Website SEO Checklist for Business Owners

You don't need to be technical to check whether your website's SEO foundations exist. This checklist covers the 20 things that determine whether Google can find, understand and rank your business website — each verifiable by you, today, mostly for free.

Findability (checks 1–6)

• 1. Google 'site:yourdomain.com' — your pages should appear
• 2. Search your business name — you should be first
• 3. Search your main service + city — note where you rank
• 4. Google Business Profile exists, complete and verified
• 5. Your website URL is on your profile, and matches exactly
• 6. Search Console is set up and shows no coverage errors

On-page basics (checks 7–13)

• 7. Every page has a unique title (check the browser tab as you browse)
• 8. Each page has one clear main heading
• 9. Your city/area appears in text on key pages
• 10. Each service has its own page — not one combined list
• 11. Images have descriptive names/alt text, not IMG_4521.jpg
• 12. Phone number is clickable on mobile
• 13. Contact/WhatsApp reachable in one tap from every page

Technical health (checks 14–18)

• 14. Site loads in under 3 seconds on 4G (test on your phone, mobile data)
• 15. No horizontal scrolling or tiny text on mobile
• 16. HTTPS padlock shows on every page
• 17. No broken links or 'page not found' from your own menu
• 18. A sitemap exists at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

Growth signals (checks 19–20)

Check 19 tells Google the site is alive. Check 20 tells you whether any of this is working. Both are habits, not projects.

• 19. Something useful was published or updated in the last 60 days
• 20. You know last month's enquiry count from the website

Scoring and next steps

16–20 checks passing: your foundations are solid — invest in content and growth. 10–15: targeted fixes will move rankings within months. Under 10: the foundation itself needs work, and a rebuild typically costs less than patching. Either way, you now know exactly where you stand.