Sitecomb: one-click digital audit of your website

Guides

Free, plain-English guides.

Check and look after your own website — no report needed. Written by Sitecomb, for anyone who owns a small-business site.

The free 10-point check any owner can do in 15 minutes
You don't need to be technical to check your own website. You need fifteen minutes, your phone and this list.
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Your website is a first-impression machine
A visitor decides whether to trust your business in about five seconds. Your website makes that decision for you, whether you've thought about it or not.
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What to keep an eye on every month
Most website problems don't happen suddenly. They creep in. A certificate quietly nears expiry. A plugin drifts out of date. A form fails silently for weeks, and nobody notices.
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Something broke: your first 30 minutes
Your website has a problem. Before you panic, work through this calmly, in order. Most fixes are simpler than they feel in the first few minutes.
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We checked 34 small-business websites. Most make phone customers wait.
In late September we ran 34 small-business websites through the Sitecomb checker. On a phone test, only one of the 25 we could time showed its main content inside Google's 2.5-second target.
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How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?
AI assistants recommend businesses they can find on the web and understand. Let their search crawlers read your website, and say plainly on it what you do and where you do it. Keep your Google Business Profile up to date as well. Google says its AI answers rest on ordinary search ranking, so good SEO still counts.
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Why isn't my business showing up on Google?
Usually Google hasn't indexed your website yet, or something on the site is keeping it out. Check the site in Google Search Console, which is free. A new site can take a few days to a few weeks to be crawled. A noindex tag keeps a page out of Google, and a robots.txt block stops Google reading it.
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Why isn't my business showing on Google Maps?
Your business appears on Google Maps through a Google Business Profile, which is free. If it's missing, the profile may not exist yet, may still need verifying, or may not match the search. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Nobody can pay Google for a better position.
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What does a website audit check, and is it worth paying for?
An audit checks your website the way customers and search engines meet it. It covers security, speed, phones, search basics, legal notices and how customers reach you. Free tools each cover a part. A paid audit is worth it when it puts everything in one report, with a fix for each problem. It helps only if you act on it.
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Is there a free website checker, and which one should I use?
Yes. Google's free PageSpeed Insights tests speed and runs Lighthouse, which also scores accessibility and search basics. Google Search Console shows whether your pages are indexed. SSL Labs tests your security certificate, and WAVE flags accessibility problems. Each covers one part of your site. Google retired its old Mobile-Friendly Test in 2023.
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How do I check if my website is secure?
Check for the padlock and https:// in the address bar, on your phone as well. Then run your address through SSL Labs' free Server Test to check the certificate. Keep your website software and plugins updated, and turn on two-step sign-in. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC too, so nobody can easily send email as you.
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Free, plain-English guides.

The free 10-point check any owner can do in 15 minutes

Your website is a first-impression machine

What to keep an eye on every month

Something broke: your first 30 minutes

We checked 34 small-business websites. Most make phone customers wait.

How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?

Why isn't my business showing up on Google?

Why isn't my business showing on Google Maps?

What does a website audit check, and is it worth paying for?

Is there a free website checker, and which one should I use?

How do I check if my website is secure?