The Small Business Website Checklist: Everything Before You Launch

• The one sentence that says what the site is for, written down.
• The list of services you want to be hired for, one line each.
• The list of towns or areas you want to be found in.
• The searches customers actually type, ten to thirty of them.
• Your domain name, registered in your name and in an account you control. Not the developer's.
• Your logo in a vector or high-resolution file, and your brand colors if you have them.
• Real photos: your work, your crew, your trucks, your place. At least twenty.
• Reviews with names, pulled from Google, Yelp or wherever customers leave them.
• License numbers, insurance carrier, certifications, years in business, job counts.
• Hours, phone, email, address, and what happens after hours.
• Your Google Business Profile claimed, complete, and matching the above to the letter.
• A decision on the platform, made for three years from now. The DIY versus professional guide helps.
• A fixed price with pages listed, if you are hiring it out. See how pricing works.

• A unique title under 60 characters that says what the page is about and, where it fits, where.
• A unique description under 160 characters that would make someone click from a search result.
• One H1 heading, and sub-headings that describe the sections.
• The phone number in the header, tappable on a phone.
• A clear next step: a button that says what happens when it is pressed.
• Links to related pages on the site, in the text, so nothing is orphaned.
• Images with descriptive alt text and file sizes under 200 KB.
• Readable at arm's length on a phone: 16-pixel body text or larger, real contrast.
• No stock photos where a real one could go.

• The service and the place in the first sentence a visitor sees.
• The phone number and the main button visible without scrolling, on a phone.
• One line of proof next to the headline: rating, license, count or year.
• A short list of the main services, each linking to its own page.
• The area served, by name.
• Two or three reviews with names.
• A short about section that answers who and how long.
• A final call to action at the bottom for the people who read everything.

Each service page

• A title with the service and, where it fits, the place.
• A plain explanation of what the service is and who needs it.
• The problems it solves, in the customer's words.
• How it is priced, with a range if you can stand behind one.
• Photos of that service, not generic ones.
• At least one review that mentions that service.
• The questions customers ask about it, answered.
• A button for that service's next step.

Each area page

• Something true and specific about that town: neighborhoods, housing, jobs done there, drive time.
• The services you provide there, linked to their pages.
• No paragraph copied from another area page with the name swapped. The service area page guide explains why that hurts.

• An SSL certificate, so the address starts with https and browsers do not warn visitors away. Free from most hosts; the SSL guide explains it.
• A privacy policy, required by law in several states the moment you collect a name and an email.
• Terms of service, if you sell or book anything online.
• Accessibility basics: alt text, contrast, keyboard use, labeled forms. Demand letters over inaccessible sites are real; ADA compliance covers what is required.
• A cookie notice if you use tracking that requires one where your customers are.
• Business name, address and phone consistent everywhere: site, Google profile, directories, invoices.
• License and insurance disclosures where your trade or state requires them on advertising.
• Backups, automatic, kept somewhere that is not the same server.
• Ownership: the domain, the hosting account and the site files in your name, with the logins in your hands.

• The headline is readable within two seconds on cellular.
• Every phone number dials when tapped.
• Every form sends, and the message arrives where you expect it, with a confirmation to the sender.
• Every link works. No page returns an error. The old site's addresses redirect to the new ones.
• The site appears correctly on an iPhone, an Android phone, a tablet and a laptop.
• A speed test scores in the green on mobile. The Core Web Vitals guide explains the scores.
• The sitemap is submitted to Google Search Console and the site is set to be indexed.
• Conversion tracking is installed and a test call and a test form appear in it.
• The Google Business Profile links to the new site.
• Someone who has never seen the site can say what you do and how to call after one glance.

• Week one: check Search Console for errors and confirm pages are being indexed.
• Week two: read the tracking. Which pages produced calls? Which produced nothing?
• Month one: ask five customers to leave a review, and add the best to the site.
• Month one: search your main service and your town and note where you appear. The free visibility check does this for you.
• Month two: make one change to the page that gets the most traffic and the fewest calls.
• Month three: add one project page or one answer page for a question customers keep asking.
• Every month after: one look at the numbers, one change. That is the whole discipline, and the conversion guide has the first changes to make.