Example data compression methods disclosed herein include determining a first hash chain index corresponding to a first position in an input data buffer based on a first group of bytes accessed from the input data buffer beginning at a first look-ahead offset from the first position. If a first hash chain (indexed by the first hash chain index), does not satisfy a quality condition, a second hash chain index corresponding to the first position in the input data buffer based on a second group of bytes accessed from the input data buffer beginning at a second look-ahead offset from the first position is determined. The input data buffer is searched at respective adjusted buffer positions to find a second string of data bytes matching a first string of data bytes and information related to the second string of data bytes is provided to an encoder to output compressed data.