Want to get in touch with a childhood friend whose old phone is no longer working? Met someone you fancy at a pub but struggling to remember their number? Trying to get hold of someone’s contact details to create a lead database?
In all these instances, how do you find phone numbers? Fortunately, the internet and the digitization of data have made discovering information faster and more seamless than ever before.
So, flipping through dozens of pages of a phone directory has become a thing of the past.
Here are effective ways to uncover an individual’s ten digits online.
Check Personal and Business Websites
Many working professionals, entrepreneurs, and independent service providers (from tax consultants to personal trainers) list their contact details online to network and seek opportunities.
While they may not share their personal ten digits, you can often find dedicated business phone numbers disclosed on public domains. And that should be more than enough for you to connect with them, even for personal reasons.
So, let’s say they own or work for an organization. Then, check their business website for contact details of key executives under the Contact Us and Management Team pages.
If not the number of the individual you are looking for, you might at least find a general hotline or an email address that you can use to reach out to the relevant firm. Hopefully, someone there could get you a direct number to the person in question or have a call connected to them.
Many independent service providers also maintain personal blogs to build their online reputation. It would be worth checking those as well since there is a good chance they might list their ten digits on them for potential clients to get in touch.
Try Your Luck With Social Media
Networking platforms are all about connecting people. So, they can be ideal places to locate contact details of individuals.
There are several ways you can use social media to discover a phone number:
Check Social Media Profiles
If you are already connected with the relevant person on a networking platform, go through the bio section of their profile first. Most people who actively pursue business opportunities on social media would list a contact number there.
Send a DM
Generally, to send a direct message to someone, they must be a first-degree connection of yours. However, some sites like LinkedIn provide specialized paid tools, too, to message those outside your network.
Ask Mutual Connections
Found any mutual friends or associates in the Follower or Friends lists? Then why not reach out to them and check whether they could share a phone number or at least arrange an online introduction?
Try the Search Bar
Almost all social media platforms come with search bars to find specific content on their sites. So, use them and see whether they could uncover a contact number from public profiles, posts, comments, communities, and the like.
Use a Search Engine
Sometimes, a person’s ten digits could be on public directories, news media, marketplaces, and various other online platforms.
But finding them individually could be nearly impossible (and time-consuming, too) if you have no idea what sites to look into.
In such moments, search engines can come to your rescue by retrieving related web content. They do this by indexing trillions of pages and deploying powerful algorithms to find those with content that matches a certain keyword or keyphrase.
Which search engine is best for your information search? Google is the number one choice for many people browsing the web. It currently processes 95.32% and 81.95% of all mobile and desktop searches.
However, checking other search engines like Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo! will not go to waste, either. Each platform uses different techniques and algorithms to index and find information. So, they could each generate different search results for the same search query.
To start your search, you must have a few personal details about the individual you are trying to contact. These can include a full name, company, job title, city, high school, and anything else that could help identify them accurately online. The more details you have, the easier it will be to locate information.
Opt for a People Search Platform
These search tools are different from your regular search engines in several ways.
To begin with, they specifically collect people data to build searchable databases relating to millions of people. And most of them rely on reputed public resources, such as state records, for information.
They also verify what they collect, unlike Google and other search engines, which merely list matching content straight from third-party sources.
Moreover, people search platforms produce information in a report format that contains filtered details about a specific person. This is something search engines will not do. So, naturally, uncovering useful data on them often takes longer.
You can search for phone numbers on people search tools using a first and last name. Depending on the platform, you can also conduct reverse searches with an address, email, social media username, and a variety of other details.
However, most sites will not provide phone numbers alone and, instead, would share detailed reports consisting of an individual’s age, contact details, relatives and associates, assets, criminal records, and other valuable information. And these are usually available for a one-off or monthly fee.
Wrapping Up
Whether you are in search of someone’s phone number for personal reasons or business ones, there are several effective techniques you can use to uncover what you are after online.
Checking personal and business websites and blogs is one such useful method.
Other free search options include social media and search engines. If the relevant individual’s ten digits are mentioned anywhere online, these platforms can likely find them for you.
If you want to discover information quickly and efficiently and don’t mind paying for it, people search directories are the best solution. These platforms often charge for their search services. And in return, they can produce verified and up-to-date details collected from reliable sources.
