In a world where drag and drop website builders have been glamorized to an unreasonable extent, it’s easy to overlook critical prerequisites before launching a website. Since the website is the face of a business, it’s important to carry out critical tests before launch.
When we peek behind the curtain of a fully functional and feature-rich website, it takes a lot of testing to ensure the optimum functionalities. A website launch is sure an exciting event. But before that, it’s vital to ensure that it doesn’t house issues that can cause bigger problems later.
But it’s easy to be baffled thinking about every single test before considering a website ready for launch. While the website launch checklist can seem never-ending, this post will highlight 8 tests you should run before launching your website. We are covering the most crucial ones here, so, make sure you don’t miss out on anything listed. Let’s dive right in.
Responsiveness Testing
Ever since Google launched its mobile-first indexing policy, the way a search engine crawls a page has transformed. Instead of crawling and indexing a page according to its rendering on the website’s desktop version, it crawls and indexes the site’s mobile version. The credit for more than 50% of website traffic goes to mobile users.
Of course, it goes without saying that the flawless rendering of a website on mobile devices is strictly non-negotiable. Therefore, it is advisable to use a tool that allows users to check responsive web design on multiple devices at the same time. For instance, with LT Browser, you can easily check the responsiveness of a website on 50+ devices in one go.
During testing of responsiveness of a site, make sure that the theme works well on mobile devices. The text should also be easily readable and the operations and navigations should be hassle-free.
Cross Browser Testing
If you are still under the impression that testing a website on major browsers such as Chrome and Firefox marks work done, you’ve been living under a rock. Not only is it crucial to test the rendering of a website on different browsers but also browser versions. Also, you can’t overlook testing the functionality of a website on different combinations of devices, operating systems, and browsers along with their different versions.
Gone are the days you need to install each browser in your system to test a website. With the striking increase in the number of browsers and their versions, a tool that enables users to perform automated browser testing can come in handy. Speaking of which, LambdaTest facilitates performing live interactive testing along with automated cross-browser testing on more than 2000 real browsers as well as operating systems.
You can also generate screenshots of web pages that further aid visual cross-browser testing. The best part is that since it’s a cloud-based infrastructure, you won’t have to fret over the purchase, maintenance, and updates for browsers and devices. All you need to do is sign up with a few clicks, choose your preferred combinations, and begin testing!
Speed Testing
With every passing day, users are getting more and more impatient. This calls for the need for speed testing of a website as it goes hand in hand with optimum user experience. In other words, an efficiently and quickly loading website is not optional.
According to estimates, if a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, most users will switch to something else and don’t look back. Why would they? After all, if someone had their initial experience compromised, they wouldn’t waste more time on it. Especially in a world where the competitor is just a click away!
All in all, if we don’t test a website for speed, it will result in massive losses in revenue by repelling a major segment of internet users. Also, you should intermittently execute speed tests as you publish new content on your website. Always remember that even the most amazing websites as far as images and content are concerned, fail to succeed due to compromised loading speed.
Usability Testing
When a user logs on to a website, they expect to accomplish certain tasks. Usability testing ensures that they are able to do so with the utmost ease. In other words, it evaluates the overall browsing experience of a user. Compromised website usability can negatively affect conversions and of course, by extension, return on revenue. Not to mention, it can also adversely impact a site’s SEO strategy.
There are various functional aspects that come under the umbrella of a website’s usability. Testers should ensure the optimization of images for speed and check the functioning of various contact forms as well as call-to-action buttons. Credentials, contact forms, and login procedures are crucial components of a multi-user site that come under usability testing. If a website has autoresponders, ensure they are delivering the expected value.
Usability testing becomes even more vital when websites accept payments. The interface should guide the user through each step without any obstacles. So, check functions such as sign-ups, downloads, Shopping Cart, email notifications, and payment processing.
Usability testing helps in determining whether users can easily complete expected tasks within a stipulated time frame. Combined with user feedback, it also helps in identifying whether they’re satisfied with the website experience. The testing team can uncover changes they need to implement for improving the performance of a website and user satisfaction.
Compatibility Testing
If you have ever worked with a WordPress site, you must have encountered themes and plugins that were incompatible with various versions. They might even clash and give rise to various compatibility problems resulting in errors and bugs on a site. Usually, these issues are a regular occurrence. But if they hamper with the way your website renders, it’s unacceptable.
Sometimes, these issues can go so out of hand that a website can even stop working. Therefore, in an event of the addition of new themes, plugins, or even WordPress version updates, it’s important that you run necessary compatibility tests to ensure a consistent user experience.
Testing for Broken Links
Broken links are one of the most irritating banes that can put off website users more than anything else. In simple terms, if there is a link on a website, it has to work. Broken links can easily tarnish a brand name and damage the entire credibility of a website. Whether they are internal or external links, everything has to be working. If a link doesn’t direct users to the intended page, it’s pointless.
Testing for broken links is not a one-time process. In fact, the testing team has to be intermittent about it and conduct broken link testing every time after the addition of new content. For a small site with a handful of content, even manual testing would suffice for broken links. However, it can become a painstaking process if the site is large. Fortunately, there is no shortage of automated tools to make this task easier.
Readability Testing
Reliability testing includes checking grammar and spelling errors and assessing the size and other font aspects to determine whether visitors can easily read the text. Ensuring adequate white space is another important criterion. Not to mention, the text should ideally be broken down into short paragraphs. It should also include numbering and bullet points for or smooth navigation and better visual appeal.
Professional content and aesthetically pleasing images mean nothing if the readability of a website is compromised. This step is not just a crucial one-time effort right before the launch of a website. It’s also something you should take care of after content updates.
Of course, proofreading every single word with the human eye isn’t a part of a tester job description. Tools such as the Hemingway app and Grammarly can greatly assist readability testing.
Security Testing
If the website doesn’t have an SSL certificate, Google labels it as ‘not secure’. Do you think anything else will scare users as quickly as these two words? Security testing identifies vulnerabilities in a website and helps to prevent threats to enter the system. This also prevents cybercriminals from launching malicious attacks and infiltrating websites.
Summing Up
With ROIs of businesses heavily dependent on traffic and conversion rates, bug-filled websites with flawed interfaces have no place in the digital arena. Exercising due diligence while running the aforementioned tests can save you the trouble of declining conversion rates and spiking bounce rates.
Therefore, to retain a loyal user base that always comes back for more, it’s important to thoroughly execute these tests before launching a website. Even though almost every website is adopting A/B testing, never completely rely on users to catch bugs for you.
While these tests are an important pre-launch step, you might have to keep performing them as you update the website. Is there something you would like to add to this list? Sound off in the comments section below.