The 19 checks, in plain English.

What we look at. Whether the homepage loads over https with a valid certificate, and whether the plain http address forwards to it.

Why it costs customers. Browsers print “Not secure” next to the address of a site without https. People hesitate to call or fill in a form on a page their own browser warns them about, and Google prefers secure sites.

Fail: no https or a broken certificate. Half marks: https works but http does not forward to it.

What we look at. On an https page, whether any image, script, stylesheet, frame or form still points at an insecure http address.

Why it costs customers. One insecure file is enough for a browser to drop the padlock or block the file, so photos go missing or a form stops working without the owner ever noticing.

Fail: any insecure file found. Only scored on https pages.

What we look at. The newest year written next to a © or “copyright” on the page.

Why it costs customers. A footer that still says 2014 makes a careful customer wonder whether the business is still open. It is one of the first things people notice.

Fail: the year is more than a year behind. Only scored when a year is found.

What we look at. Whether the page declares a favicon.

Why it costs customers. A blank or generic icon in the tab and in bookmarks is a small thing that makes a business look less established.

Fail: no icon declared.

What we look at. Whether the page has a mobile viewport, the one line that lets a layout adapt to a small screen.

Why it costs customers. Without it the page shows up tiny on a phone and people have to pinch and zoom. Someone looking for a plumber on their phone taps the next result instead.

Fail: no mobile viewport.

What we look at. Whether a phone number is on the page, and whether it is a tap-to-call link.

Why it costs customers. On a phone, a number that cannot be tapped has to be memorized or copied. Some people give up, and a number that is not on the page at all loses the call outright.

Fail: no number found. Half marks: a number is there but it is plain text.

What we look at. A contact form, a linked email address, or a link to a contact or booking page.

Why it costs customers. Not everyone wants to call, and many people look things up outside opening hours. With no form or email on the page, those messages go to someone else.

Fail: none of the three found.

What we look at. The page title: present, not a placeholder like “Home”, and between 15 and 70 characters.

Why it costs customers. The title is the headline people see in Google. “Home” gives them no reason to click and tells Google nothing about what the business does or where.

Fail: missing or generic. Half marks: too short or too long.

What we look at. The meta description: present and between 50 and 175 characters.

Why it costs customers. The description is the two lines under the headline in search results. Without one, Google grabs random text from the page, which makes the listing easy to skip.

Fail: missing. Half marks: too short or too long.

What we look at. LocalBusiness structured data (JSON-LD or microdata) with the business type.

Why it costs customers. Structured data hands Google the name, address, phone number and hours directly. A site without it is harder to show properly in Maps and local results.

Fail: none. Half marks: only general Organization or WebSite data.

What we look at. Whether the page or the server tells search engines not to list it (“noindex”).

Why it costs customers. A leftover noindex from when the site was being built hides the whole business from Google. The owner usually has no idea it is there.

Fail: noindex found.

What we look at. Whether the page has exactly one main headline (H1).

Why it costs customers. Visitors decide in a few seconds whether they are in the right place. With no clear headline saying what the business does, many leave, and Google has less to go on.

Fail: none. Half marks: several.

What we look at. How many images carry a text description (alt text).

Why it costs customers. Image descriptions are how Google and screen readers understand photos. Without them the photos do nothing for search, and visitors who rely on a screen reader are left guessing.

Pass at 80% or more. Half marks from 50%. Only scored when the page has images.

What we look at. Open Graph tags: a share title and a share image.

Why it costs customers. When someone shares the site on Facebook, in a text or on WhatsApp, a bare link with no picture or headline gets far fewer taps.

Fail: neither. Half marks: only one of the two.

What we look at. How long the server takes to send the page itself, before any images load.

Why it costs customers. People waiting on a blank screen tend to go back and pick another result.

Pass up to 0.8 seconds. Half marks up to 2 seconds. Fail above that.

What we look at. The size of the page’s HTML and the number of scripts it loads.

Why it costs customers. Heavy pages are slow on phone connections, and every extra script is one more thing that can break.

Half marks over 200 KB or 20 scripts. Fail over 500 KB or 40 scripts.

What we look at. What the site was built with: Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly, Shopify, Webflow, Duda, Jimdo, WordPress and its version, Joomla, Drupal, or FrontPage-era tools.

Why it costs customers. An old WordPress or a tool that stopped being made years ago cannot adapt to phones or to how Google reads sites now, and it is a security risk.

Fail: discontinued software or a WordPress a major version behind. Otherwise not scored.

What we look at. Whether any common analytics is installed: Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, Plausible, Fathom, Matomo, Clarity or Hotjar.

Why it costs customers. With no analytics, nobody can see how many people visit, where they come from, or whether the site produces any calls. There is no way to know what is working.

Fail: none found.

What we look at. Links to the business’s Facebook, Instagram or other social profiles.

Why it costs customers. Customers often check Facebook or Instagram for recent photos and reviews before they call. With no links they have to search, and may land on a competitor.

Fail: none found.