We believe in transparency. When we assign a web presence score to your business, you deserve to know exactly how we arrived at that number. Here's our complete methodology.
The Scoring Scale
Every business receives a score from 0 to 10:
- 8-10 (Excellent) — Your web presence is strong. You're ahead of most local competitors.
- 6-7 (Good) — Solid foundation with room for improvement in specific areas.
- 4-5 (Fair) — Noticeable gaps that are likely costing you customers.
- 2-3 (Needs Work) — Significant issues across multiple areas.
- 0-1 (Poor) — Critical problems or no meaningful web presence.
What We Evaluate
Our scoring system examines six core areas, each weighted based on its impact on customer acquisition and trust.
Performance (Weight: High)
We measure real-world loading performance using industry-standard tools:
- First Contentful Paint (FCP) — How quickly does the first content appear?
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — When does the main content finish loading?
- Time to Interactive (TTI) — When can a user actually click and interact?
- Total page weight — How much data does the browser need to download?
A site that takes more than 3 seconds to become usable on a mobile connection receives a significant penalty.
Mobile Experience (Weight: High)
We test on real mobile viewports:
- Responsive layout (no horizontal scrolling)
- Touch target sizes (buttons large enough to tap)
- Text readability without zooming
- Viewport configuration
- Input usability (forms, search, navigation)
Security (Weight: Medium-High)
- Valid SSL/TLS certificate (HTTPS)
- Certificate expiration status
- Mixed content warnings
- Security headers
SEO Fundamentals (Weight: Medium)
- Title tags and meta descriptions
- Heading structure (H1, H2, etc.)
- Image alt text
- Structured data / schema markup
- Sitemap and robots.txt
- Google Business Profile connection
Content Quality (Weight: Medium)
- Accurate business information (NAP: Name, Address, Phone)
- Service descriptions
- Recent updates or activity
- Contact information visibility
- Hours of operation
Accessibility (Weight: Medium)
- Color contrast ratios
- Keyboard navigation
- Screen reader compatibility
- ARIA labels where needed
- Focus indicators
How We Collect Data
Our evaluation process is entirely automated and non-intrusive:
- Discovery — We identify local businesses through public directories, Google Maps, and business registrations
- Crawl — Our automated tools visit the business's public website
- Analysis — We run performance, security, SEO, and accessibility audits
- Scoring — Each area receives a sub-score, which feeds into the overall 0-10 rating
- Review — Results are stored and made available in our public directory
We re-evaluate businesses periodically to track improvements over time.
What We Don't Do
- We never access private or authenticated pages
- We don't test internal systems or databases
- We don't penalize businesses for factors outside their control
- We don't accept payment to alter scores
Improving Your Score
Every issue we identify comes with a clear path to fix it. Common quick wins include:
- Installing an SSL certificate (can improve score by 1-2 points)
- Optimizing images (often the single biggest performance gain)
- Fixing mobile layout issues
- Updating business information
For businesses wanting a comprehensive improvement, we offer full web presence redesigns starting at $499. This includes a new, fast, mobile-first website built to score 8+ on our scale.
Questions?
If you have questions about your score or our methodology, get in touch. We're happy to explain any aspect of your evaluation in detail.