Method · The standard
The standard every site is built to
The short answer
What "the standard" is
Every site we build is run through one master checklist: 238 numbered checks in 20 phases, plus 18 exit gates that a phase must pass before the next one starts. Each check states what must be true, the highest level that exists (where a score can be 100, the target is 100), and the evidence written beside the tick.
The counts on this page are generated from the checklist file at build time; they were last counted on 29 October 2026. The checklist grows when a review finds something new, so the number goes up over time; it never goes down by dropping checks.
How a check is written
Four parts to every item
Done
What must be true, stated so anyone can test it.
Max
The best level that exists. "Good enough" is the floor, not the target.
Evidence
What gets written beside the tick: a score, a command's output, a file or a link.
Source
Where the requirement came from, including lessons from past reviews that became permanent checks.
An item that cannot be done yet is never skipped. It stays open and is reported, and the site does not go to the owner until every item is ticked or marked not applicable with a reason.
The phases
All 20 phases, with item counts
Phases 0 to 16 each end with an exit gate. Phases 17 and 18 are the final gates themselves.
| Phase | What it covers | Checks |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Setup and intake | Project folders and repo, access, the current site captured as it is, old URL list, before-measurements, owner questionnaire, written scope and ownership | 13 |
| 1. Strategy and research | Who the business is, how searches for it look today, keywords and intent per page, area served, competitors, success measures | 10 |
| 2. Site structure | Sitemap and URLs, navigation and breadcrumbs, internal links, no thin pages, calls to action that work on a phone, a useful 404 | 8 |
| 3. Design system | Design direction, color contrast, components, logo and icons at every size, share cards, mobile first, motion | 12 |
| 4. Content and copy | Unique titles and descriptions, headings, the owner's facts only, FAQs, no placeholders, dated numbers checked against sources, proofreading | 18 |
| 5. Technical SEO and schema | Crawlability, structured data that keeps everything the old site had, every old URL resolving, social cards, sitemaps, robots rules, validators clean | 15 |
| 6. Search surfaces and local | Search engines and webmaster tools, consistent name, address and phone, local profiles, knowledge panels | 9 |
| 7. AI visibility | llms.txt, an AI facts page, AI crawlers allowed, answer-ready pages, a test of what assistants actually say, a monthly AI-answer scorecard | 13 |
| 8. Speed, accessibility, security | Lighthouse 100 in all four categories on every page, mobile and desktop; Core Web Vitals; images; accessibility (for an existing site, see the Accessibility Fix); security headers; locked-down accounts; three browser engines | 27 |
| 9. Analytics and privacy | Analytics, consent and privacy pages, search consoles, sign-ups counted by source | 4 |
| 10. Build and launch | Every function tested end to end, every form delivering on the live site before the domain moves, no deploy from a failing build, markup and sitemaps re-checked after every deploy, rollback, hand-over pack | 29 |
| 11. Marketing | Marketing plan, conversion work, profiles, earning links honestly, content calendar, reviews, launch day, paid ads only when funded | 21 |
| 12. Measurement | Baseline, after-build and after-launch measurements, before/after report, competitor comparison, AI answer retest, scorecard | 12 |
| 13. After launch | Crawl and coverage, uptime, backups, 30/60/90-day search review, weekly drift checks, real-user speed monitoring, error monitoring, tested rollback | 16 |
| 14. Extra optimizations | Every other legitimate improvement listed and applied | 2 |
| 15. The owner's own requests | Everything the owner asked for, done and captured | 2 |
| 16. Independent review | A fresh reviewer on two layers, hostile passes, every finding fixed and re-checked, a visual review on phone and computer | 5 |
| 17. Presentation gate | Every item ticked, all checks passing, reviewer says ship, a strict close-out audit with an empty gap list | 7 |
| 18. Final audits | A premium-gap audit, then a full adversarial audit of the whole site | 2 |
| Total | Plus 18 exit gates | 238 |
Honest notes
What this page does and does not claim
- Some checks apply only to some sites. A five-page site has no sign-in, so the sign-in review is marked not applicable, with the reason written down.
- Some checks run after launch for as long as you have a monthly plan, such as the weekly drift check and the monthly AI-answer scorecard.
- The standard describes how we build and test. It is a method, not a promise of any ranking or result.
- Copying the list does not copy the discipline. That is why we publish the summary and show the results on proof.
Use it yourself
Six checks from the standard you can run today
Free, about ten minutes, on any website, including your current one.
- Run your homepage through PageSpeed Insights on mobile and write down all four scores.
- Run it through Google's Rich Results Test and count the errors.
- Search your business name. Is the name, phone and address the same as on your site, exactly?
- Visit yoursite.com/llms.txt. If it is missing, AI assistants get no summary written by you.
- Visit a page that does not exist on your site. Does the error page help people find their way?
- Submit your own contact form. Did the message arrive, and how long did it take?
Or let our Site X-ray run the Google speed and SEO scores for you, with a link to the Rich Results Test for the markup.
FAQ
Questions about the standard
Why publish the checklist summary?
So you can hold us to it. Every claim we make comes with a check you can run yourself.
Do you skip checks on smaller projects?
No. Every check is either done or marked not applicable with a written reason. A smaller site simply has more checks that do not apply.
Can I get the evidence for my site?
Yes. At launch you receive the scores and the structured data report for the pages we built.
Does passing the standard guarantee rankings?
No. Nobody can guarantee rankings, and Google says so. The standard makes sure nothing we control holds your site back.
Next step
See where your site stands, then talk to the person who builds it.
Run the free X-ray on your own site, or book a free scoping call. Either way you see real numbers before you spend anything.