How to Check Your Small Business Website for Free

Step 1: Run a Free Automated Check

An automated grader reads your homepage the way a search engine does and flags common problems: slow mobile loading, a missing page title, no tap-to-call link, an expired security certificate or business details that Google and AI tools can't read.

We built a free one for local businesses called YWG Grade. Enter your address and in about 30 seconds you get a score out of 100 across six areas: speed and mobile, Google basics, local SEO, calls and leads, trust signals, and AI search readiness. Your score and top three fixes appear without signing up, and it only reads public pages, so nothing on your site is touched. Every check is explained if you want to see how points are given.

Step 2: Read the Score Sensibly

A score is a checklist, not a verdict. Fix the items marked high impact first; a missing phone link or a page Google is told not to index matters far more than a few missing image descriptions.

Speed results vary a little between runs, so don't chase a single point. A useful comparison is a competitor's site: if they score 85 and you score 60, the report shows exactly where the gap is. And remember that a high score does not guarantee rankings. It means the basics are in place.

Step 3: Check What No Tool Can See

Some of the most damaging problems look perfectly fine to software. Spend ten minutes on these:

1. Hours and holidays: do your website, Google Business Profile and Facebook page show the same hours, including seasonal closures?
2. Prices and services: remove services you no longer offer and update "starting at" prices. Old prices create awkward first calls.
3. Photos and staff: make sure pictures show current work and people who still work with you, and that you have permission to use them.
4. Renewal dates: note when your domain, hosting and any paid plugins renew. An expired domain takes the whole site and your email offline.
5. The phone itself: call your listed number from a mobile. Does it reach someone, or a full voicemail box?

If the site gets visits but few enquiries, our guide to websites with traffic but no leads walks through testing the contact form from start to finish. If you can't find your business on Google at all, start with these indexing checks instead.

Step 4: Fix It Yourself or Get Help

Many fixes take minutes in your website builder: updating the page title, turning a phone number into a tap-to-call link or correcting the copyright year. The full report from the grader explains each fix in plain English, so you can share it with whoever manages your site.

Bigger issues, such as a slow theme, a site that isn't mobile-friendly or an outdated platform, may need more work. YWG Grade lists fixed prices for individual SEO fixes, and if a rebuild makes more sense, our small business website package starts at $399 for the first year. Either way, nobody can honestly promise a ranking, and you shouldn't pay anyone who does.

Make It a Twice-Yearly Habit

Put a reminder in your calendar for spring and fall, and run the check again after any change to your phone number, address, services or website platform. Small, regular checkups are cheaper than discovering a broken website when a customer tells you.

Examples in this article are illustrative. YWG Grade is operated by Chubbycat Tech Services.