Your website is the one place online that is fully yours. It decides whether a person who found you can reach you, and whether Google and the AI assistants can tell what you do and where.
This playbook says what "in good shape" looks like for a small business website, what to look at, and how to fix what is not. It is about the site itself; your Google tools are the Google 101 playbook. What decides which playbook an item is in is where the thing is edited and checked: on the site, it is here; in a Google tool, it is there. Where one thing has both, each playbook has an item and names the other. Written for clients; the "Chad does it" notes say what changes when Chad helps. Every item has a number, so your page or a note from Chad can say "do 2.4" and this page says what that means. Numbers are never reused or shifted: a new item gets the next number in its part, and a retired item keeps its number with a note saying so. How each item is scored for the to-do lists on your page: Website 101 ICE scores per item.
The work comes in three levels. Access is yours: owning the pieces and letting Chad in. Basic fixes are Chad's, done with that access, most in minutes. Advanced fixes take longer or need your decisions, and are done by you, by Chad, or together.
Last checked: 2026-10-05. Site builders move their buttons often: each How line names the place in general terms, and your builder's own help is the one to trust for the exact screen.
Summary
Part 1: It is yours
The pieces of the site are in accounts you control, and Chad can get in to help.
- 1.1 Domain: registered in an account you can log in to
- 1.2 Domain: set to renew by itself
- 1.3 Editor: you have an owner or admin login of your own
- 1.4 Editor: Chad given a login that can edit
- 1.5 Hosting and DNS: you know where they are and can log in
Part 2: It works
A person who arrives, on any device and by any address, gets a working page and can reach you.
- 2.1 Every address of the site lands on one secure address
- 2.2 The security certificate is valid and not about to expire
- 2.3 Pages fit a phone screen
- 2.4 No broken links on the homepage
- 2.5 A page that does not exist says so
- 2.6 One tap from the homepage reaches you
- 2.7 The contact or booking path works from start to finish
- 2.8 Fast enough on a phone
Part 3: It can be found and understood
Search engines and AI assistants can read the site and tell what you do, where, and how to reach you.
- 3.1 The homepage title and description say what you do and where
- 3.2 One main heading on the homepage
- 3.3 Search engines are allowed in
- 3.4 Your business details are in the page's structured data
- 3.5 Images have descriptions
- 3.6 A share preview and a site icon
- 3.7 Each service has a page of its own
- 3.8 The site has a sitemap
Details
Part 1: It is yours
Each item is something you can check, not an opinion.
1.1 Domain: registered in an account you can log in to
Your domain name (yourbusiness.com) is registered at a registrar such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Squarespace, in an account that is yours, not a former web designer's.
Check: Log in to the registrar and see the domain listed. If you do not know the registrar, look it up at https://lookup.icann.org/ and check your email for its renewal notices.
How: If someone else holds it, ask them to transfer the domain to an account you create at the same registrar; a transfer inside one registrar takes minutes.
Why important: If not done, whoever holds the domain can take the site and your email address offline, and nobody else can stop it. High: everything else here sits on the domain.
1.2 Domain: set to renew by itself
Automatic renewal is on and the card on file is current. Renewing the domain is yours, not something Chad takes over: your page shows the expiry date the public record carries, and when your registrar renews by itself is between you and it. Chad raises it only when the date has passed.
Check: In the registrar account, open the domain: the expiry date and the auto-renew switch are on the same screen.
How: Turn on auto-renew and update the card. If the date has passed, renew now for a year or more.
Why important: If not done, an expired domain takes the site and email down the same day, and a lapsed name can be bought by someone else. Medium: rare, since renewal is automatic nearly everywhere, and high the day it lapses.
1.3 Editor: you have an owner or admin login of your own
You can log in to wherever the site is edited (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify) with the top role, under your own email.
Check: Log in and open the users or permissions screen: your own email is listed as owner or administrator.
How: If only a designer or a past employee has the top role, ask them to add you as owner or administrator, then remove any login nobody uses any more.
Why important: If not done, every change to your own site waits on someone else, and a lost login can lock you out. High.
1.4 Editor: Chad given a login that can edit
Chad has a login of his own with a role that can edit pages and settings, so he never uses yours.
Check: The editor's users or permissions screen lists Chad with a role that can edit.
How: In the editor's users or permissions screen, invite Chad (he sends you the email address to use) as an administrator or the nearest role that can edit pages and settings.
Why important: If not done, every basic fix in this playbook becomes a list of instructions for you instead of something Chad does the same day. Medium: only if you want Chad's help.
Chad does it: with this login Chad makes the basic fixes himself and notes each one on your page.
1.5 Hosting and DNS: you know where they are and can log in
Hosting is the computer the site lives on; DNS is the address book that points your domain at it. On Squarespace, Wix or Shopify the builder is the hosting, so only DNS is left to know. You know which companies hold each and can log in.
Check: You can name the hosting company and the place DNS is edited (often the registrar), and log in to both.
How: If you cannot, ask whoever built the site, and get a login of your own for each.
Why important: If not done, a site that goes down or an email that stops arriving cannot be fixed until someone finds the account. Medium: it matters on the worst day.
Part 2: It works
2.1 Every address of the site lands on one secure address
With or without www, typed with http or https, every form of your address ends at the same single https address.
How: In the site's domain settings, choose one main address and turn on "redirect to https" (most builders do both by default). On your own hosting, Chad sets the redirects.
Why important: If not done, some visitors get a browser warning or an error, and search engines can treat the variants as separate sites, splitting your standing. High when one variant fails, low when all work but disagree.
2.2 The security certificate is valid and not about to expire
The padlock in the browser: the certificate matches your domain and renews by itself.
How: Builders and most hosts renew it automatically. If it is close to expiring or has expired, turn on the automatic certificate in the host's settings, or ask the host.
Why important: If not done, browsers show a full-page warning and most visitors leave. High, and rare.
2.3 Pages fit a phone screen
The page sizes itself to a phone, with no sideways scrolling and text readable without zooming.
How: Use the builder's mobile-ready theme or template. On a custom site, Chad adds the missing page setting.
Why important: If not done, most of your visitors, who are on phones, get a page they have to pinch and drag. High.
2.4 No broken links on the homepage
Every link and button on the homepage leads to a page that loads.
How: Fix or remove each broken link the check names: point it at the page's current address, or take it out.
Why important: If not done, a visitor who taps a dead link often leaves, and a broken booking or contact link loses that person outright. Medium, high when the broken link is the way to reach you.
2.5 A page that does not exist says so
A mistyped or outdated address shows a "page not found" page, with a way back to the homepage, and tells search engines the page is missing.
How: Most builders do this by default. If the site shows the homepage or a blank page instead, turn on the builder's 404 page, or Chad sets it on your hosting.
Why important: If not done, search engines keep old and mistyped addresses as if they were real pages. Low.
2.6 One tap from the homepage reaches you
The homepage has a phone number, email or booking button a visitor can tap: a number that starts a call, an email that opens a message, a button that opens booking.
How: Make the number and email links (in most editors, select the text and add a link of type phone or email), and put the main one near the top.
Why important: If not done, a visitor ready to contact you has to copy a number by hand or hunt for a form. High. A business that leaves its phone off on purpose still needs one clear way in.
2.7 The contact or booking path works from start to finish
A test message or booking, sent the way a new customer would, arrives where you will see it.
Check: A test through the contact form or the booking tool, sent from a phone, arrives: the email, the text, the calendar entry.
How: If it did not arrive, check where the form sends (the form's settings) and your spam folder; for booking, open the booking tool and check the service and location it is set to.
Why important: If not done, people who tried to become customers are lost without anyone knowing. High: it is the point of the site.
Chad does it: Chad runs the test, tells you what he sent and when, and you confirm it arrived.
2.8 Fast enough on a phone
Google measures how the site loads for real visitors on phones (Core Web Vitals) and rates it good, needs improvement or poor: https://pagespeed.web.dev/
How: The usual causes are oversized images, too many add-ons, and embedded widgets. Chad reads the report and fixes what the site allows; some fixes need a lighter theme or dropping an add-on, which is your call.
Why important: If not done, visitors on a slow connection leave before the page shows. Medium: it matters more the slower the site is. A small site may have too few visitors for Google to rate; then there is nothing to do.
Part 3: It can be found and understood
3.1 The homepage title and description say what you do and where
The title is the blue link people see in search results; the description is the text under it. The title names your business, your main service and your area; the description says in a sentence or two why to choose you.
How: In the editor's SEO or page settings for the homepage, set the title (about 60 characters) and the description (about 150).
Why important: If not done, your result in search reads "Home" or a slogan, and people searching for the service pass over it. High.
3.2 One main heading on the homepage
The homepage has exactly one main heading (the page's largest, called H1) that says what you do in plain words.
How: In the editor, set the top heading's style to Heading 1 and every other heading to a smaller style. A logo or a picture is not a heading.
Why important: If not done, search engines and AI assistants have to guess what the page is about. Medium.
3.3 Search engines are allowed in
Nothing on the site tells search engines to stay out: no "discourage search engines" setting, no block in the site's robots file.
How: Turn off the editor's "hide from search engines" setting (in WordPress: Settings, Reading). Chad removes a block in the robots file.
Why important: If not done, the site cannot show in search at all. High, and rare: it is usually a setting left on from when the site was being built.
3.4 Your business details are in the page's structured data
Structured data is a hidden label on the page that states, in a form computers read exactly, your business name, address, phone, hours and website. Test any page: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
How: Fill in the business details in the builder's SEO or business-information settings, or Chad adds the label to the homepage.
Why important: If not done, Google and AI assistants piece your details together from the page text and from other sites, and can get them wrong. Medium.
3.5 Images have descriptions
Each picture that shows something (not a decoration) has a short text description, called alt text.
How: In the editor, click the image and fill in its description or alt text: what the picture shows, in a few words.
Why important: If not done, people who use screen readers hear nothing for the picture, and search engines cannot tell what it shows. Low to medium.
3.6 A share preview and a site icon
When the site is shared in a text or on social media it shows a title, a picture and a line of text; the browser tab shows your icon.
How: In the editor's SEO or social settings, set the social sharing image and the site icon (favicon).
Why important: If not done, a shared link shows as a bare address and gets fewer taps. Low.
3.7 Each service has a page of its own
Every service you want to be found for has its own page that names the service and your area, says who it is for, and has a way to reach you.
Check: Each service the business wants more of has a page that is about it alone, linked from the homepage or the menu.
How: Add a page per missing service. You know what the service is and who it is for; Chad can draft the page from a few lines you give him.
Why important: If not done, a search for that service has no page of yours to land on, and a rival's page that is about it wins. High for the services you want more of.
3.8 The site has a sitemap
A sitemap is a file on the site (sitemap.xml or similar) that lists its pages for search engines. It loads, and it lists your pages. A sitemap may be an index that leads to others, one for pages and one for posts; that is fine. Telling Google where it is happens in Search Console and is Google 101 item 1.19.
How: Most builders make the sitemap by themselves. In WordPress an SEO plugin does (Yoast, Rank Math), or WordPress itself at wp-sitemap.xml. If there is none, turn it on in the editor's SEO settings.
Why important: If not done, search engines find pages only by following links, which is slower for new pages and can miss a page nothing links to. Medium: a small site whose pages are all in the menu loses little.