Short answer: Of 280 independent shops we checked in Aurora and eight nearby towns in October 2026, 70% listed a website in their local directory. Of the 171 working sites we scored, 61% showed opening hours, 65% had a tap-to-call number, 40% linked to their Google listing, and none had a Spanish version.
What we looked at
On October 28, 2026 we took 280 independent businesses from eight public directories: chamber of commerce member lists in Batavia, Oswego and Plainfield–Shorewood, the downtown business groups in Aurora, Naperville and St. Charles, and the village and city business lists in Shorewood and Warrenville. We picked four kinds of shops people look up on their phones: salons and barbershops, auto repair, restaurants and cafes, and home services like plumbing, HVAC and landscaping. Chains and franchises were left out.
For each one we opened the website its directory listed, once, in a phone-sized browser, and checked what a customer would see. We didn’t fill in any forms or log in to anything, and we name no businesses here.
1. Three in ten had no website in their listing
197 of the 280 (70%) listed their own website or booking page. 65 (23%) listed nothing, and 17 (6%) listed only a Facebook or Instagram page. Salons were least likely to list a site; home-service businesses were most likely.
A missing link doesn’t always mean a missing website. When we looked up 12 of the “nothing listed” businesses by hand, 4 did have a site. Their directory listing just didn’t say so. Either way, a customer browsing that directory wouldn’t find it.
2. About one in fourteen listed websites was broken
Of the 188 listed websites we could check, 13 (7%) didn’t work. Three domains had lapsed and now forwarded to unrelated sites, one of them a gambling site. Others showed “coming soon” or “website expired” pages, error pages, or pointed somewhere that wasn’t the business at all. Domain renewals are easy to miss, and an old link in a chamber directory keeps sending customers to the wrong place for years.
3. The technical basics are in good shape
Of the 171 working sites we scored, 168 (98%) used a secure https:// address and 168 (98%) passed a basic phone-layout check (no sideways scrolling on a phone screen). Website builders have mostly solved this part.
4. The customer basics are hit and miss
- Hours: 105 of 171 (61%) showed opening hours as text on the site. Home-service sites were lowest at 49%.
- Tap-to-call: 111 of 171 (65%) had a phone number you can tap to call. Salon sites were lowest at 54%.
- Google listing: 68 of 171 (40%) linked to their Google listing or reviews, so customers can read reviews or get directions in one tap.
- All four basics: 76 of 171 sites (44%) had all four basics. Across all 280 businesses, that’s 27%.
5. No Spanish, anywhere
None of the 171 working sites had a Spanish-language version, a language switcher or a translate tool. One site mentioned that Spanish is spoken there. That stands out in a city where 41.6% of residents are Hispanic or Latino and 46.4% of residents age 5 and up speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If you’re weighing it up, we wrote about whether a shop needs an English and Spanish website.
6. About half take bookings or orders online
86 of the 171 working sites (50%) let customers book, order or reserve online. Salons led at 26 of 41 sites (63%), mostly through booking apps; restaurants followed at 36 of 68 (53%); home services trailed at 15 of 49 (31%). More on online booking for salons and barbershops.
By type of business
| Salons & barbers | Restaurants & cafes | Home services | Auto repair* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 86 | 99 | 67 | 28 |
| Website listed | 56% | 77% | 82% | 64% |
| Working sites scored | 41 | 68 | 49 | 13 |
| Hours on site | 61% | 68% | 49% | 10 of 13 |
| Tap-to-call | 54% | 59% | 78% | 11 of 13 |
| Online booking or ordering | 63% | 53% | 31% | 9 of 13 |
| Links to Google listing | 34% | 38% | 41% | 8 of 13 |
| Spanish version | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0 of 13 |
*Auto repair is a small group (28 businesses, 13 scored sites), so it’s shown as counts. Site-feature percentages are out of working sites in each group.
Related checklists: home-service websites, restaurant menus and hours, auto repair and Google Maps. How we build for each trade: salons and barbershops, auto repair shops, restaurants and cafes and home-service contractors. Check your own site against these numbers with the free shop website grader, or check your directory listing.
Town reports: one page of numbers for each town, with the sample size next to every figure (they aren’t a ranking): Aurora · Batavia · Oswego & Montgomery · Plainfield · Shorewood · St. Charles · Warrenville. Naperville’s sample (17 businesses, mostly downtown restaurants) was too small for its own report.
A quick self-check for your own shop
- Open your chamber, village and downtown directory listings. Does the website link work, and is it yours?
- Is your domain set to renew automatically?
- Are your hours on your site as text, not only on Facebook or in a photo?
- Can a customer tap your phone number to call?
- Does your site link to your Google listing so people can read reviews and get directions?
- If many of your customers speak Spanish, do you have at least one page in Spanish?
How we did it, and the limits
This is a snapshot of businesses listed in public directories, not every business in these towns. Chamber and downtown listings showed a website 85% of the time; the village and city lists, which include every licensed business, showed one 38% of the time. So we don’t compare or rank towns: the differences mostly come from which directory each town’s businesses came from. Aurora’s larger directories weren’t open to automated reading, so Aurora’s share of the sample is mostly downtown restaurants. Montgomery and Naperville had too few businesses to report on their own.
We respected each site’s robots.txt rules and skipped one site that asked not to be crawled. Eight listed sites couldn’t be reached from our checker and are left out rather than counted as broken. “Phone-friendly” is a basic check, not a full test. We didn’t check Google Business Profiles: doing that for 280 businesses would mean automated Google searches, which Google’s terms don’t allow. The anonymized data (no business names) is available on request at [email protected]. Reporters can find the headline numbers and how to cite them on the fact sheet, and company details in our press kit.
Frequently asked questions
How many small businesses around Aurora have a website?
In our October 2026 sample of 280 independent shops from public chamber, downtown and village directories, 197 (70%) listed a website or booking page. 65 (23%) listed none and 17 (6%) listed only a Facebook or Instagram page. Some of those may still have a site the directory doesn't show.
What do most local small business websites leave out?
Of 171 working sites, 39% didn't show opening hours in the page text, 35% had no tap-to-call phone link, and 60% didn't link to the business's Google listing or reviews. Only 44% had all four basics: a secure address, a phone-friendly layout, hours and tap-to-call.
Do local small business websites offer Spanish?
None of the 171 working sites we checked had a Spanish-language version, a language switcher or a translate tool. One mentioned that staff speak Spanish. In Aurora, 41.6% of residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Did you check Google Business Profiles?
No. Checking Google profiles for 280 businesses would mean automated Google searches, which Google's terms don't allow. We only checked what each business's own website shows, including whether it links to its Google listing.
How was the study done?
On October 28, 2026 we took 280 independent salons, barbershops, auto shops, restaurants, cafes and home-service businesses from eight public directories, left out chains and franchises, and opened each listed website once on a phone-sized browser. Nothing was submitted and no logins were used.
Sources
- AP Visible check of 280 independent business listings and their websites, October 28, 2026 (method above).
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Aurora city, Illinois (Hispanic or Latino, V2025 estimate; language other than English at home, ACS 2020–2024): https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/auroracityillinois/PST045224
- Directories used: Batavia Chamber of Commerce, Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce, Plainfield Shorewood Area Chamber of Commerce, Aurora Downtown, Downtown Naperville Alliance, St. Charles Business Alliance, Village of Shorewood business directory, City of Warrenville business directory.