When it’s time to buy a car, there’s a meticulous process we all go through. We look at the top five cars in the class in which we’re interested. We read reviews from credible sources. We ask friends for their opinions. And, something as small as a few miles per gallon can influence the car we choose.

So why wouldn’t you put that much effort into the process of vetting a potential business partner? You say you ran a credit report and called a few references. You’ve done your due diligence, right?

Wrong.

Before you sign any paperwork or enter a business agreement with anyone whose financial success and reputation is tied to yours, you need to do a thorough online search.

Why Search Online First?
You don’t want to invest days and weeks, getting involved with someone who won’t turn out to be the “one.” An online search can:
•Save time. An hour or two on the computer can reveal information that might take weeks to find through other means.
•Save money. Before you pay your lawyers to draw up papers or send someone to do a credit check, it’s more cost-effective to look online for preliminary red flags. If you get the all-clear, you then can send the paid professionals to do the next level of checking.
•Help you from getting emotionally involved with the wrong person. If this sounds like dating or romance, it is – in a way. We tend to get stars in our eyes when we are eager to proceed, but it also means we can overlook important clues. Find out the basic information before you get too entangled.
•Give you the power to decide if you are comfortable or uncomfortable with what you find. If you verify information that reflects the character of the person you are researching, that may be all you need to make your decision.

Remember, finding nothing does not mean the coast is clear. If your online search comes up clean, you still need to proceed with a professional level check.

What Should an Online Search Entail?
The first step is to search the person’s name or the company name. This will bring up the results your search engine – Google, Bing, etc. – thinks are most relevant to you.

You will be fed results that have the context of your location, your online shopping habits and your regular online searches. While this can be useful, it’s also important to see a broader set of search results, which can reveal information your subject may be trying to hide.

1. Look at the first five pages of search results
Don’t just glance at page 1 of the search results and call it good. Find websites associated with or owned by the party you are researching. Read the “About” and “Contact” pages on the company website to be sure the information matches what you think you know. See if the person or company is associated with more than one website, and look at all of them.

2. Review LinkedIn profiles and company pages
Look beyond the online resume and search for a three-dimensional view of the person and their activities. Also, read online content written by or about the person or company. Note whether it seems reputable and is on a respectable website.

3. Search locally
Look for articles in newspapers, business journals and trade magazines in the city where the company is headquartered. Some journals will list tax liens, bids and grants won, contracts assigned, bankruptcy filings, business rankings and other public information.

4. Go incognito
Adopt the incognito mode by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+N. If you are on Chrome, Linux and Chrome OS, a new window will open with a little gray spy icon at the top left of your tabs. 
On a Mac, type Command + Shift + N. You also can click on the menu (stack of three lines) on the right side of your browser bar and access your internet options. There, you can choose “New Incognito Window.” This will allow you to search for results that are not informed by your own online habits.

5. Examine public records
Online information may be very old and cobbled together from various sources, but usually you can see a pattern. If someone you are researching says he is 28 years old and from Topeka, but records show he is 35 and from San Diego, then you want to note that for further checking.

6. Check for popular searches associated with the subject
Next, find out if autofill is activated on your search bar. Type in a popular word like “dogs” and see if a drop-down list of popular searches such as “dogs for sale” and “dogs that bark” is presented to you. If not, you may have to go into your privacy settings and click the option to “use a prediction service to help complete searches…”

As you search your subject or company, pay attention to the auto fill suggestions to see if they lead to negative information.
Also, try typing your question a few different ways to prompt new results. For example, you might search “Company XYZ scams” or “Company XYZ customer reviews” to start the ball rolling. If negative-sounding autofill phrases are dominating, that may not be a good sign.

7. Avoid visiting suspicious websites
If you do a search such as “Company XYZ litigation” or “Company XYZ Department of Justice,” be aware that “link bait” websites may try to lure you in with alarming  information. Do not visit sites that seem scammy or ask you to download anything to see more information.

Also, your subject may have paid to fill the first few pages of search results with positive comments. There are websites that exist only for this purpose and they may have a disclosure that says “Companies may have paid to appear on this website.”
You can use Google’s Advanced Search https://www.google.com/advanced_search to help you locate negative information, even if it’s much lower in the search results.

8. Verify information on reputable websites
Now that your notes are compiled, you will want to double-check areas of concern. For instance, if you notice a high number of crowdsourced complaints on a website such as Yelp, you’ll need to go to a site where you can get reputable data.

For example, even though the Better Business Bureau is a membership site and therefore ultimately biased, it has a good reputation and a broad database. Here are tips on how to use the BBB website:
•Go to the Better Business Bureau website for the state where the company or individual is located, not your own state.
•Search the corporate name as well as all DBAs. If you don’t know the DBAs, you may be able to find them on the state website under business licenses.
•If the company has multiple locations, always check the location of the headquarters first, as this will give you the flavor of the parent company and how they deal with complaints.
•Even though company branches are not normally listed, try anyway. Sometimes company branches are actually independently-owned companies and will show up for their own location.
•The BBB website divides heavily populated states into sections, so you need to search the proper BBB area for that state.
•Getting “no results” for a BBB query does not necessarily mean the company has no complaints. Similarly, if a company has an A+ rating with no complaints shown, it doesn’t mean the company is completely clean.
•If a company has a poor grade with many unresolved complaints, read through them. See if there is a pattern, look for additional customer comments and make notes for further investigation.

Next, go to the attorney general’s website for the state where the company is headquartered. Look for links to the departments that handle consumer affairs, complaints, and litigation by the state against corporations. Search for state websites are not known to be robust, so try different ways to access information if you know it should be there.

If the company or person you are researching has a state-required professional license, that should be on the state website as well. Look for inconsistencies, gaps in accreditation, licenses being revoked or suspended, or comments from licensing boards. If there are gaps, check license information for adjacent states or go back to the person’s LinkedIn profile to see work history.

For companies that are publicly traded, you can find many free and paid website services that pull together information, ratings and trends for investors. If you see conflicting information, try searching the same query but add the current year. Look at the dates on the search returns and try to find the most recent information.

What if the Search Leads to a Dead End?
The beauty and the challenge of the internet is that you can spend hours going down rabbit holes. Try to keep to productive searches. If you seem to be getting nowhere, try these ideas:
•Search the names of the corporate executives.
•Use the “Search Images” feature to look at photos. Not every photo that comes up will be a match. When you find the correct photo, right click on it and choose the option to search the internet. This might lead you to other places where that photo resides, such as a newsletter or an association website.
•Use the “Search News” feature to see if there have been recent articles or press releases.
•Search your own email. Sometimes we forget that we have so much history inside our mailboxes.

What’s Next in the Investigation?
If you don’t find anything negative from your preliminary search, you should continue to follow best practices, such as background checks, credit reports and thoroughly checking references.

The list above was created for researching companies and individuals that you will be doing business with or forming some sort of partnership. Be sure to check with your human resources and legal departments about whether you should research prospective employees in this manner. You’ll want to follow your company guidelines and not expose yourself to a discrimination lawsuit.

Finally, keep in mind that the internet is full of things that may not be true, are totally crazy, and are potentially libelous. Use a research checklist like this one so you have a repeatable process. Remember to double-check information using credible sources and respected reporting agencies.

Next time you are about to sign on the dotted line based on your intuition or “hearing good things” about a person or company, take time to complete a comprehensive online search. Much like researching a car to buy, the information you find may save you from ending up with a clunker.



Rock LaManna, President and CEO of LaManna Alliance, helps printing owners and CEOs use their company financials to prioritize and choose the proper strategic path. Rock can be reached by email at [email protected].