Web With Confidence

If you have a computer and you have just connected to the internet you will want to know how to navigate this new big world which is the World Wide Web. Many people become overwhelmed with going online and surfing the internet. They feel it is very complicated and they have not the skills to do it. This lack of confidence stems from a lack of practice. The reality is that surfing the web is easier than ever. It just needs a little practice and with that you will wonder why you never tried surfing the net earlier.

The following are the 3 basic steps to go through in navigating the web with confidence.

Step 1

The first thing you need to do to enable you to surf the web is an internet browser. When you bought your computer you will probably have a browser that comes with the software packaged already installed. Most commonly the internet browser will is Microsoft's Internet Explorer. On your desktop or Quick Launch Bar there will be the Internet Explorer icon. Start by clicking on this icon.

Step 2

When you click on the icon the Internet Explorer window will appear on your screen. On the top of the screen you will see what is called an address bar. In this box you can type in the address of the website that you want to connect to. A website address is also referred to as an URL. These are easy to recognise as the begin with 'www' followed by the name of the website. If you know the website address or URL of the site you want to go to then type the address into the address bar. If you do not know a website address you can try a few popular sites such as USA Today.com or BBC.com.

Step 3

When you have typed in the website address you can press return and the website will soon appear on your screen. The web page that you will arrive at will be the home page. As with many website pages this will include various types of content. This will include text to read, photos and in some cases videos. You will also notice navigation bars that may appear on either side or along the top or bottom of the webpage. These contain anchor links that will take you to other pages within in the website. Within the navigation bar you will probably see a list of categories relating to different subjects on information the website provides. For example this can include News, Business, Sports or the Weather. It is just a matter of clicking on these category headings to access the information.