Arkansas small-business website report · 2026

We checked 324 Arkansas small-business websites.

Restaurants, salons, home services, auto shops, health practices and local shops in six parts of the state. One check, one day, the same rules for every site. Here is what a customer finds.

Download the full report (PDF)

Each square is one business we checked.

28%No website on its Google listing 90
8%Only a Facebook or directory page 27
64%Has its own website 207

Businesses: 324 independent businesses
Where: Little Rock area, Northwest Arkansas, Conway, Jonesboro, Fort Smith, Hot Springs
Checked: October 19, 2026
How we picked them: At random from Google Maps, 9 per trade and area

The short version

36%have no website of their own

39%do not show their hours on the home page

35%have no tap-to-call phone number

3%score “good” on Google’s phone speed test

Is your website in these numbers?

Our free check looks at the same call button, hours, address and phone speed. For speed, it times your page against Google’s 2.5-second mark; this report uses Google’s speed score. It takes about 30 seconds and changes nothing on your site.

What we found

36% of the businesses have no website of their own.

of all 324 businesses

On 90 Google listings there is no website at all, and 27 more send people to a Facebook or directory page. A customer who wants the menu, the prices or the hours must search again or call. Many do not.

How to fix it

Add your website address to your Google Business Profile. No website yet? A one-page site with your hours, menu or prices and a call button is enough to start.

All trades36%
Restaurants20%
Salons and barbers59%
Home services30%
Auto repair56%
Health practices11%
Local shops41%

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Businesses	Checked	Share
All	117	324	36%
Restaurants	11	54	20%
Salons and barbers	32	54	59%
Home services	16	54	30%
Auto repair	30	54	56%
Health practices	6	54	11%
Local shops	22	54	41%

Only 3% of the websites score “good” on Google’s phone speed test.

of the 168 websites Google could test

We tested each home page with Google PageSpeed. It loads the page the way a mid-range phone on a slow mobile connection does, and Google calls a score of 90 or more “good”. In this test, the typical page took 9.1 seconds to show its main content. Most people look up a local business on their phone, often from the car or the street.

How to fix it

Make your photos smaller before you upload them (under 300 KB each is a good aim), and remove sliders and pop-ups you do not need. Then test your page again on your phone, on mobile data.

29%68%

29%Poor · 0 to 49
68%Needs work · 50 to 89
3%Good · 90 to 100

9.1 sthe typical time to show the main content, in the same test

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
Good (90–100)	5	168	3%
Needs work (50–89)	114	168	68%
Poor (0–49)	49	168	29%
Restaurants: not “good”	36	36	100%
Salons and barbers: not “good”	15	17	88%
Home services: not “good”	29	30	97%
Auto repair: not “good”	15	16	94%
Health practices: not “good”	39	40	98%
Local shops: not “good”	29	29	100%

35% have no phone number you can tap.

of the 180 websites that opened

On 45 of these 63 websites, the number is there as text, so the customer must copy it or type it. On a phone, one tap starts the call. For a salon or a plumber, that call is the job.

How to fix it

In your website builder, link the phone number to tel: plus the number, for example tel:5015550123. Most builders call this a “phone link”.

All trades35%
Restaurants37%
Salons and barbers63%
Home services16%
Auto repair32%
Health practices23%
Local shops55%

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
All	63	180	35%
Restaurants	14	38	37%
Salons and barbers	12	19	63%
Home services	5	32	16%
Auto repair	6	19	32%
Health practices	10	43	23%
Local shops	16	29	55%

39% do not show their hours on the home page.

of the 180 websites that opened

“Are you open now?” is the first question most customers have. When the answer is not on the page, they call, or they go to a business that shows it.

How to fix it

Put your hours as text near the top of your home page, and keep them the same as on your Google listing.

All trades39%
Restaurants37%
Salons and barbers58%
Home services41%
Auto repair16%
Health practices40%
Local shops45%

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
All	71	180	39%
Restaurants	14	38	37%
Salons and barbers	11	19	58%
Home services	13	32	41%
Auto repair	3	19	16%
Health practices	17	43	40%
Local shops	13	29	45%

Only 4% have a Spanish version.

of the 180 websites that opened

One in sixteen Arkansans speaks Spanish at home. In Springdale it is almost one in three, in Rogers more than one in five. Only 8 of the 180 websites we read speak to them in Spanish.

How to fix it

Start small: one Spanish page with your services, hours and how to reach you, and a link to it in your menu. Have a native speaker read it.

Websites with a Spanish version
All websites4%
People who speak Spanish at home
Arkansas6%
Springdale32%
Rogers23%
Fort Smith16%
Little Rock9%
Conway6%

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026. People age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024, 5-year estimates, table C16001.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
Spanish version	8	180	4%

6% of the Google listings send customers to a website that does not work.

of the 204 listings with a website

We opened each of these websites twice, the second time in a normal browser. They did not work either time: the address does not exist, the security certificate is wrong, the server shows an error, or the page says “not found” or offers the domain for sale. The customer was ready to look, and found nothing.

How to fix it

Once a month, open your Google Business Profile on your phone and tap your website link. If it fails, call the person who hosts your website, or change the link on Google.

Each square is one Google listing with a website.

6%Website does not work 12
94%Website works 192

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
All	12	204	6%

Good news: every website that opened is secure and set up for phones.

of the 180 websites that opened

All 180 websites that opened use https, and all of them have the setting that tells a phone to fit the page to its screen. The basics are in place. The problems are in what a customer needs next: the call button, the hours and the speed.

Secure (https)100%
Set up for phones100%

Source: Xiobo Creative website check, October 19, 2026.

See the numbers

Group	Miss it	Checked	Share
Not secure	0	180	0%
Not set up for phones	0	180	0%

Every check, by trade

The share that miss each check. Darker means more of them miss it. Each trade has 54 businesses and 19 to 43 websites that opened, so a difference of less than 20 points between two trades can be chance.

Swipe the table to see every trade.

Every check, by trade
Check	All	Restaurants	Salons and barbers	Home services	Auto repair	Health practices	Local shops
No website of its own	36%	20%	59%	30%	56%	11%	41%
Google listing links to a site that does not work	6%	2%	5%	11%	4%	9%	3%
Not secure (no https)	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Not set up for phones	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Not “good” on Google’s phone speed test	97%	100%	88%	97%	94%	98%	100%
No tap-to-call number	35%	37%	63%	16%	32%	23%	55%
No hours on the home page	39%	37%	58%	41%	16%	40%	45%
No address on the home page	21%	13%	32%	25%	16%	16%	28%
No way to reach them on the home page	14%	13%	32%	3%	21%	7%	24%
Menu in a PDF (restaurants)	8%	8%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Copyright year 2024 or older	9%	3%	11%	13%	5%	12%	14%
No Spanish version	96%	97%	100%	100%	95%	93%	90%

What we expected but did not find

Two problems we expected were rare in this sample: menus in PDF files (3 of 38 restaurant websites) and old copyright years (9% of the websites). They stay in the table, but they are not a finding.

What an owner can fix this week

Most of these fixes take less than an hour, and most website builders have a setting for them.

See how your own website does on the call button, the hours, the address and the speed. It is free and takes about 30 seconds.

Check your website

Add your website to your Google Business Profile.
Make your phone number a tap-to-call link.
Put your hours and address in text on the home page.
Tap your website link on your Google listing once a month.
Add a Spanish page if your customers speak Spanish.
Test your home page on your own phone, on mobile data.

How we did it

The businesses

We ran 130 Google Maps searches for 6 trades in 6 areas of Arkansas. Our “How we did it” page lists every one. They found 5,046 businesses. We took out chains and franchises (a national brand, or the same name or website at 3 or more places), which left 4,471 independent businesses. From each trade in each area we picked 9 at random with a fixed seed. Anyone can repeat the pick.

The check

One automated check of each home page, on October 19, 2026, with the same rules. Speed comes from Google’s own PageSpeed test on a phone. Each business counts once, by its Google listing.

Quality control

We opened every website again in a normal browser on a phone, with JavaScript on, and took the tap-to-call, hours, address and contact answers from there. We read 30 websites at random, page by page, and used what we found to fix our rules. Then we read 30 more, picked at random again. On these, 148 of our 150 answers matched what the page shows.

Limits

This is a sample of independent businesses on Google Maps, not of every Arkansas business: most Arkansas small businesses have no employees, and many are not on Google Maps. A few are local branches of larger organizations (for example a hospital system or a company with offices in several states); the sample rule keeps them. We read the home page only. Hours and addresses count when they are in the text or in the page data for Google, so the share of customers who cannot see them can be higher. Speed is a lab test, not each customer’s real visit. Margins of error: about 5 points for all 324 businesses, about 7 points for the 180 websites that opened, and 13 to 22 points for one trade or area.

Who we are

Xiobo Creative is a small design studio based in Arkansas. We build websites for small businesses, so we have an interest in this topic. That is why the method, the code and the data are public: check our work.

What each check means

Website of its own: The Google listing links to a website on its own domain (not Facebook, Yelp or a link page).
Works: The website on the Google listing opens, in our check or in a normal browser, and shows the business (not an error, a “not found” page or a domain for sale).
Secure: The page opens on https with a valid certificate.
Set up for phones: The page has a mobile viewport tag (the setting that fits the page to a phone screen).
Phone speed: Google PageSpeed mobile score of 90 or more (Google’s “good” band). It is a lab test: it loads the page as a mid-range phone on a slow 4G connection does.
Tap to call: The page has a telephone link (tel:) with a full phone number.
Hours: Opening hours are in the page text or in the page data.
PDF menu: Restaurants only: the menu link opens a PDF file.
Spanish: The page has a Spanish version: lang="es", a link to Español, or an /es/ address.
Way to reach them: The home page has a contact form (not a newsletter sign-up), an email address or a link to a contact page.
Address: A street address is in the page text or page data.

For reporters

Use these numbers.

You can quote and chart the numbers with a link to this page. We can send the numbers for your city or trade, or answer questions about the method.

hello@xiobocreative.com

How to cite

Xiobo Creative, “Arkansas Small-Business Website Report 2026,” October 19, 2026, xiobocreative.com/reports/arkansas-small-business-websites-2026

We checked 324 Arkansas small-business websites.

The short version

What we found

36% of the businesses have no website of their own.

Only 3% of the websites score “good” on Google’s phone speed test.

35% have no phone number you can tap.

39% do not show their hours on the home page.

Only 4% have a Spanish version.

6% of the Google listings send customers to a website that does not work.

Good news: every website that opened is secure and set up for phones.

Every check, by trade

What we expected but did not find

What an owner can fix this week

How we did it

The businesses

The check

Quality control

Limits

Who we are

What each check means

For reporters

Use these numbers.

How does your website do?