It would depend on what type of scent you like. For example, I tend to shy away from vanilla/gourmand scents, but tons of others like them. And, scents smell different on each individual. Body chemistry really is a thing.
Here's what I would do. Go to Sephora a few times to sample various fragrances. Notice what notes are in the ones you like best. Then, go to fragrantica.com and use those notes to search for fragrances that use them. Once you've narrowed it down to a few in your price range, go back and see if you can sample them anywhere. If not, there are sites online that sell samples. One I've used is myperfumesamples.com, but there are others. You'll find a much wider variety of perfumes than are available at Sephora. These samples have saved me from buying perfume blindly that look like they'd be perfect for me from the notes, but actually do not appeal to me at all. I usually try to throw a few wild card samples in there, too. Even though I tend to shy away from gourmands, I love Queen, which is a very inexpensive, long lasting, boozy/rummy/creamy/vanilla scent. I think it was around ten bucks for a tester bottle with a coupon at fragrance.net.
Once you've found your fragrance, don't buy it at Sephora! They are very expensive. I know others swear by eBay, but I use fragrance.net. There are other discount places, too, but I can't vouch for them. I just bought a big bottle of a name brand perfume for a gift. Because they always have sales and codes, I bought this perfume for $48 vs $68 at Sephora. They often have testers, too, which are even cheaper, and they do carry a limited supply of samples. Right now, they are pretty low on samples, and they tend to carry just the same ones, but still usually a pretty good variety. I often use them as fillers for my order. I needed ten more dollars to avoid the around $5 shipping fee, so even though it was an additional net of $5 for me, I happily filled my cart with samples to get to free shipping.
Good luck with your search.
Eta: fragrantica also has user ratings on longevity. I have a guerlain mandarin basil scent that I love, and for the price, it SHOULD be long lasting, but it disappears quickly. Same thing with bath and body works white citrus. I love the scent, but I can douse myself in the stuff and lose the scent half an hour later. Bbw lotions are a better choice for me. Anyhow, if two scents are equal in your mind, ho with the one with better longevity and silage.
They also will list scents that smell similar to the one you are looking at. I didn't buy this myself, but my daughter likes McQueen, by Steve Mcquuen. Super , super expensive. But, the reviews mentioned that madonnas truth or dare, which is inexpensive, smells almost exactly like it.
