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Website check for precast suppliers and producers

The website check is a free self-check for companies that supply precast plants and for precast producers. You answer eight questions about your own website with free tools, a minute or two each, and get a short list of what to fix first and what to keep, with the reason for each.

Version 1. Published and reviewed by Old Plank Group.

It uses the same eight checks as our report, The State of Precast Marketing, where the method is written up. The checks come from what buyers need when they look at a site. Architects remain central to which products and materials get specified, according to the AIA’s 2026 research, The Architect’s Journey to Specification. A supplier’s first buyer is often someone else: the purchasing manager, plant manager or engineer at a precast plant. The wording below changes where that matters.

Your answers stay on this page in your browser. Nothing is sent to us or saved, and closing the tab clears them. With JavaScript off, the page works as a checklist you can print and fill in by hand.

Which describes your company?

The eight checks

For each check, read why it matters, run the steps on your own site, then pick the answer that fits. Pick Not sure when you cannot tell; it goes on your list as something to find out.

  1. Found by search

    Your site shows up when a buyer searches for what you sell, by product name or by category.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: In our experience, a plant buyer looking for a new source of thin brick, formliners, admixtures or inserts starts with a search for the product and a region. A supplier that does not come up is left off the list before anyone calls.

    If you make precast: In our experience, an architect, engineer or contractor looking for a producer near a project starts with a search for the product type and the region. A producer that does not come up is left off the bid list before anyone calls.

    Check it yourself

    1. Open a private or incognito browser window, so your own search history does not lift your site in the results.
    2. If you supply precast plants: Search Google for the product you sell plus the word precast, the way a plant buyer would type it, for example thin brick for precast or formliners for precast panels. Then search your company name.
    3. If you make precast: Search Google for what you make plus your region, the way an architect would type it, for example precast wall panels and your state or nearest city. Then search your company name.
    4. Look at the first page of results only.

    Yes if your site is on the first page for both searches. Partly if your name finds you and the product search does not. No if neither search finds your site.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Give each product or product line its own page. Use the words buyers search for, the category name and the region you serve, in the page title and the main heading. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile so your name search shows your address and phone number.

    Your answer

  2. Answers first

    The first paragraph of each product page says what the product is and who it is for.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: A plant buyer comparing sources wants to know right away whether your product fits the pieces their plant makes. In our experience, search engines and AI assistants also tend to quote the opening lines of a page, so those lines become your answer in other places too.

    If you make precast: An architect who lands on a product page from a search decides quickly whether to keep reading. In our experience, search engines and AI assistants also tend to quote the opening lines of a page, so those lines become your answer in other places too.

    Check it yourself

    1. Open your main product pages. Read only the heading and the first paragraph under it.
    2. If you supply precast plants: Ask whether a plant manager who has never heard of you would know what the product is and what kind of precast it is used on.
    3. If you make precast: Ask whether an architect who has never heard of you would know what the product is and what kind of building it suits.

    Yes if every main product page opens this way. Partly if some do. No if the pages open with company history, a slogan or a photo with no words.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Rewrite the first paragraph of each product page in plain words: what the product is and who uses it. Move history and mission lower on the page or to the About page.

    Your answer

  3. Details in the page

    Sizes, finishes, spans and other technical details are on the page as text a search engine can read.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: A plant engineer or purchasing manager needs the numbers to approve a product: sizes, tolerances, colors and how it works with their forms and mixes. When those live only in a PDF or behind a request form, the comparison happens on a competitor’s site.

    If you make precast: Architects and engineers need sizes, finishes, spans and connection details to draw and specify a system. When those live only in a PDF or behind a request form, the comparison happens on a competitor’s site.

    Check it yourself

    1. Open a product page and try to select a dimension with your mouse. If you cannot select it, it is part of an image, and search engines cannot read it as text.
    2. View the page source. In Chrome, right-click the page and choose View Page Source, then search it with Ctrl+F (Command+F on a Mac) for a dimension you know is on the page. If it is missing from the source, the text only appears after JavaScript runs, and some crawlers do not run JavaScript.
    3. Note whether the main specifications exist only as PDF downloads.

    Yes if the main numbers are on the page as text. Partly if some are and the rest sit in PDFs or images. No if they are only in PDFs, images or on request.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Put the main numbers on the page as text or a simple table. Keep the PDF as a download next to it for people who want the full sheet.

    Your answer

  4. Fast on a phone

    Pages load and settle quickly on an ordinary phone.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: In our experience, plant staff often look things up on a phone from the floor or the yard. Google’s guidance on Core Web Vitals counts a page as good when its main content shows within 2.5 seconds for at least three in four visits, measured separately on phones and computers (web.dev, Web Vitals).

    If you make precast: In our experience, contractors and architects often look things up on a phone from a jobsite or between meetings. Google’s guidance on Core Web Vitals counts a page as good when its main content shows within 2.5 seconds for at least three in four visits, measured separately on phones and computers (web.dev, Web Vitals).

    Check it yourself

    1. Go to PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev), a free Google tool. Enter your home page, then a main product page.
    2. Stay on the Mobile tab. If the report shows a Core Web Vitals Assessment for real users, read whether it says Passed or Failed. If there is not enough real-user data, look at Largest Contentful Paint in the lab results below it.
    3. Open the same pages on your own phone over cellular data, away from office Wi-Fi.

    Yes if both pages pass on mobile. Partly if one passes or the results are close. No if both fail or the pages feel slow on your phone.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    In our experience, oversized photos are the most common cause. Resize and compress images, and remove chat widgets, sliders and scripts nobody uses. Then run the test again.

    Your answer

  5. Open to AI assistants

    The site allows the crawlers that search engines and AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity use to read and quote it.

    Why it matters

    Some buyers now ask an AI assistant to suggest suppliers or explain a product. An assistant can only cite pages its crawler is allowed to read. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers (OpenAI crawler documentation).

    Check it yourself

    1. Type your domain followed by /robots.txt into a browser, for example yourcompany.com/robots.txt.
    2. Look for these names after “User-agent:”: Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot. A line reading “Disallow: /” under a name blocks that crawler from the whole site. The same line under “User-agent: *” blocks every crawler that has no group of its own. If the file does not exist, crawlers are allowed by default (Google’s robots.txt guide).
    3. Ask whoever runs your hosting whether a firewall or security setting blocks AI crawlers. Some services can block them with a switch that never shows up in robots.txt.

    Yes if none of the five is blocked and your host confirms nothing else blocks them. Partly if some are blocked. No if all are blocked, or every crawler is blocked.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Remove the Disallow lines for the crawlers you want to read your site, and ask your host to allow them in any firewall settings. What each crawler does is set out by OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity. Crawlers that collect training data, such as GPTBot, are a separate choice. OpenAI says blocking GPTBot does not change whether a site can appear in ChatGPT search.

    Your answer

  6. Real projects

    Finished work is shown in photos of the project, each with a sentence about it.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: For a finish product like thin brick or a formliner, the architect often picks the look from photos of finished buildings, and the plant buyer wants to see that the product has been cast and shipped on work like theirs.

    If you make precast: Architects, owners and contractors judge a producer by buildings like the one they are working on. Photos of finished projects, with the building type and what you supplied, show them that.

    Check it yourself

    1. Open your projects or gallery page.
    2. Check that recent work is there, shown in your own photos of finished buildings, each with a sentence on the building type, the location and what you supplied.

    Yes if recent projects are shown with photos and a sentence each. Partly if there are photos with no words, or only older work. No if there are no project photos, or only stock images.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Start with your best recent jobs. Get good photos of each finished building, write one or two sentences about each, and give each project its own page if you can.

    Your answer

  7. Who to call

    A named person or a working contact form is one click away on every page.

    Why it matters

    If you supply precast plants: A plant buyer with a question about samples, pricing or an order wants a person, often the rep for their region. When the only way in is a general inbox, the question often goes to a supplier with a name and a number on the page.

    If you make precast: An architect with a detail question or an estimator pricing a job wants someone who can answer. When the only way in is a general inbox, the question often goes to a producer with a name and a number on the page.

    Check it yourself

    1. On your phone, open the site and tap the phone number. It should offer to start a call. If it does nothing, it is plain text and not a tap-to-call link.
    2. From a product page, count the clicks to a phone number, email or form.
    3. Send a message through your own contact form and confirm it arrives and someone answers it.
    4. If you supply precast plants: Check whether a buyer can find the rep for their region.

    Yes if a phone number or working form is one click from every page and the form reaches a person. Partly if it takes more clicks or the phone number cannot be tapped. No if contact details are hard to find or the form does not arrive.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    If you supply precast plants: Put the phone number in the header as a tap-to-call link on every page, keep a short contact form, and list reps by region with a direct number for each.

    If you make precast: Put the phone number in the header as a tap-to-call link on every page and keep a short contact form. Name who answers estimating and technical questions.

    Your answer

  8. Still alive

    Something on the site has changed in the last year.

    Why it matters

    In our experience, a buyer who sees news that stopped years ago or an old copyright year wonders whether the company or the product line is still active. A recent date on a news item or product sheet tells the buyer the information is current.

    Check it yourself

    1. Find the newest dated page on the site, such as a news item, a project or a product sheet, and note its date.
    2. Open your sitemap, usually at yourcompany.com/sitemap.xml. Many sitemaps list a last-modified date (lastmod) for each page.
    3. Check the copyright year in the footer.

    Yes if something was added or changed in the last year. Partly if only small edits were made. No if nothing has changed in over a year.

    If the answer is No or Partly

    Add a dated item every few months, such as a finished project or a new product. Take down news or blog sections you do not plan to keep up.

    Your answer

How the list is ordered, and the limits of this check

Checks you answered No come first, then Partly, then Not sure, then the ones to keep. Within each group the order is ours, based on what we see working with suppliers and producers: first the checks that decide whether search engines, AI assistants and buyers can find and read your site (found by search, open to AI assistants, details in the page), then the checks that decide whether a buyer who arrives gets in touch (who to call, fast on a phone, answers first, real projects, still alive).

The list gives no score or grade. It is built only from your own answers, so it is as accurate as the time spent on the steps. It does not visit your site, and it does not show where you rank against anyone else. Search results also change by location and over time, so run the search steps again every few months.

The State of Precast Marketing report runs the same eight checks the same way on many sites, and its method page explains how. This is version 1, written for precast suppliers and producers. Versions for architecture firms and contractors will follow.

Sources

If you would like help with what is on your list, see our marketing work for precast suppliers and producers, or contact us.

Website check, version 1, published November 15, 2026. Old Plank Group, oldplankgroup.com/resources/website-check/