The internet has a lot of information about everything. There is no information you cannot access the internet. By simply using a search engine to search the company name, you will find a lot of information about the company included news about the company and the website of the company if the company has an online presence.
It is important to know that you can get more comprehensive and easy results when you use paid resources to find out information about companies. But you do not have to use paid resources if the information you need is readily available on the internet or not. If you do a diligent search, you can find the information you are looking for without having to pay for it.
To get free information about the company requires an effective search strategy. The internet is littered with loads of information and to get precise information, you need a collection of effective strategies to source the information.
Some online sources you can get free information about companies include company reports, articles about the company, the companys website, free corporate reports, free online directories, free business checking resources, and others.
It is easy to find information about public companies for free, they offer such information for transparency reasons such as a companys annual report. For private companies, it is tricker to find out information for free about them. This is because they are not bound by law to release information about their activities. Never the less, it is still possible to milk the internet for free information about companies (private or public).
The following steps and sources are designed to help you find out information about companies that are on the internet. If the information about the company you are looking for is not on the internet, there is no strategy to help you unearth it online except you do an offline search for it.
Online Resources that offer free company information online
Several databases offer freemium services. You can use them to find free information about companies online. They include Bloomberg, CNBC, corporate information website, Dato Capital, Hover, Open Corporates, and Biz Stats.
Bloomberg offers free company information search services. I recommend using this source if the information you are seeking is relating to the finances of the company. Bloomberg is a financial information provider. You can take advantage of its extensive database on companies to find the information about a company to want.
CNBC is another online source you can use to find information about companies for free. The news company has put together profiles of different companies on its network which you can use to find the information you need.
Corporate Information is an online resource that offers comprehensive information about companies. It has both the freemium and premium packages, with the premium packages offering more benefits. You can use this source to find information about companies from anywhere in the world.
Open Corporate is an excellent resource to use to find information about companies. It arguably has one of the largest databases of companies on the internet. It is a resource you do not want to miss out on.
DatoCapital is another great resource for companies in specific countries such as Spain, Gibraltar, the UK, Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Panama, and the Netherlands.
Hoover only provides the corporate database for companies in the North American continent.
Where else to look for free information about companies
Apart from the online resources listed where you can get free company information online, there are other areas you can look at to help your search. They include the companys website, online directories, online journals, and news agencies, social media pages, and online registers.
- The Companys Website
This source has to be your first destination when you are looking for information about a company online. There is no better source to get information about a company than to get it from the company directly.
When you search a company name online with a search engine or for any random information about the company, one of the first results that will pop up is from the companys website.
Navigate to the companys website and click on the About Us, Mission or Contact Us page for information about what the company is all about and how to contact the company. If you want more information, check for press releases, financial reports, and other news and reports about the company that is available on the website.
The information that a company provides on its website about itself should not be taken lightly. Companies are indeed masters in the art of self-glorification and the information they provide has to be crosschecked, but it is also true they also provide accurate information about themselves. It is best to keep an open mind when viewing information from the companys website.
- Online Directories
This is similar to the online resources mentioned earlier. Online Directories are dedicated sources that provide information about companies. You can filter your search option to be location-specific to help you get a more accurate result faster.
Online Directories contain information about companies such as the addresses of their physical offices, names of directors and their contact lines, links to their websites, contact lines, customer support, and even Google Map plugins to show you the exact location of the company.
- News Agencies
News about companies from trusted online new agencies is another way to get information about companies. Google News, Reuters, and other new agencies provide basic information about the company and let you have a feel for the recent happenings in the companies.
- Social Media Pages
Companies have social media pages to allow them to connect with their target market and customers. You can check the companys social media pages for the latest news, events, and happenings in the company.
There is no single online source that can boost of providing all the information for all the companies in the world. The best you can get is from the companys website and they are only providing information about themselves! When searching for freely available information about companies online, you should use more than one source to get more accurate results.