About Us

About Portal of Dallas

Serving Dallas Since 2000

The Portal of Dallas was launched in the year 2000 by Bill Hartzer, a Dallas-based internet entrepreneur and founder of Hartzer Consulting. Long before local search was common, Bill recognized the need for a central hub that brought Dallas-area residents together online. He envisioned a digital space that offered quick access to local news, events, resources, and small business websites—well before social media and search engines dominated our daily lives.

With that vision in mind, he launched what became one of the earliest and most well-known local web portals in Texas.

From Local Hub to Business Directory

Between 2000 and 2003, the Portal of Dallas gained traction as a community resource. It served as a gathering point online where residents could check news, find helpful links, and connect with businesses and organizations in the region. In 2003, the platform evolved to meet a growing demand—it transitioned into a curated business directory. The site began listing verified Dallas-area businesses, each with links to their websites, contact details, and other relevant information. Every listing was reviewed and added by a real person—not scraped or automated.

This human-reviewed approach was a defining feature of the Portal of Dallas and built trust with both users and local business owners.

But just as the Portal gained momentum, search giants like Google and Yahoo! began to introduce their own local directories—Google Local and Yahoo! Local—around the mid-2000s. With their algorithm-driven listings and national reach, these services made it easier for users to search for local businesses directly in search engines. While that shift changed how people found business information, it didn’t stop the Portal of Dallas from adapting.

A Pivot to Local News and Commentary

In 2007, the Portal of Dallas changed again. It evolved from a business directory into a hybrid platform—part local news outlet, part blog, and part business directory. The goal was clear: focus on what makes Dallas unique.

The site began publishing articles about Dallas-area businesses, events, civic issues, and culture. While local business listings remained a core feature of the site, the Portal of Dallas shifted attention to news stories, opinion pieces, and longform blog content that provided context—not just search results. Hartzer’s deep roots in Dallas and background in internet consulting allowed the Portal to blend technical reliability with journalistic relevance.

Unlike content farms or aggregator sites, all entries on the Portal of Dallas continued to be reviewed and written by real people with real connections to the city.

Owned by Hartzer Consulting

Today, the Portal of Dallas is operated by Hartzer Consulting, a digital marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) consulting firm also founded by Bill Hartzer. With decades of experience in web development, domain analysis, and internet marketing strategy, Hartzer Consulting has maintained the integrity and local focus of the site while ensuring it remains technically sound, mobile-friendly, and SEO-ready.

This connection also gives the Portal a unique advantage—it doesn’t just report on the digital growth of Dallas businesses, it supports it.

Still Powered by People

The Portal of Dallas remains committed to authentic, human-reviewed content. Whether it’s a business directory listing or a news story, content is never generated by bots or scraped from third-party feeds. Every piece is written, reviewed, or edited by someone who knows the city and understands its value.

That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it will stay.