Five jobs every local‑business site should perform
- Load fast on a phone. Page weight under 1 MB, images compressed, and no more than two redirects.
- State what you do and where you serve. The headline, sub‑headline, and a brief paragraph must include the primary service and the city or service area.
- Make contact a single tap. Include a clickable phone number, a text‑to‑SMS button, and an online‑booking button that pulls real‑time availability from your Google Calendar.
- Show proof. Display at least three recent reviews, a photo gallery of recent work, and any relevant certifications or licenses.
- Feed Google. Keep a Google Business Profile (GBP) link, a structured‑data schema for local business, and a regularly updated blog or news feed.
10‑minute self‑check you can run this week
- Open your homepage on a smartphone (not a tablet). Does it appear within three seconds? If not, compress images or enable caching.
- Read the first two lines. Do they clearly say, for example, "San Diego Moving Company – Residential & Commercial"? If the service or location is missing, edit the headline.
- Tap the phone number. Does it open the dialer? Tap the “Book Now” button. Does it show available slots from your calendar? If any button is missing, request a change via text.
- Scroll to the bottom. Count the visible reviews. Are there at least three with star ratings and dates? If not, send a review‑request text to recent customers.
- Search for your business on Google Maps. Is the GBP listed with correct hours and address? If details are outdated, update the profile directly in Google.
How to make the checklist easier
Use the tools built into your website plan. For example, the Growth plan from Dangerous Centaur includes a Google review link and up to 20 text‑based changes each month, which is enough to tweak headlines, add buttons, or update images without waiting for a developer.
If you need more frequent social content or more than 20 changes, the Growth Engineering plan adds Instagram posts three times a week and 60 text changes per month. All plans provide a one‑page Monday report so you can see what was updated and what is scheduled next.
What to send your web studio each month
- New photos of recent jobs (send via text).
- Any changes to hours, phone number, or service area.
- Requests for new pages or sections (counts as two changes).
- Links to new reviews you want highlighted.
- Updates to blog topics or keywords.
Quick win for this week
Pick one of the five jobs above that is weakest on your site. Send a single text to your web studio requesting the specific change (e.g., “Add a ‘Book Now’ button that links to my Google Calendar”). Use the text‑based change system to get it done within a day.
Running the 10‑minute audit and fixing the most obvious gap will improve both user experience and the signals Google uses to rank local businesses.