Every free website check I do starts with the same ten questions. None of them need special access, and most need nothing but a phone and a browser. Here is the list, so you can run it yourself.
1. Does it load fast on a phone?
Most of your visitors are on a phone, often on mobile data. Run your homepage through PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile tab. Look at Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): when the biggest image or block of text on the page finishes loading. Google rates it “good” at 2.5 seconds or less for at least 75% of visits. If you are far off, the usual suspects are huge images, too many plugins and a slow host.
2. Is every page on HTTPS?
Look for the padlock on your homepage, then on a few inner pages and your contact page. A “Not secure” warning on the page where people type their email is a fast way to lose them.
3. Can someone contact you in two taps?
From the homepage on a phone: can you reach a phone number, an email or a form in two taps? Count them. Then send yourself a test message through the form and check it actually arrives. Broken contact forms are more common than anyone admits.
4. Is the software up to date?
On WordPress, log in and look at the updates screen. Not every update is a security fix, but a long list of waiting updates usually includes some, and attackers read the same changelogs you do. Update carefully, one at a time, with a backup first.
5. Do backups exist, and have you ever restored one?
A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a backup. Find out where yours are stored, how often they run, and whether they live somewhere other than the same server as your site.
6. Do your page titles say what the page is?
Search your business on Google and look at the blue titles. “Home” and “Untitled” tell nobody anything. Each title should say what the page offers and, if it matters, where.
7. Do your details match everywhere?
Name, address, phone and opening hours: the same on your site, your Google Business Profile and the main directories you appear in. Mismatches confuse customers, search engines and AI assistants alike.
8. Are there broken links or dead pages?
Click through your main menu and footer. Try a couple of old blog posts. Every “page not found” is a small leak of trust. A free crawler like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) finds them in minutes.
9. Can AI assistants read you?
Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity a question your customer would ask. Does your business come up? Does your robots.txt block AI search crawlers by accident? I wrote a whole post on this: Google found you. Did ChatGPT?
10. Is it clear what you want the visitor to do?
Look at your homepage for five seconds, then look away. What was the one action it asked you to take? If you can’t say, neither can your visitors. One page, one main call to action.
What to do with the results
Don’t try to fix all ten today. Fix anything that is broken first (forms, HTTPS, security updates), then anything slow, then everything else. That order protects the visitors you already have before chasing new ones.
Or send me your link and I’ll run the list for you: one page, written by a person, within 2 business days. I only look. I touch nothing.