6 Signs a Lead Generation Agency Is the Real Deal Posted on June 14, 2019June 7, 2019 by Jessica Lunk Lead generation is a tremendous, time-consuming job. So much so that many companies forego most of the process altogether or leave their lead generation efforts to an outsourced partner. While a lead generation agency isn’t for every business, there’s certainly something to be said for many companies off-loading this cumbersome task to an organization that specializes in it. If you find a business relationship that works, your sales team and bottom line will appreciate not only the quality customers it can bring but the free time to follow-up on these potential clients as well. Choosing a lead generation agency can be a bit of a daunting task. Even a well-reviewed, reputable company may not be a good fit for your organization. You’ll want to consider their reputation, experience, and of course pricing before sealing the deal. So, what are some signs that a lead generation agency is a good fit to do business with? 1. Your niches align. If your company is in the business of, say, selling office supplies to other organizations, a lead generation agency that specializes in business-to-consumer transactions probably won’t have the skills you need. Also, if you sell large ticket items in a retail store, a company that specializes in leads for e-commerce operations isn’t the best fit. The lead generation agency doesn’t necessarily have to have experience in your exact same industry (though it’s helpful). What they do need, though, is experience in the same type of selling model. 2. They provide high-quality, exclusive leads. You’re spending hard-earned money on this service. There are a lot of companies out there that will simply try to sell you a list of names and numbers. These names and numbers have been sold countless times to other companies (and rarely do they want to hear from you!). A list of random names pulled from some demographics from an internet database isn’t a good use of your funds or time. A high-quality lead is one that has been picked just for your company. Often, these are leads that have willingly signed up on the web or at events. These leads will not only be tailored to your company but will be qualified for the type of sale you’re looking to make. If they’re a great lead generating company, they will have contacted the lead over the phone and confirmed that the potential customer fits the needs and financial commitments of your services before they’re ever handed over to you. Finally, these high-quality leads will be exclusive to your company. After all, if you spent the money to have this agency find and qualify these people, you certainly don’t want them shared with your competitors. 3. Their policies are fair. It’s important to talk to any potential lead generation agency about their business policies—for example, refunds. If they send you a lead that hasn’t been qualified, has a disconnected phone number, or is otherwise not worth your time, will they refund you? What will they do to compensate you? It’s critical to discuss these matters with a lead agency before signing a contract. If they seem shifty or defensive about this line of questioning, they’re probably a bad egg. 4. Their expertise is clear from the get-go. Most lead agencies that are worth their salt will spend time talking about their knowledge on the internet. Take a really deep look at their website. Do they share any great articles, eBooks, or white papers that show just how enthusiastic they are about the industry? Once you have an idea of the knowledge they should have, prepare a list of questions related to the industry. You don’t have to grill the poor people aggressively, but pepper in specific thoughts and queries about their areas of expertise in person or over the phone. You’re checking for casual, off-the-cuff answers with solid, confident explanations. If they can’t back up what they’re saying online, you may want to pass on the agency. 5. You’re connected through company cultures. Company culture is vital to many businesses, especially in this day and age. Your corporate structure, beliefs, and goals are often intertwined with your office’s day-to-day workings. To find not only leads that align with your business goals but working agency partners that reflect your core beliefs, it’s essential to consider the company culture of the organization you want to partner up with. Many companies express their culture on their website through passionate “about” pages and belief statements. Take time to read up on the company and feel free to ask to meet at their office to see their culture for yourself. If distance makes that impossible, video meetings can help bridge the gap. 6. Their technology is up-to-date. Lead generation in the modern day often makes use of robust digital tools that agencies utilize to find, track, and manage the different areas of their service. Whatever means they use should be recent and easy to integrate with the CRM of your choosing. Be sure to ask about the technology toolkits the agency uses and spend time researching them. Feel free to ask detailed questions about how they work and how their data will integrate with your systems. Not every company needs a lead generation agency, but a working partnership can be a significant step toward substantial earnings and a happy sales force. Just remember to do your research and take your time when selecting the right agency for your company.
How to Write B2B Emails That Convert Posted on June 13, 2019June 6, 2019 by Guest Author There’s nothing more frustrating than pouring countless hours and dollars into your email marketing and getting nothing in return. Studies show that email generates $44 for every $1 you spend, so why isn’t this the case for you? The answer to writing B2B emails that convert isn’t action – it’s strategy. So if you’re not setting goals for campaigns and tweaking your approach as you A/B test your emails, you’ll never get the chartbusting ROI that email marketing promises. Here’s everything you need to know about writing emails that not only get opened, but also convert. What Do Conversions Look Like? Email conversions aren’t just purchases – they’re any action you want your recipient to take. Many marketers get so caught up in the revenue aspect that they fail to utilize email for other purposes. But if you expand your definition of conversion to include other actions like scheduling a meeting or reading a blog on your website, you’ll have a better grasp on your engagement levels and overall campaign effectiveness. What Makes a B2B Email Effective? Creating B2B emails that convert is an art, given that there’s no single definition or formula that guarantees success. But it’s also a science, since you can see recurring elements that make some emails more effective than others. Intention High-converting emails are clearly defined by a single goal or objective. They don’t overwhelm the recipient with extraneous details or multiple calls-to-action. A request for a meeting or invitation to a webinar creates a clearly-defined action that lets the recipient know exactly what you want them to do. Confidence Emails should build trust between the sender and the recipient, especially if you have no existing relationship with your prospects. Many businesses use professional email platforms rather than personal email addresses that could end up in spam folders. An email verification tool can also help you avoid ending up in junk mail when sending mass messages. Branding Strong branding can help build the recipient’s confidence in your message and company as a whole. You want them to know with no uncertainty where the email came from. Even if they don’t take action, they’ve gained an impression of your brand. With enough emails, they’ll become more familiar with your company and what you can offer them. Personalization In the past, all you needed to personalize an email was a name; but in 2019, that’s not enough. Studies show the effects of personalization on email marketing, particularly the campaigns that make product recommendations based on a user’s activity. Personalized messages see a 14% boost in clicks and a 10% jump in conversions. Types of B2B Emails That Spur Conversions The biggest goal of email marketing is engagement. Here are a few common examples of high-converting campaigns: Activation Welcome new users that just signed up for your email newsletter, product, or service. Capitalize on their interest to help them explore your company and brand, and set expectations moving forward. Invitation to Connect Take a page from LinkedIn’s playbook by sending emails to grow your network. Ask prospects to get involved with you on social media and show them why they’ll want to. Special Offer If you’re having a free trial or special pricing on your products or services, let your recipients know about it. The key is to make this offer stand out from other offers. Let them know what makes the offer so valuable and why you chose them to receive it. Curated Content People sign up to receive emails from you because of the value they expect you to deliver. It’s not always easy to come up with your own content that people will want to read, so consider curating content from other sources that speaks to their needs. Best Practices for Writing and Sending High-Converting Emails What you say, when you say it, and where you say it creates the ultimate email copy trifecta that will either kill your conversions or send them soaring. Put these best practices for writing high-converting copy into motion: Prioritize the Subject Line and Display Text Most people treat the subject line as an afterthought, but it’s the first thing your reader sees. A strong subject line can be the difference between an opened email and a deleted one. Also, take care when writing your display text. This section acts as a teaser for what’s inside, so front-load the good stuff to increase your open rate. Integrate With Your CRM Your CRM is rich in customer data that can help you personalize your emails and increase conversions. For example, if your customer has bought a certain product in the past and it goes on sale, you can send them an email telling them to stock up. A CRM can also track email activity so you can strengthen future efforts. Add Value to Each Message Every email should answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” For example, are you offering the recipient a special discount or coupon? Are you sharing a blog post that will help them solve a problem? Your primary goal for every email should be to gain trust. From there, you can build a mutually-beneficial relationship with your audience where sales become a natural by-product. Keep It Short Businesspeople are busy and don’t have time to read every email that comes through the inbox. Compared to the 88 emails a consumer gets each day, most business accounts will get about 121 emails per day. Keep the copy concise and make it easy for them to take action. Empower Your B2B Email Marketing Strategy Improving your email conversions doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a focused, dedicated strategy that helps you connect your actions to the end result. If what you’re currently doing isn’t working, it’s never too late (or too early) to change it. Continue to test and refine your strategy until you discover how to not only connect with your audience, but also make them want to connect with you, too. About the Contributor Sujan Patel is a partner at Ramp Ventures and has over 14 years of marketing experience. He has led the digital marketing strategy for companies like Salesforce, Mint, Intuit and many other Fortune 500 caliber companies.
Agency Owners: How to Properly Prepare Your Business For Exit Posted on June 12, 2019April 13, 2021 by Jonathan Herrick You’ve invested a great deal of time, money and effort into your agency, but maybe you’re thinking you want to sell your business, retire, or at least move on to something new. Selling an agency like yours isn’t something to rush into. In fact, it’s smart to have a well-considered exit strategy in place. If you aren’t sure how to prepare your agency for your exit, here are a few suggestions that should put you on the right track. Planning Your Exit Selling your agency and leaving the company is a big step that you should carefully prepare for. Before you even start looking at possible buyers, plan your exit strategy and determine exactly how you want things to go. You also need to decide whether you wish to have any lingering connections with the company or if you want your exit to be a full withdrawal from the agency. When considering the extent of your stepping aside, here are a few of the options: Step down from ownership. You’re leaving your ownership position but may retain some other role within the company (possibly on a part-time basis). Take a board position. You’re leaving the agency but will still retain a seat on the board of directors or other advisory board. Serve as a consultant only. You’re leaving the agency but will retain a role as an outside consultant, available to give advice or assist with certain tasks on an as-needed, paid (or not) basis. Make a full exit. You’re leaving the agency completely and will not have any continuing connections with it (other than hoping for its continued success). Depending on the specifics of your agency and how things run, you may have a few other options as well. Ensuring Agency Stability One of the big things you’ll want to do when preparing to exit your agency is to make sure that things will continue running smoothly after you leave your ownership role. This means that your employees should have well-defined roles and job security through the transition. Even in those instances where some employees fill multiple roles within the agency, do your best to clearly define what it is that they do so potential buyers will know exactly who is doing what within the company. The better you can define these roles, the less likely it is that a buyer will shake things up when taking over operations. This is also the time when you should put a hard focus on locking in long-term clients and ensuring revenue streams moving forward. The more you can do to establish recurring revenue and long-term profitability now, the easier it will be to show that your agency is a good value for any potential buyers. Getting Things in Order As soon as you decide that you want to exit the company, start getting all of your paperwork and accounting in order so that it’s easy for potential buyers to understand. Bring your accountant and lawyer in to help with this, since they’ll have a greater insight into your finances and the legal obligations of your role within the agency. As everything becomes organized, take the time to create a summary or other report for potential buyers to highlight the key factors of your business. This will serve as a helpful reference when digging into paperwork and financials and will also make it easy for you to show your agency’s profitability and potential without having to dive deep into your accounts and data. Getting the Best Offers Getting the best offer for your agency may involve a lot of negotiation and possibly a few false starts. Research buyers who you think would be a good fit for your agency and approach them first. Detail your agency as an investment opportunity, showing its profitability and customer satisfaction as key selling points. Explain your reasons for wanting to leave the agency and what you plan to do afterward, and be prepared for potential buyers to ask for things like a no-compete contract or other guarantee that you aren’t going to turn around and become direct competition for the agency you’re leaving. Finding the right buyer may take some time, and you may need to open things up and solicit bids from other interested parties. But the time you put into finding offers will help ensure that you get the best return on your investments over the years. Completing Your Exit Once you’ve made sure your employees are taken care of, gotten all of your paperwork and financials in order and found the perfect buyer, all that’s left to do is complete the sale and follow your exit plan. Some agency owners find this to be the hardest part, but at this point, you’ve done all you can to prepare. Now you just need to go through with it and move on to that next big project that’s waiting in the wings.
6 SMB Organization Tools to Help You Work Smarter, Not Harder Posted on June 10, 2019February 19, 2021 by Allie Wolff Being organized can be an absolute game changer in the business world. But for some folks, this fundamental skill doesn’t come naturally. Luckily, there are plenty of tools, apps and software solutions that have been specifically created to help people optimize their daily routines. Whether you’re among those who are organizationally challenged or you could just use a little improvement in this area, we’ve rounded up six of the best organizational tools for you to try. Trello If you’ve got a team of employees working at your business, Trello can make managing everyone infinitely easier and more efficient. You can use this platform a number of ways, from brainstorming ideas and sharing notes and files to assigning tasks and tracking progress. Using a tool like Trello helps everyone stay on track and provides great visibility into the company workflow. Google Docs Google Docs is a great free online tool for organizing and sharing files and documents. Team members can collaborate in real-time and access the same data from anywhere, which makes it ideal for companies that have remote workers. You can also control who has access as well as how much functionality each user can have (i.e. ability to comment vs. edit, etc.). BenchmarkONE Another great tool for staying organized at work is BenchmarkONE. With BenchmarkONE, you can keep tabs on all of your contact information, customer engagement data, email communication, sales tracking and more in one app. Keep your team connected, stay on top of your prospects and customers, build better relationships and manage your sales process, all in one simple-to-use, centralized dashboard. OneNote Taking notes is important, whether you’re interviewing someone, drafting an email or brainstorming ideas. Microsoft OneNote is a cloud data management system that enables you to create, access and share your notes across all of your devices. There’s even the option to import texts and emails. Never lose important information again. Penzu Penzu is a personal organization software that works sort of like an electronic day planner. It’s available for use on just about any device and/or operating system and comes in both free as well as subscription-based professional options. Make entries into your journal, receive reminders about important dates and events, and more. Habitty Experts say it takes 21 days to build a habit. That means in less than a month, you could be performing better in just about any area of your life. But in order to get there, you have to stay committed to doing certain things every day. Habitty is a cool app that lets you track your daily activities so that you can achieve your long-term goals. Of course, these are just a handful of the hundreds of different organization management tools available. Choosing the right one for your needs is the key. To improve your chances of success, write down your goals and budget. This should help you determine what types of apps, software and platforms make the most sense, as well as whether or not a paid subscription is worth the investment. Do your homework and take advantage of free trials when available. You’re sure to find the perfect solution for your business.
5 Secrets to Selling to C-Suite Execs Posted on June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 by Tegan Arnold Selling to high-level prospects can be an intimidating experience. And if you feel this way, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, research indicates that only 31% of salespeople are capable of effectively communicating with senior executives. Yet, overcoming this obstacle can make a significant difference in both your sales and your subsequent income. Let’s take a look at five critical tips for successfully selling to a c-suite buyer. Think like an executive. If you’ve spent any time in sales, you probably already know the importance of putting yourself in the shoes of your prospects. Selling to executives is no different. But if you view yourself as somehow inferior to the individuals you are pitching to, you risk coming across as insecure and desperate, which will stand in the way of closing the deal. Instead, always act as if you belong there. If you view and carry yourself as an expert in sales, your high-level prospects will view you as a peer and a trusted advisor. Focus on the best fruit. It’s usually easier to get in front of lower-level buyers, like managers and procurement folks. The problem is, these prospects also tend to have smaller or fixed budgets with which to work. They also tend to view salespeople as vendors to be priced against each other. Not only does this make selling to them a huge time suck, but the results will be less than impressive. With c-suite prospects, on the other hand, once you demonstrate the value in your offer, they’ll pay whatever price you ask. And since they’re already the decision-makers, you’ll close the deal much faster. Identify top and bottom-line value. One of the biggest keys to effectively selling to senior executives is understanding what they care about the most. Unlike low-level buyers who want good service and fast delivery, c-suite buyers are interested in things like increasing revenues and boosting profits. So, rather than touting the features and benefits of your product that only appeal to low-level prospects, focus your conversations on how your offer can create value in the areas that matter most to top-level folks. Get to the point. People at the executive level are busy. They’ve got a lot on their plate. The last thing they want is a schmoozy salesperson wasting what little precious time they have. We’re not saying don’t be friendly and personable. We’re just saying that when it comes to pitching to senior-level buyers, the quicker you get to the point, the quicker you’ll win them over. Go back to step one and put yourself in their shoes. Ask them specific questions, like: “What do you want to accomplish over the next quarter?” Then get right to the nitty gritty of how you can help them achieve those goals. Present your solution around bottom-line results. Again, the c-suite doesn’t care about your low prices or amazing customer support. They only care about top-level/bottom-line results. Once you’ve identified specifically what it is they are looking for, your job is to position your product or service in a way that delivers those results. Think about how your offering will help your executive audience accomplish their goals and then show them. It’s really that simple. And it can be the difference between night and day in terms of your sales results.
6 Creative Sales Emails That Get a Response Every Time Posted on June 6, 2019 by Jessica Lunk Almost every marketer has been there at one point or another — seeing an email that they’ve toiled over get fewer responses than if they’d stood outside the recipient’s business with a boombox, rockin’ an 80s track. If this sounds like you, don’t get discouraged. You may simply need to adjust your approach to get the results you want. Gone are the days when you could use a generic email template and achieve your goals. If you really want responses, you need to be creative, be personal, and get the recipient’s attention. And while your mileage may vary on what consistently works to get more engagement, you can rest assured that some of these creative takes on sales emails will definitely boost your email effectiveness. The “Conversation-Starter” Email This email is more of a long game than some marketing techniques. Instead of introducing the company or even a product, focus on the recipient. Draw connections between the recipient and what’s being sold, but don’t mention the product directly. Within the email, also include a few questions about the recipient. The goal here is to begin a conversation by establishing knowledge and trust before starting the sales pitch. Once that dialogue is underway, bring up the product or service naturally to make the recipient more likely to buy. The “Quick Question” Email As an experiment, author Shane Snow sent 1,000 cold emails to prominent business leaders as a means of finding out what worked and what didn’t when it comes to sending unsolicited emails. One major takeaway from the experiment is that a short, slightly vague subject (such as “Quick Question”) is more likely to get an open than something more specific or sales-oriented. The content of the emails didn’t matter quite as much in the context of Snow’s experiment. Still, getting that open is the first hurdle in the way of a sale, so learning how to get the most out of your subject line will get your better-tuned messages in front of your intended recipients. The “Pet Frog” Email If you can’t get through to your recipients using normal tactics, try offering them a frog. That may sound absurd, but that’s kind of the point; when used at appropriate times, humor (including funny pictures, comics, videos, and even absurdist humor) can open doors for your sales message that other methods couldn’t touch. This isn’t just speculation, either. Experiments to test this theory have included individuals in “buyer” and “seller” roles trying to negotiate sales. For a portion of the transactions, the seller would jokingly offer a pet frog to sweeten the deal. Almost without fail, those sellers ended up negotiating higher prices than those who did not use humor. You can use the same principle in sales emails, breaking down walls with humor to get the reaction you want. The “Moody” Email Somewhere along the way, you were probably taught to keep correspondence relatively neutral in tone. Confidence and friendliness are fine, but it’s not great for too much emotion to show through. The only problem with this advice is that it’s pretty… wrong. Studies show that emails with slight to moderate positive or negative wording are 10% to 15% more likely to get responses than those with neutral wording. Just make sure not to overdo it; engagement rates start falling again once the bias goes beyond what seems like normal wording. The “Social Connection” Email While this won’t work in all situations, if your sales team is negotiating long-term B2B connections, then you can use email and professional social media to help cement a bond with buyers. In fact, these emails don’t push the sale at all. Instead, they focus on the seller getting to know the buyer before they ever start talking sales. These emails are more personal and simply make a request for a connect on LinkedIn or other professional social media. This email should focus on the fact that both your company and the potential buyer’s company are in the same industry and at most should express a desire to possibly do business in the future. Even if the buyer doesn’t agree, they’ll likely respond to say so and open that door to conversation. The “Last-Ditch Honesty” Email This email is intended as a final attempt to get a response after previous email efforts have failed. Instead of pushing yet another sales angle, focus more on a kind of brutal honesty. Acknowledge that your sales pitches haven’t appealed to the recipient and ask if there’s anything that you can offer. If the buyer simply isn’t interested, they may not respond at all. If that happens, you haven’t lost anything. There’s a good chance that you’ll receive some form of communication, though, and that can start a conversation that will convert to a sale at some point in the future. Rounding Out the Perfect Email Regardless of the email strategy you use, there are a few statistics you can use to your advantage to maximize your chances of getting a response. The first thing you should look at is your message’s length. Attention spans are short, and statistics show that the most effective sales emails are between 50 and 125 words long (that’s only a few sentences!). Timing is important, too. Research shows that the best times to send sales emails are between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. or between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Choosing a strategy, keeping the word count in check, and picking the ideal time to send your message off can all work together to seal the deal and get you the responses you need.
The Account Manager Job Description to Find the Perfect Candidate Posted on June 5, 2019 by Allie Wolff Hiring new employees is always stressful, but hiring managers for your agency is a whole different kind of nightmare. First, you’re handing off a chunk of responsibility for your business to a stranger. Second, that person has the power to make or break the team and projects you’re entrusting to them. With this in mind, you want to make sure the candidate you select is the best and most qualified for the job. That’s especially true when you’re hiring an account manager. This person will help you get clients in the door, keep them there, and hopefully convince them to spread the word to their colleagues. So, it’s essential that the hiring ad you craft to lure potential candidates to your office is as accurate as possible because the only thing worse than hiring a new person is having to sift through a bunch of substandard resumes to find people to interview. Know What You’re Looking For Seems simple enough. You want to hire an account manager for your business. But do you really know what an account manager does? Or, more to the point, what do you want your account manager to do for your business? Make a list of duties you want to pass off to the person in this position. This will help when it’s time to list the position’s responsibilities in the job ad. A few of the duties that account managers often perform include: Building long-term relationships with clients. Taking on an advisor position with key accounts and acting as a liaison for these accounts to ensure things run smoothly. Assisting clients through various communication mediums including in-person meetings, telephone, email, and online messaging systems. Keeping upper management abreast of account statuses at regularly scheduled meetings. Performing key metric tracking and forecasting duties. Determine Desired Experience Level Do you want a seasoned account executive who can just jump in and get started? Or do you want someone who is still relatively new to the industry so you can train them to do things the way you want them done? This is an important consideration — if you hire a seasoned pro and then try to mold them, you’ll probably get pushback. But if you hire someone who is new to the position, it may be too much of a learning curve, and you both might end up frustrated. If you need someone who can hit the ground running, go for the seasoned pro. Otherwise, choose someone who has the education, the drive and at least a bit of a background in account management. Hint: Most people who apply for account manager jobs have at least some management experience. Key things to ask for: Proven ability to communicate, influence, and present to all levels of the organization Account management or other relevant experience Excellent presentation skills Above average written and verbal communication skills The ability to negotiate with key stakeholders A degree in a field of study that matches the position Some experience working in an agency or the marketing department of another organization (Remember, the amount of experience might determine how much influence you’ll have over the person) How Much Are You Willing to Pay? Now that you’ve determined the job’s responsibilities and your desired skill level, it’s time to come up with a dollar figure. The individual who is relatively new will cost less, but as we’ve discussed, the learning curve could be steep and stressful. On the other hand, that seasoned pro will expect to be compensated for their experience. So you’ll need to take a realistic look at the business’s financial situation and determine how much you can afford to offer. But don’t mention this in the job posting. In cases like this, it never hurts to let an applicant tell you what they think they’re worth. If you can match that number (or at least be in the ballpark), then bring them in for a face-to-face interview. You can include your salary offer in the posting, but you might run the risk of someone who is on the bubble between seasoned and new chickening out and not applying because they don’t quite trust they are worth the money you’re offering. Put It All Together Now take your required duties, the experience you need, and the money you’re willing to offer, and write your ad. The ad doesn’t need to be a novel; most applicants look at the title, skim down to the requirements, bounce back up to the described duties, and consider the salary amount if it’s listed. Remember: hiring is stressful, but so is job hunting. Do everyone a favor and keep the ad brief: Give a brief description of the job List the duties List the required experience/skills Offer a salary or state that an applicant should include their required salary with their resume Provide your contact information and instructions on how to apply When the applications and resumes start to come in, keep the ones that seem promising and file the others in the circular file. Then start the interview process. The task of hiring an account manager is a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. If you streamline the process, things will move quicker and your chances of finding the perfect candidate increase.
Why Your Bounce Rate Is High & How to Lower It Posted on June 4, 2019 by Guest Author Bounce rate is a metric representing the percentage of site visitors who land on your website and do nothing on the page they entered. Here’s how Google webmasters define this number: ‘Bounce rate is single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server.’ Unless your page requires no further action at all (which happens rarely), high bounce rate may mean: your site content isn’t quality enough; your visitors usually don’t find what they expect to see; irrelevant audience clicks through your site. Have you ever left a shop just because their sales assistant was too pushy? Or maybe you just didn’t want to stay in a never-ending queue? You are not alone. Now imagine your website visitors. They visit your site willing to take some targeted action – read an article, buy a product, or book some service, and then they face something that makes them leave it. One after another, people quickly return to search results causing your bounce rate to grow. Why does it happen and how can you stop it? In this post, you’ll find the answer. 1. Technical issues This is the most obvious reason that is often overlooked. If your site isn’t displayed correctly, the quality content and engaging visuals make no difference. If you’re seeing increased bounce rates, take a deeper look at your website. Are there certain pages returning a 404 error? Do the visual elements fail to load properly? Any of these issues can be crucial for your business. Also, keep in mind that different devices and browsers may display web pages differently. That’s why it’s important to look at the page from your audience’s most popular browser and device configurations. 2. Slow loading speed Nobody loves to wait. Especially in the 21st century. Especially mobile users. If it takes more than three seconds to load your page, get ready to lose 53% of visitors. Here are the most common factors that could affect your site speed: your server doesn’t include caching headers or resources are only cached for a short time large image files multiple landing page redirects slow server response In case you noticed your site speed is too low, it’s time to identify what causes the problem and fix it. To cope with it quickly, you may want to enlist the help of a site audit tool like Serpstat. The tool has both Site Audit and Page Audit features so that you can either analyze the whole site or just a single page. In the list of projects, create a new one with your URL, and click on Start Audit. When the report is ready, go to the Loading Speed section to see the issues that affect your site speed. 3. Confusing title and description tags The more engaging your title and description tags look, the better. Right? No. Trying to attract visitors with catchy but false titles may result in undesirable consequences. Seeing your snippets, users form expectations on what they will find on your landing page. People click through because you promise them something they’re looking for. If your page content appears to be completely different, it’s not surprising visitors will get discouraged and return to the search results. To prevent such a disconnect, make sure your title and description tags contain a clear description of your landing page content. 4. Poor UX Absence of a mobile version, challenging navigation, irritating pop-ups, too fancy design, etc. – all these factors may affect user experience significantly. I’ve circled out several tips that will help you deliver better user experience and reduce your bounce rate: Try not to overdo it with your website design. The more minimalistic it looks, the better. Create a clear site structure. Add the hamburger menu, use breadcrumbs, and develop an internal linking strategy. Provide a responsive design or mobile version of your site. Mind that your call-to-action buttons and search fields should fit the size of a finger. Have you ever zoomed the page trying to tap the right button? This applies to your online forms as well. Avoid numerous disruptive pop-ups. 5. Irrelevant inbound links If users come to your page clicking through a link with irrelevant anchor text, they are most likely to bounce soon after seeing unrelated content. Such things happen when a writer links to your site in the wrong part of the text or simply selects very general anchor text for your specific topic. Ideally, anchor text should have the same keywords highlighted as the targeted keyword of a web page. To check your link profile in a few clicks, you can go with such SEO tools as Ahrefs or Serpstat. Simply enter your domain URL, and go to the Backlinks section. Here you’ll find the list of sources referring to your web pages with the anchor texts they use. Examine the results to identify irrelevant links and reach out to the authors asking to either remove the links or change the anchors. 6. No clear call to action So you want your visitors to take some action on your site. But is it clear enough what you want them to do? If you want to reduce your bounce rate, make sure every page contains a call to action. Do you want them to purchase your product? Add ‘buy now with 20% discount’ CTA. Do you want them to keep spending time on your site? Add ‘you may also like’ menu. 7. Everything is fine Last but not least. What if growing bounce rate doesn’t mean you should reduce it? The thing is that a ‘perfect’ bounce rate is different for different types of pages. In case it’s not necessary for your visitors to engage with your page, it’s natural that your bounce rate is fairly high. If the purpose of the page is purely informational, a high bounce rate isn’t a metric you should worry about. It’s difficult to determine a ‘good’ bounce rate for a website. However, if this number starts to increase, you should definitely look into the reasons. Examine your website, identify the issues affecting your bounce rate, and eliminate them. Author Bio Adelina Karpenkova is a Brand Specialist at Serpstat, an all-in-one SEO platform. She loves providing actionable tips to help readers improve their marketing and SEO strategies. She thinks content marketing is the best mechanism to claim your expertise and build your brand. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.
5 Tips for Staying Focused and On Task When You’re Building a Business Posted on May 30, 2019March 19, 2025 by Jonathan Herrick Most entrepreneurs don’t have a shortage of good ideas. If anything, they have too many. That can be a good problem to have but not if you let shiny objects distract you from the initiatives you should be focusing on. While you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket, you’ll never get anywhere if you’ve got them spread out among 15 or 20 different baskets. Not to mention having too many projects brewing will be confusing to your team. So how do you stay focused on your current strategy when there are so many ideas and opportunities and so little time? Put your plan in writing. It’s easy to lose focus on your strategy if you’ve never committed it to paper. Set aside a day for a strategic planning session with your team and commit to annual goals for your business. Then break them down into quarterly goals, assign accountability to one team member for each and set key performance indicators (KPIs) that will show you if the team member is making progress toward that goal. Incorporating a pestle analysis into your planning process can also help identify external factors that might impact your goals, allowing you to adjust your strategy accordingly. Meet daily (or weekly) with your leadership team. Gather your leadership team in person or on a conference call or video chat at the same time every morning (or week) to talk about projects on deck. Use the meeting to discuss plans for accomplishing your goals, rather than just status updates. If you use the meeting to keep everyone aligned, you’ll be surprised at how much progress you can make toward your goals in one week. Are your leaders discovering new information that requires you to make pivot in your planning? Are they encountering roadblocks they need your help to overcome? By staying on top of anything that affects the team’s progress, you’ll build momentum. As you watch the needle move in the right direction on your KPIs, you’ll find it a lot easier to stay focused. Celebrate small victories. Don’t wait until you’ve hit big goals to give your team a high-five for moving your business forward. If, for instance, you want to close $20,000 in sales this month and you hit $10,000 the first week, show your team you’ve noticed all of their hard work. Order a cake from your favorite local bakery or pizza for a team lunch in the conference room and take a few moments to congratulate those who went above and beyond to meet the goal. The act of congratulating your team will remind you why you chose your strategy in the first place and why it’s so important to keep pushing forward. Hit the books. Schedule 15 minutes a day for reading books that keep you on task. Read books that offer techniques for staying focused. Some entrepreneurial favorites: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. If you find that you’re focused but your team isn’t, check out a book that will help you get everyone rowing in the right direction, such as Scaling Up by Verne Harnish or Traction by Gino Wickman. Find a support group. Finding a peer group of other entrepreneurs to keep you accountable can help you stay focused, if you find that you’re slipping. If you tend to get off track easily, let them know you need their help staying committed and accountable for your goals. Whether you create an informal meetup with your entrepreneurial buddies or qualify for an application-only group like Entrepreneurs’ Organization or YPO, having to answer to your peers will make you more motivated to stay on track. Push reset. When you’re working hard towards a big goal, it’s easy to get caught up in overwork. That can lead to burnout and distraction. Make sure you’re putting time on your calendar every day for activities outside of work—dinner with friends or family, workouts, a hobby, whatever relaxes you and takes your mind off of business. By showing up at your desk every day refreshed, you’ll be able to stay a lot more focused than if you’ve been living on Red Bull and no sleep for the last 30 days.