Local Businesses in Philadelphia
How local businesses in Philadelphia get found online, from Center City and Fishtown to South Philly, Manayunk and University City.
Philadelphia is a compact, walkable city where rowhouse blocks and busy commercial corridors sit side by side, and customers tend to stay loyal to a few places close to home. A resident of South Philly picks a bakery or a barber on the next block, while someone in Fishtown or Northern Liberties looks at the shops that have opened along the main streets. Whatever the need, the first step is almost always a search on a phone.
The districts have distinct habits. Center City brings together workers, visitors and residents who want quick services around the office day. University City serves students and hospital staff with different schedules. Manayunk, on the Schuylkill, is known for a lively main street of shops and restaurants, and the neighborhoods of South Philadelphia are known for food and long-running family businesses.
For any of them, a simple website gives the customer exactly what a search result cannot: opening hours, a short description, directions and a way to reach the owner. The articles in this collection look at how different kinds of Philadelphia businesses can put that information online without a designer and without paying anything up front.
What's inside
The Hidden Cost of Being Hard to Find: A Philadelphia Dental Day
Follow a day at a Philadelphia dental practice and see where missing online information quietly costs time, calls and new patients.
Myth-Busting Health Pages in Philadelphia: Four Common Mistakes
Four mistakes health practices in Philadelphia make on their online pages, the myths behind them and simple fixes.
Fishtown, Manayunk and South Philly: Where Clients Find a Stylist
How clients in three Philadelphia neighborhoods search for hairdressers, barbers and nail salons, and what a simple page can tell them.
Seven Moments in a Philadelphia Pet Owner's Week
Seven moments in a Philadelphia pet owner's week where a vet or pet shop page answers a question before anyone has to call.
