Checklist · free guide

Checklist: 40 points for an online store that sells

A shop that does not sell almost always fails one of the 40 points on this list: a page Google cannot read, a product page that does not answer, costs discovered at the last moment, a checkout that drags on. Tick them one by one, in order: this is the grid we apply to our own shops and to our clients’ shops.

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What you will be able to do

Spot in one hour what is stopping your shop from selling.
Fix first what costs the most sales: hidden costs, mandatory accounts, a checkout that is too long.
Bring your shop into line on struck-through prices, reviews and mandatory information (French rules).

For owners of online shops (Shopify, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Wix or a custom site) who have traffic but few sales, or who are launching their shop. No technical skills are needed to tick most of the points.

Get found by Google, Bing and AI assistantsSix points so that search engines read and show your products, for free.6 points
Product pages that answerSeven points so that every product page answers the buyer’s questions before they leave.7 points
Trust before the purchaseSix points to remove the doubts that make people close the tab, with true facts only.6 points
Price and costs, with no surprisesFive points on the first reason for cart abandonment: costs discovered too late.5 points
A short checkoutSix points so that nobody gives up between the button and the confirmation.6 points
The legal obligations that protect your sales (France)Five points that avoid a penalty and reassure the buyer at the same time.5 points
Measure to decideFive points to know where you lose your buyers, with figures to back it up.5 points

An extract: Get found by Google, Bing and AI assistants

Six points so that search engines read and show your products, for free.

Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools set upBoth tools are free. They tell you which pages are indexed and which searches you appear on, and they flag errors. Bing Webmaster Tools imports your sites from Search Console in a few clicks.
A sitemap submitted, with only the useful pagesA sitemap.xml file that lists your live products and categories, with the real date the content was last changed. Google says it uses this date if it is consistent and verifiable.
No useful crawler blockedYour robots.txt must not block Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT’s search crawler). OpenAI states that a site blocking OAI-SearchBot does not appear in its search answers.
Free listings active in Google Merchant CenterWith free listings, your products can appear at no cost in Search, Maps, Gemini, YouTube, Shopping, Images and Lens. They are turned on by default in most cases, but eligibility does not guarantee they will be shown.
A unique page title for each productEach product page title says what the product is, with the features people search for (material, size, use), not just the brand name or an internal reference.
Category pages that answer a searchEach category has a real title, two or three sentences that help people choose, and links to all its products. Every page should be reachable in three clicks or fewer from the home page, through real HTML links.

Our tip: Start with Search Console: in one minute, the Pages report tells you how many of your products Google has actually indexed.

Next: Product pages that answer

A first sentence that says it allWhat the product is, who it is for and its main strength, in one sentence. That is the sentence the hurried buyer, Google and AI assistants read.
Original copy, never the supplier’sThe supplier’s description appears word for word on dozens of shops. Rewrite it in your own words, with your own photos and your customers’ questions.
Specifications listed with figuresDimensions, weight, material, capacity, compatibility, care. Buyers compare: give them the figures without making them write to you.

The rest is in the PDF: 40 points in all, 7 chapters, and a final page to run your website through the free audit.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the checklist really free?

Yes. You leave your email and the PDF downloads straight away. We may contact you about your site, with no commitment.

Do I need technical skills?

Not for most of the points: you check them by looking at your shop as a customer would. The technical points (sitemap, structured data, speed) are checked by our free audit.

Does it work for Shopify, PrestaShop or WooCommerce?

Yes. The 40 points cover what buyers and search engines see, whatever the platform.

Guide sources

Online store checklist: 40 points

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