How to Lookup Phone Numbers
A while ago it was incredibly easy to find a phone number and its owner – phone books and directories provided local listings and owners of phone numbers. Today, however, the phone books are nearly extinct and most of them only have landline numbers or business numbers. So in these modern times you’re probably asking yourself – how do I lookup phone numbers?
Well worry no longer, you’ve come to the right place! Today we’re going to take a look at some great ways to do it successfully, ensuring that you get the information you need.
As we’ve mentioned in our previous “best-of” article, ReversePhoneCheck is the best service to use but even then, there are other useful tips and tricks you can learn to make your searches more successful.
Let’s begin!
How to Look Up Phone Numbers
Today, there are numerous ways of looking up phone numbers, all thanks to the internet. Be it a reverse phone check or a simple lookup, you may not only find out the individual’s phone number but also the address, email, social media accounts and more.
Although there are a sea of options, let’s take a look at the most effective ones and how to use them.
How to Look Up Personal Phone Numbers
Using Google
A simple search of the full name and zip code on Google provides the contact information and a map of that individual’s area of residence. I found this method more effective if that person has input the phone number on the internet. Sometimes, a simple search of that person’s name also shows the contact information. You just need to type in the name on Google’s search box.
A while ago, Google had set up an official phonebook search that helped users find phone numbers but they deactivated this feature following numerous complaints from users. Even then you should remember that this feature can be used by request with the help of legal authorities if it ever comes to that point so it can still be useful if you’re facing some serious annoyance or anonymous threats.
This also works with reverse phone lookups, of course, if you simply type in the number and give it a search. You might find some great results.
Using Number Look Up Search Engines
Certain search engines are specifically designed to help you find an individual’s contact information. These search engines not only provide an individual’s phone number, but their address, business contact resources and social networking updates (if their owner has any social accounts).
PeekYou, for example, is a search engine designed to search for usernames across different social networking communities. It provides additional information concerning a person’s latest activity on the web using the username.
Another example of such a search engine, more focused on businesses, is LinkedIn. It helps users to identify other people in similar networks and obtain useful personal information about them, including phone numbers.
The best one by far, if you want to perform a reverse check to find info based on a number, is the ever popular ReversePhoneCheck that you can find here. It’s quick, easy to use and beautifully effective (for US based numbers).
Using Zabasearch
Zabasearch can be used to find personal information, including the physical address, birth date and more, by using only a phone number or vice versa. While it’s not insanely effective, it’s still free and it uses freely accessible public domain records – including phone directories, court records, yellow pages, property records, social networking profiles, voter registration records and personal sites.
The search engine does not host the information itself but provides a central location for you to find all the data. You can take a look at this video to see how it works:
For a phone search, you only need to type in that person’s first and last name and the state (not always necessary). The search results will show the individual’s phone number (of course), date of birth, zip code, address and property data. The information is available for free although ff you are looking for additional information, e.g., a brief background check or to verify the email address, Zabasearch may charge a small fee.
Facebook is a great way of finding a person’s phone number using an email address, name or common connection like a college, workplace or other organisations. Simply input the number (or any other info you have) on the search bar and you’re good to go. If the person has ever put any of the related info up on the website then you’ll most likely get a match.
If not, you’re out of luck but hey – why not give it a try? These days people expose a lot of information on social media so your chances are fairly good.
How to Look Up Business Phone Numbers
Using Google
Google still comes in handy when searching for business phone numbers. Type in the business name and the zip code and Google provides the contact information. If you don’t know the name of the organisation, type in the type of business and zip code.
For example, if you are looking for a specific auto-shop in your area, type the word auto-shop and the zip code. Google shows the local auto-shops in the area, including maps, addresses, emails and website URLs.
Another method of finding the business number using Google is typing the type of business and the name of the city. Using the previous example, you will substitute the zip code with the name of that city, i.e., Los Angeles auto-shops.
If what you want is to find a business’ information by using their number (a reverse phone lookup) then everything works exactly the same – simply type it on the search bar and give it a go.
Searching Within Website
Most companies include their contact numbers on their websites. However, a simple web search does not always show this number. Users can find the contact information by typing the site’s URL along with the phrase “/contact-us” at the end (with the dash included). For example, “examplecompany.com/contact-us”.
It allows you to search within the site’s Contact Us page, which shows the relevant information. You can also use terms like Support, Help, About Us or a combination of the three along with the site’s URL.
Most often than not though, the website will have a “contacts” page on the front, clearly visible and accessible.
How to Reverse Look Up Phone Numbers
Naturally, we like investigating phone numbers from unknown people. A reverse phone lookup provides a simple way of tracking such numbers as we’ve mentioned above. You can type the phone number on a search engine, an online directory or use a dedicated service to find out the owner of that particular number.
Using Google and Facebook
For the basic starting step you can conduct a reverse phone number lookup using both Google and Facebook. While it may not be very effective, you might be surprised at the results.
A while ago, Google set up a phonebook search operator to conduct reverse phone lookups but the service was terminated in 2010 due to the large numbers of people who sent requests to be removed from its index. Google has developed other ways for users to conduct reverse phone lookups though, let’s take a look at them:
Typing the Phone Number on Google’s Search Box
The phone number should be listed on several phone directories, and if it is a business number, Google will display the specific business using that number. However, if it is a personal number or that belonging to a private address, the search results will display other platforms the user has listed. For example, if the individual has listed it on a Facebook profile, Google will direct you to this social media platform.
Perform a Free Phone Number Search
You can also use Google to perform a free phone number and address search if you have that individual’s name. Type that person’s name and zip code, e.g., Louis Johnson 22543 on Google’s search bar and search. Sometimes Google’s results will display the phone number, name, address and a map showing the individual’s area of residence – although this is very, very rare.
Note that the reverse techniques highlighted are only effective for numbers listed on the web. Those not listed on the web, especially if it originates from a cell phone, are not likely to be found online just by using Google or Facebook.
Using Reverse Phone Look Up Services
The best choice, as expected, is to use a dedicated service to find information. They’re much more effective, give tons of information, have massive databases and seriously increase your chance of success.
Although we’ve already covered which ones are the best in our review article, the top recommendation is ReversePhoneCheck if the number is from the US. Their quality and value is unbeatable!
Conclusion
With these few pointers, you now know how to look up phone numbers and how to reverse lookup a phone number effectively. Apart from Google, you can use reliable search engines and dedicated services to get some valuable additional information concerning the individual in question.
Thanks for reading!
