Search Engine Optimization – Ensuring the Success of Your Miami Business

Everyone who sets up a business does so with a view to succeeding. Even charitable organizations want to succeed in their cause. To achieve whatever business goals you may have, there are tools that can help you and in the age, we live in today, the internet is at the top of that list.

The internet has so taken over our world today that internet-based companies like Facebook and Google are richer than many countries. The simple truth is that the march towards a truly global village is showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, its progress is accelerating frantically.

According to reports, the number of people that purchased goods online in 2017 was about 1.66 billion, accounting for e-retail sales of about $2.3 trillion. This amount is expected to rise to a whopping $ 4.48 trillion by 2021.

• This does not apply to me because my Miami business does not sell online.
• We are a mom and pop shop that serves just our locality.

Any of the statements above may be what you are thinking right now. However, the truth is that local businesses are beginning to be seriously impacted by the internet.

How?

We will look at this in more detail as we proceed. First, let us look at what the average business owner in Miami has to face.

A Look at Miami’s Business Landscape

In 2017, the Kauffman Main Street Entrepreneurship report showed that Miami had about 30,000 businesses in 2016. To put it in proper perspective, there were about 94 businesses to every thousand adults in the city. This showed a high rate of business ownership and also a high competition rate.

It however does not stop there. Of these 30,000 plus businesses, about 55% do not survive past their fifth year. This amounts to about 16,500 businesses. You can find this report here.

Why do these businesses fail?

There certainly will be a number of reasons which will all boil down to profit and loss. The more losses a business records, the higher its likelihood of going under.

One of the reasons why a business will record consistent loses is that they are simply not making enough sales to cover their expenses. Sales come from customers, so we can say that they are not getting enough customers.

Most businesses will spend as much as they can in an attempt to get more customers. For the 30,000 (and growing) businesses in Miami, there is a competition to attract enough percentage of the approximately 470,000 inhabitants of the city to make a profit.

This right here is where search engine optimization can help businesses in Miami. Even if you do not sell products online, even if your business serves just your community and they have to come into your store to get served, we can all agree on one thing – you need customers.

A Look at the Potential that Miami Offers

How many customers do you need to come to your business monthly to turn a profit? A thousand? 10 thousand? Okay, 30 thousand?

Guess how many people are searching for different businesses online every day? About 2 billion people worldwide. This represents the approximate number of persons that carry out a local search each day on Google.

By the way, a local search is a type of search that focuses on finding something (usually businesses) or products within a specific locality. For example, a person can search for hair salons in Miami. This is a local search. There are approximately two billion of such searches globally.

How does this global figure translate to the Miami population?

As at 2016, Miami was ranked as the second worst for internet access in the U.S. This was because about 37% of households in the city lacked basic internet connectivity. Going with this dismal rating and discounting the fact that most mobile phone users access the internet through their phones (which is where most local searches are also carried out), we still have about 63% of households with internet access.

Remember that this is a pretty dated report. Things are certainly much better now.

Regardless of how dismal this report appears, it still shows us that we have up to 300,000 folks who access the internet in Miami. This figure should actually be more than this if we take smartphone usage into consideration.

The point we are driving at is that with Miami’s population and given the growth of internet access and smartphone usage, businesses in Miami can have easy access to over 200,000 potential customers.

How many customers do you need again to stay profitable? You should see from this that you have the customers right here in Miami. Now, with SEO, you have a way of reaching them.

How SEO Can Help Miami Businesses Reach More Customers

How does SEO help you reach these customers?

According to current reports, approximately 60% of American adults search for local products and services on their mobile devices. The reports also show that about 50% of searches carried out on mobile devices are local searches and that half of these searchers end up in physical stores within a day.

This aspect of SEO has become so important to local business that special attention is now given to it. This is what you need to take reach your potential customers in the Miami area. When local SEO strategies are implemented correctly, your business’ website will rank high for the relevant keywords.

When potential customers search for the service you provide in the area, your business will appear, and you will have started reaching customers you previously will never have been able to reach.

So how can you implement these local SEO strategies?

There are a series of inter-related steps that need to be taken and it starts from the setting up of your business’ website. For a business owner, trying to handle these may be asking a lot. Your best bet will be to allow professional SEO experts handle these operations for you.

There are a number of experts that can help you. An example is MiamiSEOBitch.com where you can get professional SEO services that will help you snag a good percentage of the Miami customer base.

Local SEO will bring your services close to your potential customers, leading them right to your doorsteps.