How we grade a website

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 1.1Title present and uniqueA title on every page, no two the same10
• 1.2Title 30–65 charactersEach title between 30 and 65 characters10
• 1.3Meta description present and uniqueA meta description on every page, no two the same10
• 1.4Description 70–160 charactersEach description between 70 and 160 characters10
• 1.5One real-text H1Exactly one real-text headline (H1) per page10
• 1.6robots.txt present, not blockingA robots.txt that exists and doesn't shut Google out10
• 1.7No noindex on real pagesNo page carrying a noindex tag10
• 1.8sitemap.xml validA sitemap.xml that returns 200 and lists real URLs10
• 1.9Sitemap listed in robots.txtThe sitemap named in robots.txt10
• 1.10Self-referencing canonicalEach page's canonical tag points to itself on the live domain10
• 1.11One host for www and bare domainwww and the bare domain land on one address10
• 1.12Business name in HTML textThe business name as real text on every page10
• 1.13Address or service area in HTML textAn address or service area as real text on every page10
• 1.14One phone number in HTML textOne phone number as real text, the same on every page10
• 1.15A page per core serviceEach core service has its own page with its own copy10
• 1.16Viewport meta tagThe standard viewport tag for phones10
• 1.17Content images have alt textContent images carry descriptive alt text10

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 2.1LocalBusiness schema presentLocalBusiness (or a subtype) structured data10
• 2.2Schema fields completeName, service area, phone, website and hours in that data10
• 2.3Content schema on pagesService, Product, FAQ or Review markup on the pages that have that content10
• 2.4Schema parses without errorsEvery structured-data block parses cleanly10
• 2.5Schema values match the pageStructured data matches the page: phone, business type, name10
• 2.6Words readable without JavaScriptWords in the raw HTML before any script runs (150 = full)10
• 2.7Says what you doPlain text says what the business does10
• 2.8Says wherePlain text says where it works10
• 2.9Says for whomPlain text says who it serves10
• 2.10Says what it costsPlain text gives a price, a range, or 'free quote'10
• 2.11Says how to contactPlain text gives a phone, email or form10
• 2.12AI crawlers allowedGPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended allowed10
• 2.13Q&A with direct answersAn FAQ or Q&A with direct one-paragraph answers10
• 2.14Business schema in the raw HTMLBusiness structured data present before any script runs10
• 2.15Contact details in the raw HTMLA phone, email or form present before any script runs10
• 2.16Headline in the raw HTMLPages whose headline exists before any script runs10

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 3.1Lighthouse accessibility scoreGoogle Lighthouse accessibility score (100 = full, 50 = zero)10
• 3.2Contrast failuresElements failing AA contrast (zero points at 10)10
• 3.3Images with alt textImages with alt text10
• 3.4Form fields with a labelForm fields with a real label, not just a placeholder10
• 3.5Buttons and links with a nameButtons and icon links with an accessible name10
• 3.6Keyboard reaches controlsShare of visible controls the Tab key reaches (50% = zero)10
• 3.7Focus visible on stopsShare of Tab stops where focus is visible (50% = zero)10
• 3.8No keyboard trapTab never gets stuck on one element10
• 3.9Drop-down menus usable by keyboardDrop-down menu items reachable by keyboard10
• 3.10Zoom allowedPinch-to-zoom not disabled10
• 3.11Landmarks: lang, main, nav, skip linklang attribute, main, nav and a skip link10
• 3.12Heading order without skipsPages whose headings step down without skipping (best practice)10
• 3.13No autoplaying soundNo audio or video that autoplays with sound10
• 3.14Moving content has a pause controlAnything that moves on its own has a pause or stop control10
• 3.15No overlay widgetNo accessiBe or UserWay style overlay widget10
• 3.16Call or contact action reachable by keyboardThe Tab key reaches the call link or the contact form's submit button10

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 4.1No sideways scroll on a phonePage no wider than a 412 px phone screen (25% wider = zero)10
• 4.2Nothing past the screen edgeElements that run past the phone screen edge (zero at 4)10
• 4.3Tap targets meet the 24 px ruleTap targets at least 24 px or with 24 px of clear space (WCAG 2.5.8)10
• 4.4No overlapping or clipped textClipped or overlapping text on a phone (zero at 4, reviewer)10
• 4.5First-screen call to action on desktopA call, book, quote or contact action in the first desktop screen10
• 4.6First screen says what the business isThe first screen names what the business is (reviewer)10
• 4.7Typefaces beyond twoTypefaces in use beyond the second (zero at 3 extra)10
• 4.8Button styles beyond twoButton styles beyond the second (zero at 4 extra)10
• 4.9Accent colours beyond threeAccent colours beyond the third (zero at 3 extra)10
• 4.10Body text size on a phoneMedian paragraph size on a phone (16 px = full, 12 px = zero)10
• 4.11Line heightMedian line height (1.4 = full, 1.1 = zero)10
• 4.12Desktop line lengthDesktop paragraph width in characters (90 = full, 140 = zero)10
• 4.13Upscaled imagesImages shown larger than their real size (zero at 5)10
• 4.14Stock-agency image sourcesImages from stock-photo agencies (zero at 3)10
• 4.15A photo of this business on the homepageAt least one homepage photo of this business: team, premises, work or vehicles (reviewer)10
• 4.16Crisp logoLogo is SVG or at least 1.5× its displayed size10
• 4.17Current © year© year is the current year10
• 4.18Reviews or testimonials presentReviews or testimonials on the site10
• 4.19Google Business link or mapA Google Business Profile link or an embedded map10
• 4.20Placeholder textPlaceholder text such as Lorem ipsum or Coming soon (zero at 2)10
• 4.21No platform credit in the footerNo Wix / Squarespace / GoDaddy style credit in the footer10
• 4.22First screen is not a slider or splash pageThe first screen is a still message, not an auto-rotating slider or a splash page10

No cap. A good-looking site is a good-looking site.

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 5.1Call to action in the first phone screenA call, book, quote or contact action in the first 412 × 915 phone screen10
• 5.2Tap-to-call link up topThe phone number is a tap-to-call link in the header or first screen10
• 5.3Contact form presentA contact form somewhere on the sampled pages10
• 5.4Form handler verifiableThe form's handler is a known service, the CMS, the platform, or an endpoint that answers (never submit-tested)10
• 5.5Form fields namedForm fields carry name attributes10
• 5.6Form field countFields on the shortest contact form (6 = full, 12 = zero)10
• 5.7Page weightHomepage transfer size (1.5 MB = full, 8 MB = zero)10
• 5.8Largest imageLargest image transferred (300 KB = full, 2 MB = zero)10
• 5.9Images in modern formatsImages served as WebP or AVIF10
• 5.10LCPLargest Contentful Paint on a throttled phone (2.5 s = full, 10 s = zero)10
• 5.11CLSCumulative Layout Shift (0.1 = full, 0.5 = zero)10
• 5.12RequestsRequests to load the homepage (60 = full, 200 = zero)10
• 5.13Third-party script originsThird-party script origins (6 = full, 20 = zero)10
• 5.14Broken linksBroken internal links (zero at 5)10
• 5.15Broken imagesBroken images (zero at 5)10
• 5.16Console errorsJavaScript console errors on load (zero at 5)10
• 5.17No popup covering the page on loadNothing covering more than 30% of the screen when the page opens10

• #CheckWhat we look forPts
• 6.1Valid certificate on apex and wwwCertificate valid on both the bare domain and www10
• 6.2Days to certificate expiryDays until the certificate expires (30 = full, 0 = zero)10
• 6.3TLS 1.2+ onlyOnly TLS 1.2 or newer accepted10
• 6.4http redirects to httpsBoth http:// addresses redirect to https://10
• 6.5HSTS max-ageStrict-Transport-Security max-age in days (180 = full, host setting)10
• 6.6Content-Security-Policy presentA Content-Security-Policy header (host setting)10
• 6.7CSP not wide openThe policy isn't unsafe-inline plus * everywhere10
• 6.8Protective headersX-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy (host settings)10
• 6.9Mixed contenthttp:// assets on https pages (zero at 5)10
• 6.10Outdated software componentsExposed components behind their publisher's current release or with a known CVE (zero at 3)10
• 6.11Sensitive paths hiddenBackups, phpinfo, .DS_Store, upload listings, config backups and the WP user list all hidden10
• 6.15/.git not publicThe /.git folder is not downloadable10
• 6.16/.env not publicThe /.env file is not downloadable10
• 6.12SPF recordAn SPF record on the domain10
• 6.13DMARC recordA DMARC record on the domain10
• 6.14DMARC policy quarantine or rejectDMARC policy set to quarantine or reject10