Get more clients · Every business
How to Check Your Own Front Door in 15 Minutes (Free Checklist)
A quick check of your website, Google listing and booking page, done on a phone the way a stranger would do it, finds the errors that most often turn new customers away.
To check your small business's online presence in 15 minutes, open your Google listing and your website side by side on your phone and confirm that hours, phone number, address and booking links match and work. Then read your site as a first-time customer would and look for five answers: how to reach you, what it costs, how to book, what happens on the first visit and why they would come back.
The checklist to copy
| Minutes | Check | Pass if |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 3 | Search your business name on Google Maps on your phone | Your listing appears with the right name, address, phone number and website link |
| 3 to 5 | Compare the hours on Google, your website and your booking app | All three match exactly, including any holiday or special hours |
| 5 to 7 | Tap the website link on your Google listing | It opens your own working site, not a placeholder, an error or someone else's page |
| 7 to 9 | Tap every button on your homepage: book, call, text, email, social links | Each opens the right place, and the phone link dials your number |
| 9 to 11 | Look for prices | A first-time customer can find a price, a starting price or a range |
| 11 to 12 | Try to book or request a time | You reach a booking page or form in two taps or fewer |
| 12 to 14 | Look for first-visit information | The site says how long a first visit takes, when to arrive, what to bring and your cancellation policy |
| 14 to 15 | Look for a reason to come back | The site offers a package, membership, rebooking reward, reminder or a way to stay in touch |
Why it works
The check starts with hours and links because those errors send a customer to a locked door or a dead end, and many customers do not give a business a second try. In a 2017 study by the UK domain registry Nominet, 61% of 259 independent businesses had inaccurate or missing hours online, and in a companion survey of 2,003 UK consumers, 63% said they would never return to an independent business after arriving to find it closed when its listing said it was open. The rest of the checklist follows the order in which a new customer decides, from finding the business to booking a second visit, so each row answers a question that would otherwise have to be asked by phone.
Sources
- osNOVA. Front Door Audit, independent Philadelphia hair salons, October 2026. 68 working websites scored on nine items; 50 checked fact by fact.
- Nominet (UK Domain). Misinformation Online Costs Independent High Street Businesses £6.1 Billion a Year. 2017. 259 businesses; 2,003 UK consumers surveyed by Censuswide.
Email hello@osnovaops.com about your business for a full Front Door score and a list of the fixes worth the most money.
Not ready to talk? osNOVA runs free live events for owners.