1
Mobile page speed
What to check: Load the homepage and one interior page on a phone; note anything over a 3-4 second load.
Why it matters: Slow mobile pages lose local searchers who are often looking to call, visit, or book on the go.
Website audit checklist
Local business website audit checklist
A general-purpose checklist for auditing any local business website — restaurants, clinics, salons, retail, and professional services.
Last updated: July 2026
Local businesses lose customers to the same handful of website problems, regardless of industry: slow mobile pages, buried contact info, weak trust signals, and thin local SEO. This checklist covers the signals that apply across most local categories, so you can run a consistent audit before an outreach call or a client review.
Use it manually for a single business, or as the framework behind a scored, multi-business search with FunnelLeaksHQ.
The checklist
2
Contact visibility
What to check: Confirm phone number, address, and hours are visible without scrolling on mobile.
Why it matters: Local intent searches (near me, open now) convert on how fast a visitor can act, not how much they read.
3
Primary call to action
What to check: Identify the single most important action (call, book, order, request quote) and check it is obvious above the fold.
Why it matters: A site with three competing CTAs and no clear priority converts worse than one with a single, clear next step.
4
HTTPS and basic security
What to check: Confirm the site loads over HTTPS with no browser security warnings.
Why it matters: Security warnings and missing HTTPS damage trust instantly and can hurt search rankings.
5
Meta titles and descriptions
What to check: View the page source or search snippet for the homepage and key service pages.
Why it matters: Missing or generic metadata (e.g. "Home" as the title) is a quick, visible local SEO gap.
6
Review count and rating visibility
What to check: Check whether reviews are referenced on the site itself, not just on Google.
Why it matters: Displaying review proof on-site reduces the trust gap for visitors who land directly without seeing the Google profile first.
7
Service area and location pages
What to check: For multi-area businesses, check whether each service area has its own page or is only mentioned once on the homepage.
Why it matters: Thin location coverage is one of the most common local SEO gaps and a natural angle for an SEO pitch.
8
Booking or lead capture friction
What to check: Count form fields or booking steps required to convert.
Why it matters: Every unnecessary field or step reduces completion, especially on mobile.
9
Broken links and outdated content
What to check: Click through main navigation links and check for 404s, expired promotions, or outdated hours.
Why it matters: Visible neglect signals to visitors (and to Google) that the site is not actively maintained.
Common mistakes to avoid
Auditing only the homepage
Service and location pages often reveal more SEO and conversion gaps than the homepage alone.
Listing every issue with no priority
A ranked list of the top 3-5 issues is more useful — and more persuasive in outreach — than a 20-item dump.
Ignoring the Google Business Profile
For most local businesses, the Google profile drives more first impressions than the website itself. Audit both.
Using the same audit depth for every business size
A single-location shop and a 10-location franchise need different levels of detail — adjust scope to match.
FAQ
How is this different from the contractor-specific checklist?
This is the general-purpose version covering signals that apply to most local business types. See the Contractor Website Audit Checklist for trade-specific items like emergency-service framing and licensing display.
Do I need special tools to run this checklist?
No — a phone, a browser, and the Google Business Profile are enough for a manual audit. FunnelLeaksHQ automates the scoring step across many businesses at once.
What is the single most common issue found on local business sites?
Weak mobile page speed and buried or missing contact information are consistently the two most common, high-impact issues.
Should this checklist be used for e-commerce sites too?
It covers the local-business core signals well, but e-commerce sites have additional considerations (cart abandonment, checkout friction) — see the Website Conversion Checklist for that layer.
How do I turn audit findings into an outreach message?
Pick the single highest-impact finding, describe it in plain language, and tie it to a concrete outcome (missed calls, lost bookings) rather than a technical description.
Use FunnelLeaksHQ to run this at scale
Search local businesses, review website, SEO, and review signals, and get a Lead Leak Score for every prospect — instead of checking each item by hand.
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