Just as in private life, first impressions in the very public life of business are very important. Creating that positive, trustworthy and value-laden image for your company is essential to success. Today the battleground is not only a storefront window, or a company's print and billboard ads, but its "always on" and highly visible website. The Internet revolution revolutionized public relations, along with everything else.

It is up to you, if you have an online business (or any kind of business with a website, which means most), to decide how much or little you want to care about your image. It can be a superficial one or range all the way to the kind of image that is in constant flux, neither extreme being a recommended way to deal with the issue. Your image will definitely affect how you are received and related to by others, including both vendors and customers.

The corporate view

At the so-called "corporate level," brand image is something than can be elusive even as it is essential. In some ways, it is an insurance policy that a firm and its leaders cannot afford to be without. When you think about it in terms of your online business, your "perfect face" actually has to do with a number of things that are not exclusively visual in nature. Unless your business is tied to you directly (you're an actor, author, etc.), then the business image is separated somewhat from your personal image. Still, this strategic and goal-oriented outlook depends on the people that your company employs, and that are presented to the public.

Customers make decisions to buy based on a number of factors, including reputation, perceived safety, unique services and, of course, cost. The way these intangibles are presented to the buying public is very important, and that is why the field of branding and image management is booming. Effective communication is essential in every business today, crucially so for online ones.

These are the things to keep in mind as you consider how to present that perfect face to the world. Do some reading in these areas, but don't get stuck in the "philosophical phase" and argue with yourself (or your partners) about various ideas and fads and trends. Try to get a simple, working understanding of what it means to have a consistent, across-the-board company identity, and start making simple moves to improve the face you present to the world over the Internet.

What to do

Before you can know what to correct, and what to introduce, you have to know what you are presently doing wrong, as well as what is likely to work. Therefore, you have to undertake some sort of analysis of your current image. You need to remember that any changes you make to an online image via your website will have to be reflected in all your non-online materials and activities. You must consider your image management, and your "online face makeover," as part of an overall plan, and not an independent, unconnected action.

As mentioned previously, it is not all image-related, and there is more to making the good first impression that pleasing earth tones and great graphics. You need your online presence to be efficient for the visitor, and certainly the look of your site is important. In addition, the "feel" is important too (hence all the talk about, and lawsuits over, "look and feel"), meaning the time it takes pages to load, the speed of the hyperlinks, the design of the pages, the ease of site navigation and so forth. When you do your research in this area, make sure to read about "efficient" sites and web pages, and not just "attractive" ones.

How to do it

You will also have to contend with a variety of opinions on how best to accomplish a site makeover, or (if you are just starting out) how to create a site that is easy to update, revise, refine and/or improve. Perhaps you should introduce your new look in a gradual (or "graduated") manner, but some experts will tell you to bite the bullet and spring an entirely new look on your visitors all at once. The more you know about your own customers and the reasons they are buying from you currently, the less likely it is that you will introduce counterproductive features or design elements.

If you have not created customer profiles or studied the reasons for your site's success (or lack thereof), it is never too late to begin. You really do need to base your changes, or initial site construction, on facts about customers rather than suppositions. The best way to do that for an existing site, of course, is to gather and store information on your customers and analyze it nine ways from Sunday, as they say. You can, of course, use broader assumptions and more general goal setting, but there is nothing like real-world data from real, buying customers to let you know the best way to proceed.

Don't rush into it, and try to hedge your bets as best you can. However, once you decide just what that "perfect face" for your online business is, start making the changes that will ultimately result in a new, improved look. Don't forget that "look" is tied directly to "feel," and that your site's ease of use will contribute to efficiencies noted by both buyers and your own online staff. The final reminder would be that this is a continuous process. You may not perform drastic makeovers very often, but should always be alert to changes that can be made for better efficiency. This means, of course, tracking customers and noting how site dynamics affect sell-through, site click-throughs and every other measurable action. Stay on top of this action, and you will know what action to take as regards the "face" your firm shows the world over the Internet.