Why should you test your website?
Posted by System | Monday, June 01, 2009
Good cooks test their food before they serve it. Before buying a new car, it's common to go for a test-drive. How else can you be sure that a product is satisfactory and works they way you want it to, without checking it out beforehand?
The same applies to websites. You must ensure that when people visit your website, they find the information they need, quickly and flawlessly. The only way to know that everything works perfectly, is to thoroughly test every single part of the site.
I've been working with web for many years now and in my time I have witnessed some terrible consequences of websites which were never properly tested - from contact forms which weren't emailing through to anywhere, to an e-commerce website where the payment provider had never been put live. The forehead-slapping truth is that these issues could have so easily been avoided, had best practise been followed.
Although significantly less exciting than the more creative stages of the web project, testing is crucial, both before the website goes live, and afterwards. Regular testing once the site has gone live ensures that you keep up to date with any emerging issues.
I won't pretend that testing is fun. It's not the most interesting way to spend your day. Testing websites can be repetitious and downright monotonous, but a day of boredom now could save you hours of frustrating error-fixing weeks down the line.
To avoid the dull-factor and ensure that you cover all bases, try to be structured and write out a testing document relative to your website's functionality, which you can follow. You may even get a sense of satisfaction from ticking off each individual point!
After weeks - possibly months - of intense work on the creation of your website, it can be hard to detach yourself from this process in order to gain an objective view of the site. For this reason, although much of the website testing can be carried out by yourself and your web development company, many people employ a third party for assistance.
Employing an independent usability group to thoroughly test and audit your website will provide you with honest feedback from real people, giving you an accurate insight into how your website will be used and viewed by others. The downside is that it's not free. However, what may seem like an unnecessary financial outgoing now, could provide valuable pointers which would work to your benefit if implemented, and may even raise some new ideas for developing the website further. For this reason, try to see usability group testing as a smart investment rather than an expensive inconvenience.
Benefits of testing your website include:-
Find undetected errors
Locate all items such as broken links, typos, functionality errors or even an inconsistency in the navigation. It's un-realistic to rely on your website users finding these and reporting them to you, unless you offer some kind of incentive. A user might leave your website for good after encountering an error, so testing ensures that you limit the possibility of this, and any errors you do find can be passed directly to your technical team.
Iron out cross-browser differences
Whilst your site might look fantastic in IE7 on a PC, it may look terrible on a Mac. Many poorly-built websites show inconsistencies when viewed in different browsers. Testing across a range of browsers and machines ensures that your website is accessible to as wide a range of web users as possible.
Improve Brand Experience
The quality of your website is a direct reflection of your company. Confusing navigation, poor imagery or typos could all contribute to a negative brand image and this can then impact on users' view of your company offline as well as online. Ensure that all copy is spell-checked, that all images are high quality and that your site is error-free, in order to retrain control of your brand and ensure that it is presented in a positive light.
Improve visitor retention
Hiring a usability group to browse your website may reveal some home truths. Some people might find your home page design confusing or difficult to navigate, or simply not interesting enough to encourage them to stay on the website. Recording these findings then adjusting the relevant areas accordingly, could improve your visitor retention rate.
Increase conversions
If you have an e-commerce website, usability studies can provide vital feedback on the ease of use of your shopping basket, for example. This arms you with the tools to adapt your website in line with genuine consumer demand, and improve the user journey. Also try to experiment with different combinations of featured products on your home page. You may discover that - for example - a combination of two best sellers, two new products and two sale items on your home page increases your conversion rate. The key is to keep testing until you find what works.
Keep your website fresh in your mind
In the final production stages of a website, there is often such a surge of energy and resources that it is tempting to stop this process once the site is live, resigning the project as "finished". This shouldn't be the case. To people who aren't keen on updating their website, I usually ask them to compare it to a shop window. Few successful shops have the same window display all year round. Your website should evolve in the same way - to respond to trends, consumer demand, and even the seasons. To encourage repeat visitors, you will need updated content and a reason for people to return.
Continual testing and checking keeps your website fresh in your mind, making you more likely to think of ways to develop and improve on what is already there, which can only be of benefit for your business online.