Founder and Creative Lead of Sodus Media, Saidat Sododo, has called on business owners and professionals to strengthen their digital presence, sating that poor or outdated online information could undermine their credibility and cost them potential business opportunities.
Sododo, who made the call in a statement on personal and business branding, said that a strong online presence had become important as prospective customers, employers, investors and business partners relied on digital platforms to assess individuals and organisations before engaging their services.
She explained that people searched Google, visited corporate websites, examined customer reviews and consulted artificial intelligence (AI) tools to obtain information about businesses and professionals.
According to her, incomplete, inconsistent or outdated information could create doubts about a business’s credibility, potentially pushing prospective customers towards competitors with more accessible and reliable online profiles.
“When information is missing, inconsistent, outdated, or unclear, it becomes difficult to form a complete picture,” she said.
Sododo noted that professionals with considerable experience could struggle to attract opportunities if their expertise and achievements were not adequately documented online. Similarly, businesses offering quality products and services could lose customers if they failed to communicate their offerings and competitive advantages effectively.
She identified LinkedIn profiles, personal websites, professional portfolios, published articles and documented achievements as important components of an individual’s digital identity.
For businesses, she recommended maintaining functional websites, Google Business Profiles, credible customer reviews and clear descriptions of their products and services to make it easier for prospective customers to assess their operations.
She also advised professionals to strengthen their online profiles with verifiable evidence of their expertise, including completed projects, academic qualifications, professional certifications and published works.
On personal branding, Sododo said that an effective professional identity went beyond attractive photographs and social media activity, stressing the importance of a consistent narrative supported by relevant experience, demonstrated expertise and measurable achievements.
She urged entrepreneurs, particularly owners of small businesses and startups, to pay closer attention to how their businesses were presented online, saying that a potential customer’s first interaction with a brand often occurred digitally before any physical meeting or telephone conversation.
According to her, businesses should provide accurate information about their products and services, operational locations, target customers and contact channels.
She added that consistent communication across relevant digital platforms could strengthen customer confidence and help businesses establish a recognisable identity in competitive markets.
Sododo further highlighted the importance of visibility in AI-powered search platforms, which summarise information, compare service providers and reference online sources when responding to users’ enquiries.
She, however, cautioned business owners against strategies that promise guaranteed recommendations or citations by artificial intelligence platforms.
“AI visibility is not simply a matter of adding keywords or repeating a business name. It depends on useful information, a clear identity, and credible supporting sources. No strategy can guarantee that an AI system will recommend or cite a particular individual or business,” she said.
To improve digital visibility, she recommended that businesses develop websites and online portfolios that clearly communicate their activities, publish informative content addressing common customer questions, maintain consistent business details across platforms and use verifiable testimonials to support claims about their services.
She also encouraged professionals and entrepreneurs to conduct regular reviews of their online profiles to correct outdated information and address gaps that could affect how prospective clients perceive their businesses.
Sododo said that Sodus Media combines digital branding, website development, user experience research and digital storytelling to help individuals and organisations communicate their expertise and strengthen their online presence.
She maintained that the ultimate objective of digital branding should be to make accurate information about individuals and businesses easier to discover, understand and verify.
