Bug Blog

Having a website is no longer an optional extra, regardless of the type of business. However, just having a website isn’t good enough. It must inform, attract customers and generate conversions.

This is why every website must meet certain touch points during development. Some of these touch points include exploratory testing. A website should be tested with different browsers, different screen sizes and different mobile devices.

Your website should also be tested to make certain that it can cope with non-standard input and doesn’t get confused. Do you know what happens if the user walks away in the middle of a transaction and doesn’t come back for a long time? What happens to his or her information and how securely is it stored? What if conflicting information or negative numbers are entered? Testing for the unusual may require imagination and a quality testing team, but it’s worth it.

Another vital touch point is knowing when to test manually and what automated testing tool to use. Testing tools should fit the the modules you are testing as well as the people writing the testing scripts. Remember, manual and automated testing are not an either/or proposition. Automated testing becomes easier with each cycle through as more testing scripts are written. Eventually, automation will take up a great deal of the testing load.

And finally, do as much user testing as possible, you should bring in a new group of testers for this. They can test navigation, search functions and the checkout process, as well as other user elements. Generally, a website is as good as it leads to conversions, either online or off, the better the website, the more conversions. You can’t go wrong if you hold to that standard.