Research
I test the websites of real businesses on speed, lead capture, trust signals, local SEO and Google reviews, then publish what the data shows. Every benchmark states its sample, its method and its limits, so you can check it rather than take my word for it.
| Benchmarks published | 3 |
|---|---|
| Businesses tested | 807 |
| Countries | 2 |
| Latest published | 24 October 2026 |
Each benchmark is a stated sample, not a census. Individual scores are private.
The benchmarks
Each one has its own page with the full findings, the method and a free scorecard for your own site.
United States · Trades
564 businesses · 7 trades · 12 metro areas
Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, general contractors and remodelers, painting and landscaping.
New Zealand · Trades
150 businesses · 6 trades · 8 towns and cities
Plumbing and gasfitting, electrical, building, roofing, painting and decorating, and landscaping.
New Zealand · Tourism
93 operators · 11 activity types · 8 regions
Speed, booking, technical setup, Google reviews and readiness for overseas visitors.
Headline figures are as published on each benchmark page. Samples differ between studies, so compare the findings, not the exact numbers.
How it’s done
Simple enough to repeat, and written down on every benchmark page.
Every benchmark says how its businesses were found and chosen, and what that leaves out. None of them claims to cover every business in a country or trade.
The rubric and its weights are written out on each benchmark page. Anything that can’t be measured is left out, never counted as zero.
Only the highest-scoring eligible businesses are named, in alphabetical order with no ranks or scores. Everyone else is shown as anonymised averages.
EightySix Digital sells web design, SEO and lead-capture help. Every benchmark says where that could colour the results, and lists its limitations.
What’s next
There are no dates yet, and I’d rather publish when the sample is right than rush one out. If you’d like to see a benchmark for your industry or country, tell me. And whichever benchmark is closest to you, you can get your own site scored against it for free.
Original benchmarks of how real business websites perform. Each one tests a stated sample of websites on things like speed, lead capture or booking, trust signals, local SEO and Google reviews, then publishes the findings, the method and the limits.
Each benchmark states how its sample was found, for example Google Maps searches, public trade registers or regional tourism directories, and how businesses were drawn from it. None is a census and none claims to represent every business.
No. Each report names only the best performers, in alphabetical order with no ranks or scores, and shows everyone else as anonymised averages. Anyone can ask for a private scorecard.
Yes, for free. Each benchmark page has a scorecard form. You get a private scorecard that compares your site with that benchmark, and your score is never added to the published results.
Yes, and it is disclosed. EightySix Digital sells web design, SEO and lead-capture help. Every benchmark says where that could colour the results and what was done about it.
The plan is to run each one once a year, so you can see how things change. Every benchmark page shows when it was tested.
Yes, more editions are planned, but there are no dates yet. If you would like one for your industry or country, get in touch.
No bullshit, no jargon: send your site through one of the benchmarks and I’ll tell you your score and your top three fixes. Or talk to me about what it would take to fix them.
