Free service quick and easy to use
A new, free online directory designed specifically for St. Charles Parish residents makes it much easier to find area businesses than flipping through the yellow pages.
The directory, which was recently unveiled on the Herald-Guide’s Web site, gives residents several different ways to find a particular business. Visitors to www.heraldguide.com can either search by topic, which covers everything from accommodations to wedding services, or can type in a specific subject, such as women’s apparel, in a search bar. Businesses can also be found alphabetically.
Using either one of those choices will then direct the visitor to a page listing every such service offered in St. Charles Parish.
“It’s completely local and it makes it easy to search every business in St. Charles Parish,” Herald-Guide Editorial Director Ann Taylor said. “If you want to get your nails done, all you have to do is type in nails to see every place that offers such services in St. Charles.”
Taylor said the idea for the directory came to mind when trying to find a local business in the yellow pages.
“I noticed that several businesses weren’t even listed there,” she said. “Plus, everything is moving online nowadays, and it just made sense to have a directory listing our businesses here in St. Charles Parish.”
Another thing that sets the directory apart from a typical yellow pages listing is that the businesses can be found in up to four different categories, according to Advertising Director Brent Madere.
“For example, Good Housekeeping can be found under furniture, appliances, TVs and lawn equipment,” Madere said. “It just makes it easier for residents to find exactly what they’re looking for.”
Businesses can further differentiate themselves by getting their own Web pages in the directory.
For $10 a month, the Herald-Guide will maintain a personal page for a business that displays merchandise information, contacts, accepted payments, a picture and a 250-word description that tells what the business is all about.
But that’s not all.
“The neatest thing on the personal Web pages is that there is a map that can give directions to that business from anywhere in the country,” Madere said.
Any business with an individual Web page is highlighted in the directory. Clicking on their name on the main directory page will open up that business’s individual page.
Madere said that the Herald-Guide is striving to include every single business in the parish, but if an owner notices that their business is not located in the directory, they can visit www.heraldguide.com and submit their own merchant listing.
Be the first to comment