Most business owners I talk to have one of two ideas about their website: either "we have a site, it works," or "I know it's old, but customers still come, so I leave it be." The problem is that a website that looks fine on your computer can be practically unusable for a customer on a phone or for Google, and you don't know it, because you look at your site completely differently than they do.
This is an initial checklist you can run yourself. Eight checks help identify visible obstacles and questions for whoever maintains the site. It is not a full audit: the number of findings does not tell you how many customers you lose or how long repairs will take.
1. Open your site on a phone (not a computer)
A large share of website visits come from a phone today. Take your mobile, type in your website address, and look through a customer's eyes:
- Do you have to pinch-zoom the text to read it?
- Are columns broken, images overflowing, buttons overlapping?
- Do you have to scroll sideways?
If so, you have found a specific mobile layout problem. Check it on other pages and screen widths. Google uses the mobile version of content for indexing; a single issue does not establish a particular ranking loss or how quickly a visitor will leave.
2. Measure how fast your site loads
Open PageSpeed Insights, enter the address and select Mobile. Distinguish the 0-100 Lighthouse lab score from real-user data, where available. Core Web Vitals assess LCP, INP and CLS; the lab score is not their combined grade, and missing user data is not a zero result.
Lighthouse labels 0-49 as poor, 50-89 as needing improvement and 90-100 as good. This describes a particular laboratory run, not lost customers or rankings.
Long waits can make a website harder to use. Check the effect on the actual inquiry journey and in available real-user data. Google considers overall experience and many other signals; the score alone does not explain rankings. Diagnose loading problems from the specific test, as described in how to speed up your website.
3. Check HTTPS
Open the browser page information and check whether the connection uses HTTPS and whether there is a certificate warning. The icon differs between browsers.
HTTPS protects transmission between browser and server. It does not certify the security of the whole application or the trustworthiness of the company. If the site offers only HTTP or reports an invalid certificate, send the exact address and message to its maintainer.
4. Can Google even find you?
Two quick tests:
What each test checks
- Test A: can you find a sample of indexed pages?
- search for
site:yourcompany.cz - the site: operator does not return a complete list, so don't use its result count as an index count
- check an important URL with URL Inspection in Google Search Console
- search for
- Test B: which queries show your website?
- try a service and city, such as "plumber Ostrava"
- the result is indicative and varies by location and time
- Search Console impressions and clicks provide a longer view
- use your contact records to verify whether relevant inquiries follow
5. Is your Google Business Profile filled in?
A Google Business Profile can show customers a map, contact details, reviews and opening hours. For a local business, check:
- Does the profile exist, is it verified, and do you have the appropriate owner or manager access?
- Are the opening hours, phone and address correct?
- Do you have current photos and some reviews?
An incomplete profile can make business details harder to verify. Check accuracy and access to management. Completing the profile does not guarantee inclusion in a particular result or position in Maps.
Google prohibits reviews written by you or your staff and can detect them, you risk their removal and a penalty on the whole profile. How to earn reviews the honest way is covered in fake and employee reviews.
6. Is the site visibly outdated?
Go through the site and look for the quiet signals of age.
Three quiet signals of age
- The footer year an old year alone does not establish that a business has closed or the site is neglected
- Outdated information old prices, promotions that ended long ago, the name of an owner who's no longer there
- Broken links click through the main buttons and menu; does anything lead to a blank page or a "404 not found" message?
Accurate services and contact information matter more than the footer year. Outdated prices and broken links can confuse visitors and interrupt their path to contact. Fix the specific issues; they do not by themselves prove Google considers the site neglected.
7. Is it easy to order or call from the site?
On mobile, try completing a call, inquiry or order. A phone number should be easy to open in the dialler and the next step should be clear. Click count alone does not measure success: booking needs a time selection and an order needs correct details. Watch where people hesitate or encounter an error.
8. Do you know who runs the site and where your access is?
An uncomfortable question, but an important one: if the site went down tomorrow, would you know who to go to? Do you have access to the domain, hosting and site, or does "some guy who made it years ago and doesn't answer anymore" have it? Plenty of businesses discover they don't have access to their own domain only when the site stops working or the domain is about to expire. If you're unsure, I've written a crisis guide for when your site goes down.
How many "yes, that's a problem" did you tick?
- 0-1 finding: A few basic checks passed. This does not establish overall quality, security or business performance.
- 2-4 findings: List the specific obstacles. Prioritise broken contact paths, unavailable content and insecure transmission.
- 5 or more findings: A closer audit of causes and dependencies is useful. The count does not establish a need for a new website, lost customers or repair time.
A good website should be readable, clear and usable for the actual task. This list helps choose the next check; assess the business impact of changes through verified inquiries and their quality.
If you'd like a second opinion with no strings attached, I'll go through your site for free and send you a few concrete things holding it back, no obligation, no sales pitch. Just get in touch via the free mini-audit. And if you're still weighing whether a website is worth the investment, read why a website for €200 isn't enough.