Web Design
The Small Business Website Checklist: 25 Things Your Site Needs in 2025
Use this checklist to audit your existing site or scope a new one. Every item on this list affects your rankings, conversions, or both.
We’ve audited hundreds of small business websites. The same issues come up over and over. Use this checklist to see where your site stands.
Technical Performance
- ☐ Lighthouse Performance score 90+ (test at pagespeed.web.dev)
- ☐ Page loads in under 2 seconds on mobile
- ☐ Images converted to WebP format and compressed
- ☐ HTTPS enabled (green padlock in browser)
- ☐ No broken links (check with Screaming Frog or Ahrefs)
SEO Foundations
- ☐ Every page has a unique title tag (under 60 characters)
- ☐ Every page has a unique meta description (under 160 characters)
- ☐ LocalBusiness schema markup on homepage
- ☐ XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
- ☐ robots.txt configured correctly
- ☐ Canonical tags on all pages
User Experience & Conversions
- ☐ Phone number clickable on mobile
- ☐ Clear call-to-action above the fold on every page
- ☐ Contact form works and sends emails correctly
- ☐ Site looks good on iPhone 14 (375px wide)
- ☐ Navigation is simple — 5–7 items maximum
Trust & Credibility
- ☐ At least 3 customer testimonials or reviews displayed
- ☐ Real photos of your business/team (no stock photos of the same person twice)
- ☐ Physical address visible on Contact page
- ☐ Privacy Policy page exists
- ☐ About page with real team information
Score yourself: 20–25 ✓ = you’re in great shape. 10–19 ✓ = you’re losing rankings and leads. Under 10 ✓ = let’s talk.