How to Do a 5-Minute Mobile Check on Your Own Website Right Now

You know that moment when you’re at a coffee shop and someone asks to see your website on their phone, and you hand it over with just a tiny bit of dread? Your stomach does a little flip because you’re not entirely sure what they’re going to see. Will the text be readable? Will they have to pinch and zoom? Will buttons actually work, or will they tap three times before anything happens?

That feeling is so real, and it matters more than you think.

Here’s what I know after 15 years of looking at websites: most women solopreneurs have no idea how their site actually looks on a phone. They built it, or had someone build it, and they check it on their laptop. Done. But mobile is where real people actually see you. It’s where they decide in about 8 seconds whether you’re worth their time.

The good news? You don’t need to be a tech person to do a quick mobile check. You don’t need special tools or hours of time. You just need five minutes, your phone, and this simple walkthrough. I’m going to make it easy.

Why This Matters (And It’s Not What You Think)

I’m not going to tell you that “mobile is the future” because honestly, mobile is right now, and we all know it. But here’s what matters more: when your website doesn’t work on a phone, you’re telling potential clients something about how you run your business. You’re saying either you don’t know it’s broken, or you don’t care enough to fix it.

Neither of those things is true about you.

The reality is simpler: you’ve probably just never checked. You’ve been focused on running your business, serving your clients, delivering amazing work. Your website has been humming along in the background, and you trusted it was fine. That’s not neglect, that’s just the cost of being a solopreneur who wears all the hats.

But a quick mobile check takes five minutes, and it can catch things that are probably costing you client conversations right now.

Think about it. When you land on someone else’s website from your phone and it’s hard to read, or a button doesn’t work, or the form is impossible to fill out with your thumbs, what do you do? You leave. You don’t email them and say, “Hey, your site is broken on mobile.” You just go find someone else.

Your clients do the same thing.

Here’s What You’re Actually Looking For

Before we dive into the steps, let me name what matters. You’re checking for five things:

Can I read this without zooming? Text should be clear at actual size. If your visitor has to pinch-zoom to read your copy, the font is too small. That’s an easy fix, and it’s an opportunity.

Do buttons actually work? Every button should tap once and do what it says. If someone has to tap “Book Now” three times, something’s wrong. If the contact form button doesn’t work, that’s actual lost business.

Is the navigation obvious? On mobile, your menu is usually a hamburger icon (three horizontal lines). Can you find it? Can you tap it? Does it open smoothly? If someone can’t figure out how to get to your Services page or Contact page, they’ll leave.

Does it feel like YOU? This is the marketing-first question I always ask. Does the website on your phone feel like the person you’ve become, or does it feel like an old version of you? That emotional feeling matters.

Can I get to what I need in two taps? On mobile, every extra tap is a chance for someone to abandon you. Your most important information (what you do, how to contact you, how to buy) should be fast to reach.

The 5-Minute Mobile Check: Step by Step

Grab your phone. Here we go.

Step 1: Open Your Website in Your Regular Browser (2 minutes)

Go to your website just like any visitor would. Don’t use any special preview mode or design tool. Actually visit your website as a client would. Type your URL into Safari, Chrome, or whatever browser you use. Wait for it to fully load.

Now spend 30 seconds just looking at it. How does it feel? Is the first thing you see clear about what you do? Or do you have to scroll to understand your business? Does the layout feel like it belongs to you, or does it feel generic?

Take a screenshot. Seriously. You’ll want to reference this later if you’re talking to a designer.

Step 2: Scroll Through Your Entire Homepage (1 minute)

Scroll slowly from top to bottom. As you scroll, notice:

• Is the text readable, or are you zooming in?
• Are images clear and not stretched or blurry?
• Do headers stand out from body text, or does everything look the same size?
• Is there white space, or does it feel cramped?

The cramped feeling usually means the designer built it for desktop and didn’t adjust spacing for mobile. That’s a common opportunity to improve.

Step 3: Try Every Button and Link (1.5 minutes)

This is crucial. Tap your “Contact” button. Tap “Services.” Tap “Learn More.” Tap anything that looks clickable.

Do they work on the first tap? Or do you have to tap twice? Does the page load smoothly, or is there a weird delay?

If you have a contact form, try filling it out on mobile. Can your thumbs hit the form fields easily, or is it tiny? Does the form submit, or does it time out?

Now tap your phone number at the top (if you have one). Does it open your phone dialer? That’s a mobile-specific thing that should work automatically, but sometimes it doesn’t.

Step 4: Check Your Menu Navigation (30 seconds)

Find your menu. On mobile, it’s usually a hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top right or top left. Tap it. Does it open smoothly? Can you actually read the menu items? Do they make sense? Tap one, and does it take you where you expect?

Step 5: Ask Yourself the Real Question (1 minute)

Step back from the technical stuff for a second. If you saw this website for the first time as a potential client, would you trust this person? Would you feel like they know what they’re doing?

Listen to that gut feeling. It matters.

What to Do If You Find Something Broken

Let’s say you found something. A button doesn’t work. The text is too small. The form is broken. Now what?

Don’t panic. You have options, and none of them are as scary as they feel.

If it’s a small design thing (spacing is off, colors look weird on mobile, something looks stretched), that’s a CSS issue. If you’re comfortable poking around, you can ask your website platform how to adjust mobile spacing. If you built this in WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or another platform, they all have mobile editing views. You might be able to fix it yourself in 15 minutes.

If it’s a button or form that doesn’t work, that’s usually a plugin issue or a code issue. This is the moment to either look up a tutorial for your specific platform, or to reach out to a designer. It’s a quick fix, but it’s not a five-minute one.

If it’s something bigger (the whole site feels slow, everything is hard to read, the layout is completely wrong), that’s an opportunity to think about a redesign. And that’s actually okay. Your website doesn’t have to be perfect today. It just has to work.

The biggest opportunity I see is when women realize their website was built on old technology or old assumptions about what mobile should look like. If your site was designed five years ago, it’s probably showing its age on mobile. That’s not a failure, that’s just time passing. Time to refresh.

The Bigger Picture: Your Website Should Fit You

Here’s what I really want you to understand: this five-minute check isn’t just about finding technical problems. It’s about checking whether your website still fits you.

In my experience, most women solopreneurs grow faster than their websites grow. You’ve gotten better at what you do. You’ve gotten clearer about who you serve. You’ve gained confidence in your pricing. You’ve learned things about your business that you didn’t know two years ago.

But your website? Your website is still talking like the old version of you.

So when you do this mobile check, you’re not just looking at button functionality. You’re asking: does this still sound like me? Does this still feel like the work I do now? Or am I presenting an older, dimmer version of myself?

That’s the real question.

I help women solopreneurs make sure their websites fit the person they’ve become. Not fancy. Not trendy. Just honest and clear and true.

Small Fixes That Make a Big Difference

If you find issues during your mobile check, here are the ones you can probably fix yourself without calling a designer:

Text too small? Most website platforms have a font-size setting. Look for it in your mobile editor. Try bumping fonts up to at least 16px for body text.

Buttons hard to tap? Make them bigger. Buttons should be at least 44×44 pixels (that’s roughly the size of a fingertip). If you can barely hit it, your clients can’t hit it either.

Form fields too cramped? Add padding and margin around form fields. They should breathe a little. Most platforms let you adjust this in the mobile view without touching code.

Images stretching weirdly? Make sure your images are sized correctly for mobile width. If an image is wider than the mobile screen, it distorts. You might need to crop or resize.

Menu hard to find? Make sure your hamburger menu is visible and in a logical place (usually top right or top left). Make sure it has enough padding so it’s easy to tap.

The good news: these are all small changes. None of them require you to rebuild your website. They’re just tweaks, the kind of thing that happens when you actually look at your site on mobile for the first time.

What to Do If You Want Professional Help

Maybe you do the five-minute check and realize you need help. Maybe the problems are bigger than you want to tackle alone. Maybe you just don’t want to mess with it.

That’s okay. That’s exactly what designers like me are for.

When you come to me with a website that isn’t working well on mobile, the first thing I do is the same five-minute check you just did. Then I ask: what’s worth fixing, and what’s worth replacing? Is this a Band-Aid situation, or is this a redesign situation?

Sometimes it’s both. Sometimes we update the mobile experience and leave the desktop alone. Sometimes we decide it’s time to start fresh.

The point is, you don’t have to figure it out alone. And you definitely don’t have to keep a website that embarrasses you just because you’re not sure what to do about it.

If you’re thinking about tackling this and want a second set of eyes, let’s talk about it. I can look at your specific situation and tell you what you’re actually looking at.

The Relief Part

Here’s what I know happens after women do this kind of check: either they feel relief because everything actually works great, or they feel relief because they finally understand what’s been bugging them.

Both of those are good feelings.

A lot of business owners I talk to have been holding their breath about their website for two years. They kind of knew something was off, but they weren’t sure what. They weren’t sure if it mattered. They weren’t sure if anyone else could see it.

Once you actually look, you know. And once you know, you can do something about it.

That’s the magic part. Not the technology. The relief.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need special tools to check my website on mobile?

No. Just use your regular phone and your regular web browser. Type your URL in Safari or Chrome like any visitor would. That’s it. You don’t need developer tools or special apps.

What if I find broken buttons but I’m not sure how to fix them?

First, check if it’s a quick fix like a font size or spacing issue (you can usually adjust in your website platform’s mobile editor). If it’s a button that doesn’t work at all, that’s usually a plugin or code issue, and that’s the moment to either search YouTube for a tutorial specific to your platform, or reach out to a designer for help.

How often should I do this mobile check?

I’d say every time you make a change to your website, definitely check it on mobile before you publish. Beyond that, once or twice a year is smart, just to catch anything that might have broken or gotten weird.

Can I fix my website on mobile, or do I need a computer?

You can do small edits on mobile (changing text, updating images), but it’s easier on a computer where you have more screen space. Do the check on mobile so you see what visitors see, but do the fixing on a computer if you’re comfortable with it.

If your website no longer feels like you, let’s talk about it – Book a Free Website Clarity Call with Beth →

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