A practical website checklist for a small business

Test the real customer journey on a phone

Ask someone unfamiliar with the site to find a service, understand the service area and contact the business. Watch where they hesitate. Check that text remains readable, navigation opens properly and buttons are easy to tap. Try the site on the kind of connection your customers actually use.

Give every service a clear explanation

For a hypothetical design service, explain the deliverable, what the customer supplies, the approval process and how to request a quotation. Show only work you are permitted to publish, with honest context. Keep Somali and English versions consistent about scope, contact details and next steps.

Check forms, links and search visibility

Submit a harmless test enquiry and confirm who receives it. Repair broken links and make form success or failure understandable. Ask your site provider to verify HTTPS and use Search Console when appropriate; Google’s documentation explains URL inspection. Indexing and ranking remain separate from a site simply being published.

Plan ownership and upkeep

Record who owns the domain, pays renewals and can update content. Keep approved source files and a recovery plan. Microsoft documents version history for restoring earlier OneDrive files, subject to account settings. Test your own storage and recovery arrangements rather than assuming a synced folder can solve every loss.

• Offer understandable on a phone
• Working contact and tested form
• Honest work examples and matching languages
• Named owners for renewal, updates and recovery