On 12 October 2026 we loaded the homepages of independent Sussex businesses listed on OpenStreetMap (West Sussex, East Sussex, Brighton & Hove), once each, respecting robots.txt, and ran a few basic checks. 2,965 homepages loaded. No business is named. Full method, limits and the aggregate CSV are on the study page: Sussex website study 2026
Here are the findings that matter most for a small business, each with a check you can do yourself.
1. No meta description: 908 of 2,965 (30.6%)
The meta description is often the grey text Google shows under your link. Without one, Google picks some text from the page, which might be a cookie notice. Check: search Google for your business name and read what appears under your link. If it doesn't say what you do and where, write a one- or two-sentence description in your site builder's SEO settings.
2. http:// doesn't redirect to https://: 325 of 2,965 (11.0%)
A further 106 (3.6%) had no valid HTTPS certificate at all.
Check: type your address starting with http:// (no "s"). You should land on the https:// version with the padlock. If not, most hosts and builders have a "force HTTPS" switch.
3. No tap-to-call link: 904 of 1,598 (56.6%)
(Of the homepages small enough for us to read in full.) On a phone, a number that isn't a link means copying it by hand, and some people won't bother.
Check: open your site on your phone and tap your phone number. If nothing happens, make it a tel: link.
4. Slow first load: 497 of 2,965 (16.8%) took over 3 seconds
The median was 1,534 ms; the slowest tenth took longer than 3,840 ms. Check: the usual culprits are huge photos straight off a phone camera. Resize images before uploading.
5. An old copyright year: 162 of 823 (19.7%) still say 2023 or earlier
A small thing, but visitors read it as "is this business still trading?" Check: scroll to your footer. Most builders can show the current year automatically.
Also worth knowing
- 1,571 of 1,598 (98.3%) had no Google review link on the homepage. If you want one, there's a free review link and QR code maker (no sign-up).
- WordPress ran 38.9% of the sites, Wix 9.3%, Squarespace 7.5%, Shopify 5.8%. Every fix above can be done on any of them.
A ten-point version for your phone
We turned these into a free two-minute website checklist: tick the boxes on your phone. No sign-up, and nothing is sent anywhere.
If you'd like a hand with any of it, Millwards Digital builds and looks after websites for UK small businesses: millwards.shop.