The 17-Point Local Business Website Checklist
The exact checklist we run on every new client website. Covers the 5 areas that quietly cost local businesses leads: Google Business Profile, forms, schema, speed, and reviews.
1. Google Business Profile Alignment
Mismatches between your GBP and your website silently kill local rankings. Google treats inconsistency as a trust signal problem.
1.1 Address matches exactly
Why: "Suite 100" vs "Ste 100" and "CA 95678" vs "California" both register as mismatches.
How to check: Open your Google Business Profile and your site footer side by side. Compare every character.
Fix: Pick one canonical format and update wherever it disagrees. The footer is usually the easier edit.
1.2 Phone number matches and is formatted consistently
Why: Tracking numbers and formatting drift ("916-251-1321" vs "(916) 251-1321") create the same trust problem as address mismatches.
How to check: Verify the phone on GBP, homepage, contact page, and footer all show the same number in the same format.
Fix: Standardize format site-wide. If you use a tracking number, make sure GBP uses the same one.
1.3 GBP primary category matches your actual main service
Why: Primary category is the single biggest local ranking factor. If you run a landscape construction business but your GBP primary category is "Gardener," you are competing in the wrong pool.
How to check: Open GBP → Info → Primary category. Is it the exact service that drives the most revenue?
Fix: Change primary category to the most accurate, revenue-aligned one. Use secondary categories for adjacent services.
2. Forms and Lead Notifications
We caught a client last month with 38 form leads nobody had been notified about. Silent form failures are the single most expensive bug on a local website.
2.1 Test submission delivers an email within 2 minutes
Why: If the email is delayed or going to spam, leads cool off before you call them.
How to check: Submit a test lead from your own phone, using a fake name. Time how long until the notification lands.
Fix: If email never arrives, check your form's delivery settings, SMTP configuration, and spam folder. Whitelist the sending domain.
2.2 Test submission triggers a phone or SMS alert
Why: Email-only notifications get buried. A text buzz gets answered.
How to check: Does your form workflow send you an SMS when a lead comes in? If not, that is a missed layer of redundancy.
Fix: Add SMS notifications through your CRM or a workflow tool. Most GHL setups can do this in 10 minutes.
2.3 Form data is captured in a CRM or database, not only in email
Why: Emails get deleted, filtered, or missed. A CRM is the source of truth.
How to check: After the test submission, confirm the lead appears as a new contact in your CRM with all the form fields populated.
Fix: Wire the form to create a CRM contact on every submission. Email alerts are a notification, not a storage system.
2.4 Thank-you page loads after submission
Why: The user needs a visible confirmation or they will resubmit or bounce. This page also fires your conversion tracking.
How to check: After the test submission, do you land on a /thank-you URL? Is it tracked as a conversion in Google Ads or GA4?
Fix: Set up a distinct thank-you URL and add it as the conversion event in your ad platforms.
3. Schema Markup
Schema is hidden code that tells Google and AI assistants exactly what your business is. Without it, they are guessing. With it, you show up in more map packs, knowledge panels, and AI answers.
3.1 LocalBusiness schema on the homepage
Why: This is the single most important schema type for local businesses. It names, addresses, locates, and hours-stamps your business for search engines.
How to check: Paste your homepage URL into Google's Rich Results Test. Look for "LocalBusiness" (or a subtype like "HVACBusiness" or "Plumber") in the detected items.
Fix: Add JSON-LD with name, address, geo coordinates, telephone, openingHours, and image fields.
3.2 Service schema on each service page
Why: Tells Google what specific services you offer and where. Critical for showing up in queries like "roof repair near me."
How to check: Run each service page URL through the Rich Results Test. Confirm Service schema is detected.
Fix: Add Service schema with name, areaServed, and provider fields on every service page.
3.3 Review or AggregateRating schema reflects current reviews
Why: Rich snippets with star ratings in search results dramatically improve click-through. Outdated numbers look suspicious and can trigger manual penalties.
How to check: Does your schema show a review count and rating that matches your current Google Business Profile?
Fix: Pull reviews dynamically or update the numbers monthly. Never hardcode a review count from two years ago.
4. Page Speed and Mobile Experience
Most local traffic is on a phone, often on a spotty cell connection. Every second of load time costs you a chunk of visitors.
4.1 Mobile PageSpeed score of 70 or higher
Why: Under 70, you are losing users to slow loads. Under 50, you are bleeding.
How to check: Paste your homepage into Google PageSpeed Insights and look at the Mobile score.
Fix: Compress images, remove unused plugins and trackers, enable browser caching, and use a CDN.
4.2 Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds on mobile
Why: LCP measures how fast your main content appears. Google uses it as a direct ranking signal.
How to check: PageSpeed Insights reports LCP as one of the Core Web Vitals. Look for green.
Fix: Optimize your hero image (use WebP, size correctly), preload critical fonts, and minimize render-blocking scripts.
4.3 Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1
Why: Prevents buttons jumping around as the page loads. High CLS tanks conversions because users mis-tap the wrong element.
How to check: PageSpeed Insights reports CLS. Under 0.1 is healthy.
Fix: Set explicit width and height on images, reserve space for ads and embeds, and avoid injecting content above existing content.
5. Reviews and Social Proof
Reviews are the single biggest trust signal for local customers. They are also a Google ranking factor. Both need to stay fresh.
5.1 Most recent Google review is within the last 60 days
Why: Customers assume businesses with stale reviews are closed, sliding, or not worth calling.
How to check: Open your Google reviews dashboard, sort by newest, look at the date on the top one.
Fix: Build a review request workflow. Text or email every happy customer within 48 hours of service.
5.2 Reviews displayed on your site pull live, not hardcoded
Why: A static "4.9 stars" graphic from two years ago is worse than nothing. Visitors cross-reference with Google and trust drops when numbers disagree.
How to check: Do the reviews on your site match what is currently on your GBP? Are the dates visible?
Fix: Use a live reviews widget or pull via the Google API. If you cannot automate, update manually every 30 days.
5.3 Response rate to reviews is 80% or higher
Why: Google has confirmed that responding to reviews is a local ranking factor. It also shows future customers you care.
How to check: Count responded vs unresponded reviews over the last 12 months. Aim for 80%+ response rate.
Fix: Respond to every review within 7 days. Use our free Review Response Generator if writing replies is the bottleneck.
5.4 Review count is growing month over month
Why: Velocity matters as much as total count. A business adding 2 reviews a month signals momentum. A business adding zero signals neglect.
How to check: Count reviews added in the last 30 days. Aim for at least 1 to 2, ideally more.
Fix: If you are under 1 per month, you need a systematic review request process, not a one-off ask.
Ran the checklist and found problems?
If your site failed more than 3 or 4 items, a patch is not the answer. Get a free diagnostic of your entire online presence and we will tell you straight whether to fix or rebuild.
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