Small business website checklist: what to check before launch

What should a small business website checklist cover?

A small business website checklist should cover content, speed and accessibility, legal basics, the enquiry path and your local listings, with one person responsible for each. The list is the same whether you run a clinic, a trades business, a shop or a not-for-profit; only the details change.

Do your pages answer customers’ first questions?

They should, because most visitors arrive with one question: can this business help me, where, and at what cost? Each main service needs its own page that answers that question in the first few lines, then gives the practical detail.

1. One page per main service, opening with two or three sentences on what you do, for whom and where.
2. How pricing works: a price, a “from” price or a plain explanation of how quotes are worked out.
3. What happens next: how to book, how long a job or appointment takes, and what to bring or prepare.
4. The suburbs or regions you serve, written as plain text rather than only on a map.
5. Opening hours, and how to reach you, that match your Google Business Profile exactly.
6. Real photos of your work, team or premises where you can, with alt text that describes them.

As an illustration, a physiotherapy clinic page that opens with “Treatment for sports injuries, back pain and post-surgery rehab in Brunswick, with online booking and same-week appointments where available” tells a reader, and a search or answer engine, far more than a page headed “Our services”.

Is the site fast and usable on a phone?

It should meet Google’s “good” Core Web Vitals and WCAG 2.2 level AA, because most local searches happen on phones and a slow or awkward page loses the enquiry. Both can be checked before launch.

• Speed. Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less and Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less, at the 75th percentile of page loads (web.dev). Our glossary explains Core Web Vitals in plain English.
• Images. Modern formats such as AVIF or WebP, sized for the screen, with width and height set so the page does not jump while loading.
• Accessibility. WCAG 2.2 AA includes tap targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, visible keyboard focus that sticky bars do not hide, readable colour contrast and forms that do not ask for the same details twice.
• Content in the HTML. Your text should be in the page as served, not loaded later by scripts, so search engines and AI assistants can read it. Our guide on getting recommended by ChatGPT and Google covers crawler access in more detail.

Which legal basics apply to an Australian small business website?

The Australian Consumer Law applies to what your website says, and some businesses have extra rules on privacy, pricing or advertising. None of this needs to be complicated, but each item needs a deliberate decision.

• Privacy. The OAIC explains who the Privacy Act covers. Many small businesses are exempt, but health service providers and some others are covered regardless of turnover. Either way, put a short notice beside each form.
• Prices. If you show prices, they must not mislead. The ACCC’s guidance on displaying prices explains the single price rule: where a price is made up of parts, the total must be shown as prominently as the parts.
• Reviews and testimonials. Use only genuine reviews and do not hide negative ones in a way that misleads, as the ACCC’s guidance on online reviews explains. Clinics run by registered health practitioners must also follow Ahpra’s advertising guidelines on testimonials.
• Email marketing. If the site collects addresses for newsletters, the Spam Act 2003 requires consent, clear identification of your business and a working unsubscribe link.
• Ownership. Register the domain in your business’s name, keep administrator access to your hosting and content system, and get your content and design files at handover.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check anything specific to your industry with your adviser or industry body.

Is the enquiry or booking path easy and safe?

It is when a customer can enquire or book in a few taps, knows what happens next, and is not asked for more than you need. Test it on a phone as a customer would, before launch and after every change.

1. Ask only for what you need to reply: name, contact details and a short description.
2. Say how quickly you respond, and offer a booking link where appointments are the next step.
3. Send each enquiry to a shared inbox or system someone checks daily, not one person’s email.
4. Use spam protection that does not make customers solve puzzles.
5. Confirm the enquiry on screen and by email, so the customer knows it arrived.

Does your Google Business Profile match the website?

It should, because Google and customers compare the two, and mismatched hours, phone numbers or service areas cost trust. Your Google Business Profile is free, and businesses that visit customers can list a service area instead of a street address.

Check that the business name, phone number, hours, service area and website link are identical on the profile, the site and any directories you use. Choose the most specific primary category, add real photos, and reply to reviews politely and promptly.

What is the full small business website checklist?

Use this list before launch and once a year. Tick an item only when someone has checked it on the live site, on a phone.

Pylon Digital designs and builds websites for established businesses of every kind, with the speed, accessibility and structured data items in place from launch, and works through the content and legal items with you. Professional firms can also use our law firm website checklist.