Does a Company's Presence Online (or Lack thereof) Affect their Credibility?

Jobs that are related to technology and the humanities have been on the rise. That’s not really news. But sometimes it surprises me just how important things like social media and programming skills have become to companies. Just today, I went to the LDS Publications meeting where they were recruiting interns, and two of those internships are heavily involved with digital media.

Here is a screen shot of the job description. (Sorry if it's a little small. There needs to be an option between large and extra-large sizes for photos on Blogger.)

There’s also a job board called mediabistro online that has an entire section dedicated to posting tech jobs that are related in some way to the media. Again, see the screenshot.

So, yes. We see that those jobs are definitely out there. There is definitely a shift happening. However, I'm noticing that some companies aren't asserting their place in the business world because they aren't taking advantage of the benefits of being online.

I don’t know about you guys, but if I’m looking for services, like to fix my car, I will do a search online first. If there is a mechanic that doesn’t have a website, or just has a basic html-coded website that looks awful (1996 called; it wants its website back), I will often skip over that mechanic in favor of one that has invested more time or money into their website.

I think the fact that a company’s credibility is starting to be based on the content they have online is a huge deal, for the customers and the company. Word of mouth is no longer quite as literal; people look for reviews online from different people or do a little bit of research to make sure it’s going to fit their needs. If a company doesn't have a website to be the first tell people what their company is, it may result in a loss of valuable business.

So, here’s my plea if anyone is trying to start a business that needs to present itself to customers or other businesses. Invest time into things like the website and social media. Companies need to be just as involved with people online as they are in person if they want a better chance at succeeding.