Guides
Practical guides to putting a small business online in the Philippines.
Do you need a Facebook Page, a website, or both
· 5 min read
What a Facebook Page does well, what you never control on it, and which to set up first when time and money are short.
Should you show your prices on your website
· 4 min read
When "PM for price" costs you the sale, when hiding a price is reasonable, and three middle options for a small Philippine business.
Why your website is slow on mobile data and what to fix first
· 5 min read
A slow site on prepaid data is usually oversized photos, too many scripts or a heavy builder. Here is how to check which, free, and what to fix first.
Taking product and menu photos with a phone that hold up on a website
· 5 min read
Light, background, consistency and file size: the four things that make phone photos look good on a website, without buying a better camera.
Should customers reach you through Messenger, email or a contact form
· 5 min read
Where Philippine customers actually message businesses, what each channel loses, and how a website can hand people over to Messenger.
Wix, WordPress or a template for a small business site
· 4 min read
What Wix and WordPress.com charge for, what a one-off template costs you instead, and which fits a site you only change a couple of times a year.
Who should own your domain and hosting when a freelancer builds your site
· 4 min read
The accounts that must be in your name when a freelancer builds your website, what to ask for before you pay, and how businesses lose their own domain.
Can you use AI to edit your own website template
· 5 min read
How to ask an AI assistant to change the text, colours and sections of an HTML site, check the result before it goes live, and know when to pay someone.
How a small business owner can start using AI without wasting time
· 4 min read
Which jobs a free AI chat assistant genuinely speeds up for a Philippine small business, what never to paste into one, and how to check what it writes.
Why your business does not show up on Google
· 5 min read
The usual reasons a Philippine business is missing from Google search and Maps, and the plain fix for each, with no SEO tricks involved.
Does a small business website need a privacy notice
· 5 min read
What the Data Privacy Act of 2012 asks of a small business that collects names and numbers through a form, and what a short notice should say.
Do you need a business email address or is Gmail fine
· 4 min read
When a plain Gmail address costs you trust, how to receive mail at your own domain for free, and when you need a mailbox that can send as the business.
Where should a community radio station keep its programme schedule
· 5 min read
A community station's schedule lives in Facebook posts, group chats and a host's memory. Here is what a schedule page fixes, and what it cannot.
Should a Philippine business buy a .ph or a .com domain
· 5 min read
What a .ph domain actually costs against a .com, whether it earns more trust, and what happens if you let either one lapse.
How to take GCash payments on a website without a payment gateway
· 5 min read
What posting a GCash QR and confirming by screenshot actually costs, and what changes once a gateway like PayMongo sits in between.
Can you really host a business website for free
· 4 min read
What Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages and Netlify give away free, where each free plan stops, and the domain cost none of them cover.
Do you need a website if you already have a Google Business Profile
· 4 min read
What a Google Business Profile does well for free, what it stopped doing in 2024, and why it works better paired with a site than alone.
Why pet owners show up while your vet clinic is closed for lunch
· 5 min read
A small vet clinic's hours live on Google, Facebook, a website and the door. Here is which one to fix first, and what a clinic site should add.
How do customers know if your bookshop has a book in stock
· 4 min read
A Facebook post about new arrivals gets buried in a week. Here is what a searchable shelf page for a bookshop replaces, and what it still does not track.
Does a pottery workshop need more than an Instagram grid
· 4 min read
Instagram brings people to a pottery studio. Here is the specific job it cannot do once they actually want to show up to a class.
Do you need a course catalogue if Facebook already works
· 4 min read
Most Philippine tutorial and review centers post class schedules on Facebook. Here is when that stops being enough and what a course catalogue needs to do.
Does a homestay or guesthouse need its own guide to the area
· 4 min read
Facebook groups and TripAdvisor already own destination search in the Philippines. Here is the narrower job a guide of your own actually does.
Do I need my own website if I already sell on Shopee or Lazada
· 4 min read
Shopee and Lazada already bring buyers. Here is when a website of your own earns its place, and what Counter's checkout still leaves you to set up.
Should my app have a status page
· 4 min read
A status page pays off once an outage means more than one message. Here is where that line sits and what Beacon actually has to show.
How do you explain a service that doesn't fit in one sentence
· 5 min read
Referrals get a consultancy or small agency the first conversation. Here is what a site needs to do once someone tries to repeat what you do.
Is a PDF enough for a report you want people to cite
· 4 min read
A one-off report is fine as a PDF. Here is when a research or impact report needs a citable web page instead, and what that actually requires.
Do you need a website to sell units off a floor plan
· 4 min read
A Facebook post sells one resale unit fine. Here is when a subdivision or small condo project needs its own site to show what is really left.
Can anyone find an old issue of your newsletter
· 4 min read
An inbox and a feed are enough for most newsletters. Here is when a public archive earns its place, and what Dispatch does not do.
Does your product page need scroll animation
· 4 min read
Most products sell fine on a plain page. Here is the narrow case where motion earns its place, and what it costs when it is done badly.
Should you move your writing off Medium and Facebook
· 4 min read
Publishing where the readers already are works. Here is what you give up by staying, and what a site of your own has to get right to be worth it.
Do you need a portfolio site if your work is already on Dribbble
· 5 min read
Dribbble and Behance show the finished shot. Here is what a design or dev case study needs to show that they do not, and when it is worth building.
When a freight forwarder needs more than a phone number and referrals
· 5 min read
Referrals and a mobile number move most freight in the Philippines. Here is when that stops being enough and what a logistics site needs to do.
How to build a waiting list before you launch
· 4 min read
Comments and PMs are not a waiting list. Here is when a pre-launch page earns its place, and what it has to do to be worth building.
Does a subscription business need a website to look legit
· 3 min read
Selling a subscription through Messenger and GCash works at first. Here is where it stops, and what a proper pricing page adds.
Do you need a configurator for a hardware pre-order page
· 4 min read
A single fixed product does not need a configurator. Here is when a hardware launch genuinely does, and what it costs.
Can a Facebook Event page run a multi-track conference
· 4 min read
Facebook Events work well for a single-stage program. Here is where that breaks for parallel sessions, and what Assembly adds instead.
Is a Google Doc enough for your product's documentation
· 4 min read
A shared Google Doc covers documentation early on. Here is when it breaks down and what a dedicated docs site needs to do instead.
Do you need a website for your open source tool
· 4 min read
Most open source tools get by on a GitHub README. Here is when a dedicated site earns its place and what it actually needs to do.
When a spreadsheet stops working as your back office
· 4 min read
Google Sheets runs a lot of small Philippine businesses fine. Here is when it stops working and what an admin dashboard needs to do instead.
Should your careers page show the salary
· 4 min read
Most Philippine job posts just say salary is negotiable. Here is when publishing the real pay band on a careers page is worth it, and when it is not.
When your salon or clinic outgrows Messenger bookings
· 4 min read
Most Philippine salons and clinics book appointments over Messenger. Here is when that stops working and what a booking page actually needs to do.
When a freelance portfolio starts paying for itself
· 5 min read
Most Filipino freelancers get work from platforms and referrals. Here is when a site starts to matter, and the four things yours has to do.
Is a Facebook Page enough for your restaurant?
· 4 min read
Most Philippine restaurants run on a Facebook Page. Here is what a website adds, what it does not, and the four things yours must get right.