Short answer: On October 28, 2026, AP Visible checked 30 independent shops in Aurora listed in public business directories. 23 of 30 (77%) listed a website. Of 22 working sites we fully scored, 15 showed opening hours, 14 had tap-to-call, 9 linked to their Google listing and none had a Spanish version.
The numbers
Website features are counted only for listed sites that worked and were fully scored. The right-hand column is the whole study, all 9 towns, for context.
| What we checked | Aurora | All 9 towns |
|---|---|---|
| Website listed in the directory | 23 of 30 (77%) | 197 of 280 (70%) |
| Only a Facebook or Instagram page listed | 5 of 30 (17%) | 17 of 280 (6%) |
| Nothing listed | 2 of 30 (7%) | 65 of 280 (23%) |
| Listed website worked (of those we could verify) | 22 of 23 (96%) | 175 of 188 (93%) |
| Secure address (HTTPS) | 22 of 22 (100%) | 168 of 171 (98%) |
| Phone-friendly layout (basic check) | 21 of 22 (95%) | 168 of 171 (98%) |
| Opening hours in the page text | 15 of 22 (68%) | 105 of 171 (61%) |
| Tap-to-call phone link | 14 of 22 (64%) | 111 of 171 (65%) |
| Online booking, ordering or reservations | 10 of 22 (45%) | 86 of 171 (50%) |
| Link to the Google listing or reviews | 9 of 22 (41%) | 68 of 171 (40%) |
| Spanish-language version | 0 of 22 (0%) | 0 of 171 (0%) |
| All four basics (HTTPS, phone layout, hours, tap-to-call) | 10 of 22 (45%) | 76 of 171 (44%) |
Who is in the Aurora sample
Restaurants & cafes 23, home services 7 (30 independent businesses; chains and franchises left out). Most of these businesses (22 of 30) come from the Aurora Downtown District listings, so the Aurora sample is mostly downtown restaurants and cafes; the other 8 come from the Oswego and Batavia chamber directories. Aurora’s two larger business directories showed bot-check pages, which we did not try to get past. There are no Aurora salons or auto shops in this sample.
Broken and missing links
1 listed website did not work on the day we checked: a "site not available" error.
None of the 22 working sites we scored had a Spanish-language version, a language switcher or a translate tool. For context, the U.S. Census Bureau reports Aurora is 41.6% Hispanic or Latino (2025 estimate); that figure is not from this study.
What this suggests for Aurora shop owners
- Check that the website link in your chamber, village or downtown directory listing is current and opens your own site.
- Put your hours on your website as text, not only in a photo or on Facebook.
- Make your phone number tappable, so customers on a phone can call in one tap.
- Link to your Google listing so customers can read reviews and get directions.
- Consider one Spanish page with your services, hours and how to book. None of the sites we checked here had one.
More for local shops in Aurora.
Read with care
- This is a one-day snapshot (October 28, 2026) of businesses listed in public directories, not every business in Aurora.
- “Nothing listed” isn’t the same as “no website”: in a hand check across the whole study, 4 of 12 such businesses had one.
- Towns aren’t ranked. Differences between towns mostly reflect which directory each town’s businesses came from.
- Google Business Profiles, Facebook and Instagram pages, page speed and reviews weren’t checked.
- No business is named in this report.
Method, data and how to cite
This page is a town slice of our full study, How visible are Aurora’s small businesses online? (2026). The method, definitions and limits are in How we did it, and the headline numbers are on the fact sheet. The figures on this page are also available as a short CSV file (counts only, no business names).
AP Visible, “State of local business websites 2026: Aurora,” data collected October 28, 2026. https://apvisible.com/state-of-local-business-websites-2026-aurora-il
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