Merchant Center website checklist (22 checks)

1. Who runs the store

Reviewers check that a real, reachable business stands behind the site.

Contact information. Shoppers can reach you: a contact page plus at least one direct method (email or phone), with no placeholder details. Related: Unacceptable business practices, Website needs improvement, Insufficient contact information
Business address. A real business or returns address is shown somewhere a shopper can find it (contact page, footer or policies). Related: Verify your business details to restore full visibility, Unacceptable business practices, Insufficient contact information
About the business. An About page tells shoppers who runs the store. Related: Unacceptable business practices, Website needs improvement, Misrepresentation
Consistent business identity. The business name is the same across your site name, structured data and footer, and your site says who the business is. Related: Online store URL not verified, Verify your business details to restore full visibility, Mismatched domains

2. Policies

Each one on its own page, linked from the footer, with the specifics filled in.

Return and refund policy. A return/refund policy page exists, is linked, and states the return window, item condition, how refunds are paid and how to start a return. Related: Missing return and refund policy, Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions, Unacceptable business practices
Shipping policy. A shipping/delivery page exists and states costs and delivery times. Related: Missing shipping costs, Inaccurate shipping costs, Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions
Terms of service. A terms of service page exists and is linked. Related: Missing return and refund policy, Misrepresentation
Privacy policy. A privacy policy page exists and is linked. Related: Inadequate data security, Misrepresentation

3. Trust and leftover content

Template text and claims you can't back up are what make a store look unfinished or misleading.

No placeholder or template text. No lorem ipsum, default theme copy, sample products, "your store name" fields or coming-soon notices anywhere we looked. Related: Generic placeholder image, Site inaccessible, No products on website
Claims and pressure tactics. No unverifiable "as seen on" or medical claims, guaranteed results, or fake-urgency messages. Related: Misleading or unrealistic promotions, Misrepresentation
Secure connection (HTTPS). Your homepage, product pages and checkout load over HTTPS, plain http redirects to https, and forms don't post to insecure addresses. Related: Inadequate data security, Unable to view online store, Insufficient contact information
Payment methods shown. Accepted payment methods are visible before checkout. Related: Users cannot complete purchase, Dishonest pricing and transaction conditions

4. Pages Google can reach

Every product link in your feed has to load for shoppers and for Google's crawlers.

Pages load for visitors. Your homepage and product pages answer with a working page (no errors, no password page, no login wall). Related: Unavailable desktop landing page, Unable to check product pages, Mismatched domains
Broken links in your menus. Links in your header and footer lead to real pages, not 404 errors. Related: Unavailable desktop landing page, Site inaccessible, Users cannot complete purchase
Google's crawlers are allowed. Your robots.txt doesn't block Googlebot, Storebot-Google or AdsBot-Google from your homepage or product pages. Related: Unable to check product pages, Mobile page not crawlable due to robots.txt, Product page unavailable
Mobile-friendly pages. Pages declare a mobile viewport so they render properly on phones, where most shopping clicks happen. Related: Mobile page not crawlable due to robots.txt, Login required, Unavailable mobile landing page
Customers can buy. Product pages have a working add-to-cart or buy button and the cart page loads securely. Related: Inaccurate shipping costs, Login required, Users cannot complete purchase

5. Product data on the page

What your product pages show has to match what you send Merchant Center.

Product structured data. Each product page has valid Product markup (JSON-LD or microdata) with a name, image and offer. Related: Mismatched strikethrough price (page crawl), Not performing automatic item updates for price, Mismatched product availability
Price matches the page. The price in your structured data and social meta tags appears on the page itself. Related: Price mismatch (abuse of network), Mismatched strikethrough price (page crawl), Not performing automatic item updates for price
Currency matches. priceCurrency is set, and the currency shown on the page matches it. Related: Mismatched product price, Missing product price, Inconsistent currency between your product data and your website
Availability matches the page. Offer availability is set with a valid schema.org value and agrees with what the page shows (no "in stock" markup on a sold-out page). Related: Mismatched product availability, Missing availability, Inaccurate availability status due to inconsistency between feed and landing page
Brand and product identifiers. Product markup includes a brand, and any GTIN (UPC/EAN/ISBN) has a valid check digit. Related: Missing or incorrect GTIN, Missing brand

Questions

When should I go through this checklist?

Before you submit a new store to Merchant Center, before you request a review after a warning or suspension, and after big site changes like a new theme, a currency app or rewritten policies.

Does passing every item guarantee approval?

No. Only Google decides, and some issues depend on your product feed, your Merchant Center settings or what you sell, which a website checklist can't cover. It closes the website gaps reviews look for.

Can I check all of this automatically?

Yes. Listvane runs these 22 checks on your public pages in about a minute and shows your score and issue count before you pay for the full report.

Each item maps to the Merchant Center issue guides linked next to it, which quote Google's help pages (checked 2026-10-08). Listvane is an independent tool made by Great Work LLC. It isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Google. Google and Google Merchant Center are trademarks of Google LLC.

Merchant Center website checklist: 22 things to check before you submit or request a review