What Philadelphia Businesses Get Wrong About SEO

I’ve worked with a lot of businesses in Philly, and here’s what I see over and over: everyone wants to show up on page one, but too many are going about it the wrong way. And it’s costing them in rankings, money, and customers.

Let’s talk about the three most common mistakes.

Way too many companies still act like SEO is about stuffing the right words on a page. That might have worked 15 years ago. Today, it just gives you boring content nobody wants to read.

Google’s smarter than that. It rewards content that keeps people around. If your writing looks like it was built to check boxes instead of help real people, users bounce…and so will your rankings.

I see this all the time, businesses cranking out blog after blog like they’re playing the lottery. The thinking is, “If we publish enough, something has to rank.”

Here’s the problem — Google is already drowning in generic content. Another 500-word fluff post won’t move the needle. 

What works is authenticity. Share your perspective, tell real stories, and give people insights they can’t get anywhere else. That’s what stands out.

Ranking is only half the battle. Businesses in Philly spend thousands to climb the search results, but when someone actually clicks, no calls, no form fills, nothing, because their sites aren’t built to convert.

Here’s the bottom line: rankings without conversions are worthless. If your site doesn’t keep people exploring or guide them to take action, the SEO investment will never pay off.

The Philly businesses that get it right lean into authenticity:

• Share expertise only you can provide. Don’t write the same “Top 10 Tips” everyone else has. Write about the questions your actual customers ask, or the mistakes you stop them from making. That’s the stuff Google can’t get from a template.
• Show the real work behind the service. Photos from a job site, a quick video walking through your process, even a short story about a client you helped. Those details prove you actually do the work, not just talk about it.
• Answer real questions, not just keywords. People aren’t searching for “plumber Philadelphia” because they want to read keywords. They’re searching because their basement’s flooding. Speak to that problem in plain language, and you’ll keep them reading.
• Build sites that guide people naturally toward action. Rankings don’t matter if your site dead-ends. Clear calls to action, service pages that explain next steps, and links to related resources keep people moving forward — and turning into customers.

It’s not just better for users. It’s exactly what Google rewards: real answers, clear proof, and useful content that keeps people engaged.

Too many Philadelphia businesses still get SEO wrong by chasing algorithms, flooding the internet with filler, or forgetting that rankings mean nothing without conversions.

The ones who win are the ones who show up authentically with expertise, clarity, and content that works.

That’s exactly what we do at Trolley Web. We help Philadelphia businesses turn their expertise into content that not only ranks, but actually engages and converts.