Website performance and security are crucial because if your site gets blocked, organic traffic goes down by 95%. In addition to the lost traffic, you will also lose your customers' trust. Plus, a poorly designed and unresponsive website also hinders user experience.So, how do you make sure your website performs as expected?
Simple! Test your website for each scenario, functionality, usability, and responsiveness. However, conducting several tests and managing test cases can be challenging. This is where a website testing checklist can help. It allows you to have everything you need ready for the testing phase.
In this article, you will get a checklist to get your website testing ready. So, let's dig deep!
Why is Website Testing Important?
Website testing is important to ensuring a website is fully functional, user-friendly, and secure. Website testing can significantly impact a business's online presence and customer satisfaction.
Neglecting website testing can have severe consequences, ranging from minor inconveniences to significant financial losses. For instance, software errors post-deployment cost the US economy an estimated $2.08 trillion annually.
Key benefits of website testing:
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Testing ensures a well-functioning website, which enhances business credibility.
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Website testing boosts all the alternative search engine rankings and organic traffic.
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Pre-launch website testing minimizes post-launch support needs and costs.
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Thorough testing ensures compatibility across devices, browsers, and operating systems.
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Testing a website can improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn addressing potential.
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It can prevent cyber threats by identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities.
Related Read: Ultimate Website Launch Checklist
9 Website Testing Checklist for Quality Assurance
Now, I'll show you the checklist for testing your website. Let's get started!
1. Testing Functionality
If you Extensive website testing focusing on links, forms, and interactive features is important. To ensure better functionality, the QA team examines each function, link, form, and interactive element. To verify platform compatibility, test for different browsers and devices.
a) Link Testing
Link testing is a functional test where you examine all the links on a webpage to confirm their proper functionality.
This consists of:
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Check broken links that direct to non-existent or error pages.
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Validate internal links accurately guide users to other pages.
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Verify external links direct users to the intended pages.
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Ensure that mailto links open the default email client.
b) Form Testing
Website testing checklists must include function tests that focus on forms. It helps businesses gather user input, contact details, sign-ups, or online transactions, making tests inevitable.
Here are some key considerations for form testing.
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Check each input field validates data.
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Ensure buttons such as 'submit,' 'reset,' and 'upload' function correctly.
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Ensure relevant error messages appear when users input the wrong data.
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Validate that the system handles, stores, and retrieves user data.
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Verify that forms operate smoothly across platforms.
2. Database Testing
Imagine you have a toy box full of new items to play with. But, if you start playing, it does not work due to low battery. Database testing is like testing the batteries before sunning your toy. If your database has sage, secure, and correct data, your app runs like a charm. But if it has issues, the nightmare begins! This includes examining the structure, tables, triggers, procedures, and data validation.
By testing the database, you can evaluate the system's accuracy, efficiency, and security, ensuring the data is error-free. It also involves verifying the connection, running queries, retrieving data, and confirming consistency.
3. Usability Testing
Usability testing is crucial as it helps assess navigation, content quality, and mobile responsiveness to improve user experience.
a) Navigation Testing
Navigation testing helps create easy-to-use menu structures. This ensures smooth user flow through the website.
b) Mobile Responsiveness
Mobile responsiveness is also important for adapting to different devices and improving user engagement. Through thorough usability testing, developers can boost user satisfaction and usability of their websites and application.
4. User Interface Testing
User interface testing ensures browser compatibility and enhances user experience, increasing satisfaction and product engagement.
a) Browser Compatibility Testing
Browser compatibility testing confirms that the website works well on different browsers, regardless of the platform.
b) Resolution Testing
Resolution testing focuses on how the website or app looks on various screen sizes.
5. Testing the Website Performance
The testing of website performance is mandatory to check the steadiness, official response as well as the consumption of resources. Including load, stress and endurance testing under varied configurations are part of this. You get to know how effectively a website performs under different loads as well as its time responses to the users’ requests.
Performance testing by imitating real traffic flows and user concepts will warrant that programs run at high speed..
Key performance tests to consider are:
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Load testing involves testing how a system behaves under different load levels.
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Stress testing pushes a system beyond its limits to the point where it will break or fail.
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Speed testing is a type of testing that measures how quickly a system can complete a task.
6. Enhance Security
Securing your site’s data is significant and needs inclusion in the checklist for your website testing process. This acts as a way to build trust from your website users and will also make sure you adhere to regulations like PCI DS.
a) Encryption
Encryption ensures data confidentiality by converting data into an unreadable format. This process secures the data, preventing unauthorized access.
In the context of website security, encryption protects sensitive data such as personal information, and financial details. You can deploy encryptions by leveraging SSL certificates.
These are digital certificates which secure communication between website and browser. You can buy SSL certificate from leading certificate authorities and install it on your website.
b) User Authentication
User authentication is the process of verifying the user identity for secure data access. User authentication is a critical component of web security. It protects user accounts and sensitive information from unauthorized access.
You can use multiple methods for user authenticaion like passwords, biometrics, two-factor authentication (2FA), and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
c) Payment Gateways
Payment gateways facilitate online transactions and authorize payments between merchants and customers securely. It plays a pivotal role in ensuring the security of financial transactions. You can even leverage Blockchain-based payment gateways for better security.
7. Accessibility Testing
You need accessibility testing to be a part in your website testing checklist. It ensures that digital products and services can be used by people with disabilities. This tests allow you to check screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, color contrast, and alt text for images.
Further, it makes sure that everyone, including those with disabilities, can access and use digital solutions. Accessibility testing allows you to make sure your site follows web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG).
8. Cookies Validation
You need cookies validation in your website testing checklist because it ensures the security and integrity of cookies. It allows you to verify configuration of attributes like security flags, HTTP Only flags, and SameSite attributes.
It also secures site from common attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and session hijacking.
9. SEO Compliance Testing
SEO compliance testing is crucial for any website with a strong online presence. You need to check if the site is optimized for search engine indexing.
Prioritize cybersecurity in their SEO strategies, as a secure website can greatly enhance SEO performance. Conduct regular tests to detect and fix security vulnerabilities ensuring adherence to standards, boosting visibility, rankings, and credibility.
Now that you have the website testing checklist ready, it's time for execution!
However, conducting, managing, and optimizing several tests can be complex.
This is where automation comes into play.
Importance of Test Automation
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Helps save money on website testing and ensures a solid return on investment.
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Broadens the range and depth of tests conducted.
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Provides quick and accurate feedback.
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Allows remote and scheduled test executions.
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Ideal for regression testing and mimicking user interactions.
Conclusion
When it comes to website performance and security, businesses tend to keep no stone unturned. However, without strategic planning and proper execution, website testing can be a complex affair.
The best way to ensure that everything is ready before the testing phase begins is to have a checklist. Further, you can leverage automation to improve web testing speed and achieve optimal results.
