We checked 195 Portsmouth business websites. Here is what we found.

The headline numbers

We took every independent Portsmouth business we could find with a website listed on OpenStreetMap, removed chains and duplicates, and checked each homepage on 12 October 2026. Of 304 web addresses, 195 loaded. Those 195 Portsmouth business websites passed 8.8 of our 13 checks on average, and only 2 passed all 13.

The good news is that the basics are mostly in place. Nearly every site is secure and fits a phone. The gaps are in the details that turn a visit from Google into a phone call, and those are the cheapest things to fix.

How we checked Portsmouth business websites

We started from the businesses inside the Portsmouth City Council area that carry a website on OpenStreetMap: 484 of them across restaurants, cafes, pubs, takeaways, salons, shops, trades, hotels, dentists and offices. We removed national chains and any web address used by more than two listings, which left 304 independent businesses.

On 12 October 2026 we fetched each homepage once from a server in the UK and ran the same 13 checks our free website check runs for anyone who asks. We only looked at homepages, at one moment in time, and some sites refuse automated visits, so a single result is a snapshot, not a verdict. We do not publish results for individual businesses. Each one can run the check on its own site.

64 Portsmouth businesses list a website that no longer exists

Of the 304 web addresses, 109 did not load. 64 of those addresses no longer exist at all: the domain has lapsed or was never renewed, so anyone who taps the link from a map listing sees an error. Another 19 returned an error page and 26 did not answer within 15 seconds.

Some of these businesses have closed. Others are still trading and simply lost their web address without noticing. If customers can find your business on a map or a directory, check that the link still works. An address that leads nowhere costs you the customer who was ready to book.

The most common gap: business details Google can read

77% of the sites we checked gave Google no structured business details. This is a small block of code, called schema markup, that states your business name, address, opening hours and what you do in a format Google reads directly. Visitors never see it. Google and AI assistants use it to describe you correctly in search results and in answers.

Food and drink businesses did slightly worse than average here: 76 of the 97 restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, breweries and takeaways we checked had none. Most website builders and plugins can add it in an afternoon, and it is one of the first things we add to every site we build.

More than half have no number you can tap to call

On 108 of the 195 sites, the phone number on the homepage could not be tapped to start a call, or there was no number at all. Most local searches happen on a phone, and a number that has to be copied by hand is a call that often never happens.

The fix takes minutes: the number is written as a telephone link so the phone offers to dial it. Of the 97 food and drink sites we checked, 61 had no tappable number, which matters most for a takeaway at 7pm.

The details that win the click

Three more problems were common and are just as easy to fix:

• Search descriptions. 42% had a missing, too short or too long description. That is the grey text under your name on Google, your two-line sales pitch. If you leave it out, Google picks any text it finds.
• A picture when shared. 45% had no sharing image set, so a link sent on WhatsApp or posted on Facebook shows a blank box or a random picture.
• Headings. 46% had no main heading or several of them, which muddles what the page is about for Google and for anyone scanning it.

The serious problems are rare, and costly

A handful of sites had a problem that hides them almost completely. 3 homepages carried a setting that tells search engines not to list them. Google says that when a page carries this rule, it will drop that page entirely from Google Search results, whatever links to it. It is often left over from when the site was built.

12 sites were not set up to fit a phone screen, 9 still had no secure https address, and 23 took longer than 1.5 seconds just to start sending the page. Each of these is enough to lose most mobile visitors before they read a word.

How sectors compared

Hotels and guest houses scored best of the Portsmouth business websites we checked, probably because they compete for bookings online every day. Food and drink businesses make up half the list and sit just below the average.

What to do with your own website

Start with the five fixes that cost least and pay back fastest. Most can be done by whoever looks after your site, or by you in a website builder:

1. Make sure the web address on your Google profile and on every directory still works.
2. Turn your phone number into a tap to call link.
3. Add business details in schema markup: name, address, hours and services.
4. Write a page title under 60 characters and a description of about 150.
5. Set a sharing picture, such as your shopfront or your best dish.

To see where your site stands, run our free website check. It shows the same 13 results on screen in about 20 seconds, and we send the full written report within two working days. If you would rather someone else fixed it, our website design service in Portsmouth starts with exactly these basics.

Business list: data from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence. Checks run by Digimpact on 12 October 2026.