According to Business.com, the lasting image of an individual, brand or company is created by first impressions.
Building an image used to mostly depended on word of mouth or acquaintances. That limited your brand’s exposure to a small group of people. Prior to the internet, as we know it today, only larger companies with substantial advertising budgets, or access to celebrities, had the ability to become household names by promoting themselves in traditional media, such as television and newspapers.
Today, digital media has revolutionized exposure and improved access to an individual’s or a company’s profile. Social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube – and search engines – Google, Yahoo, Bing – have disrupted commerce and the global economy by providing instant access to unfiltered information. The first page of search engine results, which generally show news, videos, images and third-party content, now represents a key foundational pillar of company’s overall reputation and brand. Moreover, these results often remain in perpetuity on the internet, unlike in traditional media where the news appeared for a short span. Fortunately, these results can be properly managed and influenced through various tools such as search engine optimization (SEO).