Search Engine Journal published a helpful article concerning a website’s bounce rate

While SEJ mentions a few things to lower bounce rate, I believe the most problematic is content. In most cases, there are two primary culprits-lack of consistent content creation and content that fails to interest the end user. Content creation, aka writing, takes time and effort. It can be painful at times to create good content that is both compelling and informative to the audience. I’ve always believed a good writer is a good reader. One who reads every day and whose reading is varied is exposed to a plethora of ideas for generating new content.

For those who are responsible for generating new content, it might be helpful to set aside a specific time of day for reading and writing. This time should be a dedicated space of time, at least a few hours, and should be quiet time so that the creative juices are allowed to flow.

Some things change as technology evolves. However, some things never change. Good communication, especially in the written form, requires time, attention to detail, and a mind that has been fed from many sources.

Content Related Bounce Rate Issues and How to Fix Them is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

If your website is large, make sure you have a site search box placed prominently in the upper right corner of the home page so that visitors can easily search for specific topics that interest them.  Also, make sure to construct an easily navigable site map so that content doesn’t get lost or is difficult to find.

These few tips along with those mentioned by Search Engine Journal will improve your content rate optimization and will give you the opportunity to acquire new business.

Conversion Rate Optimization-How You Can Improve and Get More Customers is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

The second article published the very same day, “The Workplace Benefits of Being Out of Touch” chronicled the tangible benefits from disconnecting from work email, cell phone, and cyberspace in general.  While the ability to communicate and respond to work demands has been generally viewed as a positive, there are certain limitations and harmful side effects to this hypervigilance.  “MOST people I know feel too connected — not to family or friends, but to electronic devices like smartphones and computers. They feel a need to check e-mails, texts and social networks almost constantly on the off chance that an emergency has popped up in the last five minutes that they absolutely, positively have to address.

Most people I know also would like to feel less connected to those devices. They realize that they could go an hour or a day — or (gasp!) even longer — without going online, but two things prevent it: constantly checking our texts and e-mails has become like a tic, or a hard habit to break; and most of us feel that if everyone else is available 24 hours, then we have to be, too.”

Over time, this perception that one has to be “on” 24/7 harms personal relationships as well as career productivity.  While our culture has been imbued with a strong work ethic, a healthy balance has often been victimized by the exaggeration of this ethic.  Some business owners have recognized the importance of their employees disengaging from work life.  They recognize that those workers who are constantly responding to emails, voicemails, and work demands are less likely to be creative, thoughtful and productive.  Their energy is sapped by this constant need to stay in touch.  The Times article notes, “At the beginning of 2012, Volkswagen reached an agreement with a small portion of its work force to stop the e-mail server for employees who used BlackBerrys 30 minutes after their shift ended and restore it half an hour before work began the next day.

As Roger Cohen wrote in a Times Op-Ed piece, “It’s a start in encouraging employees to switch off, curb the twitchy reflex to check e-mail every couple of minutes and take a look out at things — like family and the big wide world — without the distraction of a blinking red light.”

This notion has not caught on in all spheres of the business community, but some are beginning to consider the notion.  Those who have embraced this new work/life balance purport to be happier, more creative, and even more productive.  “When you work with people in the criminal defense world, you are providing counseling in some sense,” Mr. Fleming said. “They want someone to hear them, listen to them, not judge them, be that rock in the storm. And I’ve always been fascinated at how well the brothers listen.”

More personally, Mr. Fleming resolved to run his law firm on the principle of limits. The office opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. The time before and after belongs to his family, and his daughter, Sarah, now a college student, still lives with him. He meditates for 20 minutes each day, attends church every Sunday and spends several days every few months at some monastic community. His law practice, far from suffering, has grown.”

Not a bad thing at all.

Tuning Out to Tune In is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

This example is relevant for any industry that competes online for customers or clients.  It’s relevant for companies selling products or offering services.  If your company hasn’t begun a consistent and well-written content marketing campaign, why not?

Consistent Content Marketing Strategy Pays Off When It’s Time to Target a Niche Market is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

If you’re writing content for a law firm, for instance, write original commentary on a case, a legal precedent, or a trending story in the daily news cycle.  There’s absolutely no excuse not to do this.  If you consistently blog or publish articles that are fresh and insightful, the search engines will pick them up and your potential clients will recognize you as an industry leader.

Besides the obvious “external” marketplace benefit to regular content, there’s a huge SEO (search engine optimization) and social media benefit to it.  Good content functions much the same way gasoline functions in a car.   Content provides the fuel for a strong SEO campaign and provides the search engine with material with which it can rank your website or blog.

Content is Still King in Online Marketing is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

The answers to this question are many and varied.  However, I’d like to address one important one.  First, I’ll start with a real world analogy.  Fred Ruckelhaus (a fictional character) wakes up one day and realizes he has no friends.  He’s been so self-absorbed and so driven to succeed professionally that he hasn’t bothered to form the types of bonds that lead to lasting friendships.  He’s a material success but a social disaster.  He decides to change all that and vows to make friends using the same methods that have brought him professional success.  He’s aggressive and tenacious and pursues conversations with people with the same vigor he’s used in the workplace.  Fred is puzzled and disappointed when his efforts don’t produce the desired results.  In fact, quite the opposite happens-he drives people away from him.  Fred seeks out a wise old man who tells him that he’s going about it all wrong.  He’s too eager, too aggressive.  The wise man tells him to go back out there and start fresh.  He takes the wise man’s advice and starts engaging his co-workers by listening to them and letting them talk.  He finds this to be frustrating but after a few months, it begins to work.  Co-workers start inviting him places.  Fred begins the journey of friendship.

Social media can be similar to Fred and his situation.  It only works when you are actively engaged and interested in others.  I find it interesting when political candidates who’ve had no prior experience with Facebook all of a sudden join FB and start asking people to donate to their campaigns or volunteer.  Very often, they are frustrated that they don’t get much of a response.  They fail because they’ve skipped over the most important aspects of the social media phenomenon.  It’s clear they don’t really want to engage and dialogue with their friends, they just want something.  That doesn’t work in real life and it doesn’t work in social media.  Social media is intended to initiate dialogue and a give-and-take.  If you’re not interested in that, social media won’t work.

I mentioned political candidates but the same holds true for businesses using social media.  Businesses that are using Facebook and Twitter just to increase sales, won’t get anywhere.  First, they have to get involved in the community and listen to their potential customers.  Social media sites are not sales platforms.  They are also not a “quick fix” to your marketing problems.  A good social media campaign takes time, just as real life human friendships take time and effort.

Why Isn’t Social Media Working for Me? is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

1)Know Thy Medium-social media such as Facebook and Twitter are public forms of communication.  They are not proper forums for all communication.

2)“Friends” and “Likes”- this should be obvious but it worth repeating in the light of Weinergate.  Just because some accept your “friend” request on Facebook or retweets your message on Twitter doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve formed a meaningful, human bond with that person.  Recognize the limitations to that “friend” or “like” and act accordingly and appropriately.

3)Discretion is the Better Part of Valor-it sounds old fashioned but it remains a true and valid axiom for good human communication.  Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean it has to be expressed.

4)Social Media: Character’s Electronic Log Book-funny thing about social media, it’s permanent.  Once you tweet, post a photo or a remark, it’s out there permanently for all to see.  That says something about who you are and your character.  Be careful!

5)Creating more Heat than Light-while there are many positive benefits to social media, there’s also a sinister side that can bring out the worst in people.  Just browse your Facebook or Twitter account and it’s readily manifest.  Some will post just to post-screaming to the world “Look at Me!  Pay attention to Me!  I’m important!”  Perhaps that was part of what was going on with former Rep. Weiner.  In any case, it’s sad and pathetic and debases him and everyone with whom he communicates.

Technology is a good and beneficial thing.  However, it will never replace good old-fashioned values such as honesty, integrity, and character.  Those human values are forged in the building of long-lasting human relationships, both personally and professionally.  A true friend isn’t someone who “friends” you on Facebook or “likes” your Facebook business page.  A real friend is someone who suffers with you in bad times and rejoices with you in good times.  Most importantly, a friend is someone who tells you when you’ve made a mistake and need to change your ways.  For all his Facebook friends and Twitter followers, no one stood with Anthony Weiner when he had to face the music.  That says more about his character than his online persona.

5 Things Anthony Weiner Teaches Us About Social Media is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

I often tell my clients that what they say and do on social media sites will last forever and can be used against them.  I know for a fact some employers check a prospective employee’s Facebook account before making a decision to hire.  I know lawyers who’ll check Facebook and Twitter accounts before taking a deposition of a witness.

A public person such as Rep. Weiner should have known better.  His error was compounded when he wasn’t truthful initially about what happened.  His staff can’t be blamed for offering bad counsel since it appears he mislead them as well.  Weiner not only broke the new mores of social media but the oldest rules in public relations crisis management-tell the truth, get the facts out there and take your medicine.  Deceit and lies will only make the crisis larger and perhaps beyond fixing.

Anthony Weiner and the Powerful Reach of Social Media is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

In the end, what you want is to keep your clients happy.  If you’re not willing to compromise and meet your clients’ needs, you won’t have them in the long run.

How to Get What You Want and Keep Clients Happy is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.

The email is another matter.  I won’t go into the details.  Suffice it to say a consultant was whining to his client (never a good idea) about how much he’s invested in the client’s company and how he becomes emotional and threatened by competitors.  Presumably, the writer is trying to gain the trust and loyalty of the client.  Most likely, the consultant looks weak and paranoid.  Rather than focus on the task at hand, the consultant moves to the personal appeal (perhaps because his results are lacking?).  It’s a mistake and any good business owner recognizes it.

Both examples demonstrate why it’s crucial to leave emotion out of the equation when dealing with a business situation.  Gather the data, analyze it, and formulate a strategy to move forward.  That’s what is required and what is expected.  Emotion shouldn’t factor into the equation.  If you’re that consultant, employee or Major League starting pitcher, give your best effort, use all your skills, and leave the emotion at home.  If you don’t you’re not being fair to the business who hired you.  More importantly, you can’t give your best effort when emotions cloud the situation.  Most importantly, you can’t learn from your mistakes and improve.

It’s Not Personal, It’s Business is a post from Pinellas Management Consultants.