Why booking carries the most weight
Booking is the one item a customer cannot work around. A missing title or a slow page is an annoyance; a missing booking path means the customer has to call during your hours, and if they do not, the job goes to whoever they can book. In HelpWin's Toledo study, 859 of 1,663 established business websites that loaded (52%) showed no booking path at all. See the full study.
The checklist
Online booking (35 points)
Full credit for a booking tool the check recognizes, embedded or linked from the homepage (for example Calendly, Square Appointments, Setmore, Vagaro, Jobber or Housecall Pro), and for a link from the homepage to a booking page of your own, such as a Book Online button that opens your /book page. 10 points if the page only uses booking wording such as "book now" or "appointments" without a tool. None if neither is there. Wording alone earns partial credit because "call us for an appointment" reads as booking but is not.
Tap-to-call phone link (15 points)
A phone number written as a tel: link, so a customer on a phone can tap it. A number shown as plain text has to be copied or typed. Some customers will always rather call, so this sits next to booking, not instead of it.
Set up for phones (15 points)
A mobile viewport tag in the page head. Without it, phones may show a shrunken desktop page. Most current website builders add it automatically.
Secure connection, HTTPS (15 points)
The site loads over HTTPS. Browsers flag plain HTTP pages to visitors as not secure, and some embed tools refuse to run on them (Wix, for example, displays only HTTPS embed codes).
Link to Google Maps or your Google profile (10 points)
A link to your Google Maps listing or Google Business Profile, so a customer can get directions or read reviews in one tap. It also ties the website to the listing. This check is not scored for trades that travel to the customer, such as lawn care, plumbing, HVAC and roofing: when you pick one of those on the Book Check, the Maps link carries no weight and the score is out of the remaining points.
Page title (5 points)
A non-empty title tag. It is what shows in the browser tab and often in search results. Name the business and the trade.
Homepage size (5 points)
The homepage HTML is under 250 KB. This is page size only, not a speed test.
What the check does not do
- It reads only the homepage. A booking page linked from a menu deeper in the site is missed unless the homepage links to it.
- It does not run JavaScript, so a booking widget that appears only after scripts run can be missed. If you have one and the check says you do not, add a plain link to your booking page on the homepage as well.
- It does not check your Google listing's own booking button. For that, see how to add a booking link to Google Business Profile.
- The website builder is reported but never scored.
How to fix a low score
- No booking path: add a booking tool or a request form, then link it from the homepage. Builder guides: Wix, WordPress, Squarespace.
- No tap-to-call: make the phone number a tel: link. Every builder has a phone-link option on buttons and text links.
- No Google link: add a "Find us on Google" link to your profile in the footer.
- Then run the Book Check again.
Questions
What counts as a booking path?
A way to book or request a job from the homepage: an embedded booking tool, a link to a booking page, or at least booking wording. The Book Check gives full credit (35 points) for a booking tool or a link to a booking page, and 10 points when it finds booking wording but neither.
Is the Book Check a speed test?
No. The page size item only checks that the homepage HTML is under 250 KB. It does not measure load time.
Do I need to sign up to run the Book Check?
No. Paste your website address and it reads your public homepage. It is free.
Related guides
HelpWin publishes this guide and sells online booking tools for local businesses, including the upcoming Book Button. We wrote it to be useful whether or not you ever use them. Published 2026-10-24, updated 2026-10-24, by HelpWin.