I’ve been testing websites prior to launch for more than 20 years.  No matter how amazing your site looks, you need to check the following five items to ensure it works as expected.  Here are 5 best practices in website testing to do before your website launches.

1. Does it render correctly on mobile devices?

You need to test your website on the following:

• Apple products – iPhone and iPad. I often see most designers using Apple products – and once tested in an Apple environment, I will hear, “we’ve completed the testing and mobile works great”.  Sorry, you are NOT done yet!
• Android products – If you look at the breakdown of mobile devices in 2018, according to statnista.com, Samsung held the largest part of the market, with Apple coming in second, followed by Huawei and then Lenovo. Currently, Android accounts for 85% of all smartphone sales to end-users.  Not testing on other phones is a big miss.
• Different sized devices – from smaller phones to bigger phones to tablets. Make sure your site renders well in each mobile environment.

2. Click and test all the links in a ‘test’ environment.

• Make sure links go to the page or canvas you need them too.
• Be sure to make several elements of your design clickable, so that the user can easily get to the desired new link.  Don’t assume it is just the text that needs to be clickable.  Make sure the call to action box is also clickable along with your images that are part of the call to action.
• Test links in both the desktop and mobile environments.
• Even once the site goes live – have your team do another test of the live site so you can catch any issues before a user does.  Do this final website test before any launch announcement goes ‘live’.

3. Fill out and test all your forms.

• Can all your forms be filled out?
• Did the fields marked mandatory respond with a message if someone tried to fill in only part of the form?
• Did the tester get added to the specified mailing list you set up, or different mailing list?
• Did they get the email sequence you set up?
• Test the form design in both mobile and desktop to ensure the size renders correctly.

4. Test your email sequence.

• Is the thank you page encouraging them to go back to the website? Are you asking for them to confirm their email address and did you remind them to do that?  Are you using the thank you page as a tool to also share with friends – and do the sharing features work?
• Do you have your privacy policy up to date?
• If you are collecting data, you must have a privacy policy. Make sure it is up-to-date.  I used the Contract Shop for my site, as it provides contracts for both Canada and the US.  Alternatively, you can also use a lawyer who specializes in this area for your privacy policy and terms and conditions.

5. Use real funds and test your payment portal.

• This part is critical, as you don’t want to have a user go through all the purchase steps and abandon a cart in the final moment due to payment issues. That doesn’t build trust.
• Be sure to also check out any promotional codes that you offer to ensure they perform as expected.
• Check that the buyer experience is consistent with email notifications post purchase.

Bonus

• Finally, do a shadow test. Sit behind someone who is not familiar with your site and watch how they navigate it.  What makes sense to you, may not to them.  Adjust your site if needed and test again.

In the past, website projects I have run allowed for one to two weeks for testing before launch.  Why?  Because it takes several testing days to go through the entire site, have the changes made and then test again.

Best Practice Tips

• Get your executive team on-board with website testing before launch. That way, if there are issues, they will support the release date being delayed or help you find ways to get it done on time.  But, be sure to complete at least one round of testing to ensure you look good before asking your busy executive team.
• Keep your boss in the loop with any obstacles and solutions you come up with. Most leaders would prefer open communication over surprises.
• Create a master spreadsheet of all the URLs and forms you are testing and the known issues. Once each issue one is resolved, place the item on another tab of your workbook until the known issues are all resolved.  Use colour coding with green indicating the URL is trouble free.
• Alert your finance team to any payment portal testing, so they can issue refunds quickly and make sure they track revenue appropriately moving forward.
• Organize your testing cycle as part of your plan from the beginning. Allow two weeks in order to give you time to resolve issues and hopefully you will be ready ahead of schedule.

Ready to launch?  You will need to create a launch plan in advance. Having your site published live is only one part of activating a launch plan.   I’ll discuss what you many want to include in your launch plan in another post.