically designed to assist with doing Internet Research. The software,
Research Wizard Pro, is a comprehensive tool that allows you to search almost any search engine and a variety of other information related sites easily and quickly. As a former Research Analyst and as a Virtual Assistant providing research and data mining as a service, I was keenly interested in how this software works and how it might be a useful tool for my business.
Screenshot of the Tool Bar
With this software, you can enter your keyword or search terms and then choose any number of options for how you would like to search for information. For example, you can search using Google or Yahoo specifically or you can tell it to search multiple search engines all at once. If you are looking for a specific content type such as just audio, video or a certain file type like .pdf, the software also provides the option for filtering for those specific files. With so many different icons, it is especially helpful when you place your cursor over an icon a small pop-up will tell you what that icon means.
The Query Tipster feature is another useful part of this software that helps you to create more narrowly focused searches. For example, if you were searching for information on ‘natural products,’ you would click on the Query Tipster button and then you could select something more specific like “Products.” This will pop open a window which shows the necessary Query commands to add to your search for narrowing it down. So if you wanted only pictures of natural products, the Query Tipster would tell you the command for that is “images.” You can then enter “images.natural products” in the search box for results which only included images of natural products.
Screenshot of the Search Window and Query Tipster
I was able to use this software for a few client research projects. One project was to search specifically for bloggers who blog about a certain topic. Using this software, I was able to not only do a general search of several search engines easily, but I was able to narrow it down easily on those search engines for just blogs. I also used it to help me search several different blog directories. The other project I used it for was to research a now defunct internet start-up company. I found this software to be helpful in locating historical information about the company even though they are no longer in business and do not have a website. This software made it easy for me to search in places that I might otherwise not have thought to use and it turns out that those resources where the most helpful to me. My clients were very happy with the results.
The Research Wizard Pro can also be useful for doing competitive market analyses for clients. Competitive market analyses often include researching several different sites in an industry or related to a certain business to gain a better understanding about what competitors are doing with their websites. The Research Wizard Pro includes several buttons for gathering site and domain specific information that could be used as part of the analysis. These include:
• Alexa Ranking
• Find related sites
• Indexed pages
• URL Trends
• Page Text Analyzer
• Check domain
• Who links to the site
The software keeps track of all of the search engines you visited while doing a specific search. This is handy in case you need to go back to review a previous search. If you want to emulate that search again but with a different keyword, just enter a new search term and then you can cycle through the same process using those specific search engines.
Another feature that I liked was the URL Player. How many times have you done a search that comes up with pages and pages of results? With the URL player, you can set it to stay on a page for a specific amount of time such as 10 seconds during which time you can easily review that search page and then it will automatically move to the next page. The URL player also has backward, forward and pause buttons which give you even greater control.
There is an abundance of training videos available for learning the software. I found the videos were helpful, easy to understand and instrumental in my ability to start using this platform quickly. Additional videos include how to use the software for helping to gather information for an e-book and for researching niche markets. A comprehensive User’s Guide is also provided. The videos and the user guides are available to you immediately upon purchasing and downloading the software.
For Windows Vista users, a slight adjustment will need to be made to set it to "Run as Administrator" for the software to open properly. This does not affect the functioning of the software in any way.
Overall, I found
Research Wizard Pro to be a functional and convenient tool for easily and quickly completing a wide variety of research projects. I recommend you look into it if you regularly do research for yourself or for clients.
Regular price for the software is $297. This software would be a good investment for Virtual Assistants where a significant portion of their services include providing research or information for e-books or articles for clients.
Click
here to purchase and download the software.
If you have any questions regarding this software or how it can be used, please feel free to respond to this thread and I will try to answer them for you.
REVIEW: Research Wizard Pro Software
Linear Mode
