How to test a website

Want to know how to test your website? Here you can find information about the main website testing techniques. We will consider website testing checklist items to go through for ensuring your site readiness for the launch.

Testing, as the final stage of the development of the website, plays a vital role in the process of creating high-quality software.

After the website testing, the customer is provided with a ready project without errors, with good readability, perceived ease, convenience, and reliability.

The basic rules for testing of a website are steps that show the user how easy and logical the project is, how easy and possible to find the required information.

The more complex the site, the more time it takes to test it and debug it. Depending on the specifics of the project, up to 50% of the total budget and time resources can be allocated to test a website.

To organize the testing of the website, a specially developed methodology is provided. The verification of your website is carried out according to this methodology.

Testing can occur in a variety of ways, but do not forget about the process itself and the testing strategy. The sequence of your actions depends on it.

So, let’s consider the main stages you have to pass to test your site. Look at the picture below. Here you can see them.

This is could be like some website testing tutorial for your site.

Documentation testing

We should start with the preparatory phase, testing the documentation. The tester studies the received documentation (analyzes the defined site functionality, examines the final layouts of the site and makes a website test plan for further testing).

The main artifacts related to the website testing are analyzed on this stage:

Requirements

Test Plan

Test Cases

Traceability Matrix.

Website functionality testing

Functional testing is aimed to ensure that each function of the website operates in conformance with the requirement specification. Website testing of the functionality shows “What the system does”.

Let’s try to create the checklist for you website functionality testing.

Links testing

You should verify:

Outbound links

Internal links correctness

There are no links leading to the same page

The links that are used to send e-mails to site admins

If there are pages that are not referenced

There are no broken links

Forms testing for all pages

You use forms for the interactive communication with your customers. So, the following points should be checked:

The input data validity

Allowed values for the data field

Invalid input values for the data field

Options for forms in which deletion or any other modification of data is possible.

Cookies testing

Cookies are small files that are stored on the user’s computer after visiting your web page.

Test a site with disabled cookies

Test a site with enabled cookies

Verify the cookie is encrypted before being written to the user’s machine

Check the security aspects when removing the cookies

If the cookies have a duration of action, then it is tested whether they are active in the specified period of time.

HTML/CSS validation

HTML syntax errors

Verify the site is available for search machines

Verify your web page has an accurate site map in both XML and HTML format

Useful tools for the functional website testing: Selenium, Linux Test Project, JUnit, Sprinter by Hewlett Packard Entreprise (manual testing), Browserstack (both automated and manual testing), Usersnap (manual testing).

Follow this link, if you want to know more about functional testing – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

Usability testing

Usability testing is aimed to evaluate your web page by testing it with representative users. It helps to define user ability to learn to operate, prepare inputs for, and interpret outputs of your site.

Navigation testing contains the next verifications:

All pages of your site are understandable and easy to use

Buttons, shapes, and fields are convenient for use

There is an access to the Main menu from all pages

Content testing checklist:

There are no grammar and spelling mistakes

Images are placed properly with proper sizes

Verify optimization of the color palette of the site and font sizes

Content should be informative, understandable, structured and logically linked

Instructions are clear and contain correct information

Finally, to evaluate the usability of your web portal, just answer these questions:

Is your website understandable and convenient?

Is navigation convenient?

What impression does it make on the user?

Are there superfluous or unnecessary things?

Some tools for the usability testing: User Zoom, Reflector, Loop11.

Here you can also read about the usability testing – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

UI (User Interface) testing

User Interface (UI) testing is provided to verify the graphic user interface of your website meets the specifications.

Here are some verifications for UI testing of a website:

Compliance with the standards of graphical interfaces

Design elements evaluation: layout, colors, fonts, font sizes, labels, text boxes, text formatting, captions, buttons, lists, icons, links

Testing with different screen resolutions

Testing of localized versions: accuracy of translation (multilanguage, multicurrency), checking the length of names of interface elements, etc.

Testing the graphical user interface on target devices: smartphones and tablets.

Useful tools for UI testing: FitNesse, iMacros, Coded UI, Jubula, LoadUI.

More information about UI testing is here – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

Compatibility (Configuration) testing

Compatibility (Configuration) testing is performed to test your website with each one of the supported software and hardware configurations:

OS Configuration

Browser Configuration

Database Configuration

Cross-platform testing allows evaluating the work of your site in different OS (both desktop and mobile): Windows, iOS/Mac OS, Linux, Android, and BlackBerry etc.

Cross-browser website testing methods help to verify the correct work of the site in different browser configurations: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Opera etc.

Database testing is performed to ensure the correct work of your site in different database configurations: Oracle, DB2, MySql, MSSQL Server, Sybase.

Printing compatibility also should be mentioned in your website test plan:

Verify the fonts, page graphics, page alignment can be printed properly

Ensure all pages of your site fit the paper size and the size defined in the printing option.

You can use tools like BrowserStack, CrossBrowserTesting by Smart Bear, Litmus, Browsera, Rational Clearcase by IBM, Ghostlab for the Compatibility testing of your site.

Look for more information about the Configuration testing here – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

Performance testing

Performance testing is aimed to determine how a system performs in terms of responsiveness and stability under a certain load. Sites must withstand high loads. Perfomance website testing methods contain:

Testing site behavior at or beyond the limits of its anticipated workload ( Stress testing )

) Testing site behavior at increasing workload ( Load testing )

) Testing the ability to work within or just above the acceptable period (Stability testing)

Testing of website performance by increasing the data volume in the database (Volume testing)

Testing of website performance when multiple users login to it (Concurrency testing)

Testing the behavior of your site when the additional workload is given continuously (Endurance testing)

Page load speed testing

Useful tools for the different kinds of the perfomance testing: Apache JMeter, HP LoadRunner, Silk Performer from Micro Focus, WebLOAD, and Gatling.

Want to know more about the best web testing tools for the evaluation your site perfomance? Go to this link

Security testing

Security testing is performed to verify the information system protects data and maintains functionality as intended.

You can simulate the malicious source attack to evaluate the security level of your site (Penetration testing).

Another kind of security testing, Vulnerability testing, allows evaluating the total quantum of involved risks.

Some verifications for the security testing:

Ensure the unauthorized access to secure pages is not possible

Verify sessions are automatically killed after prolonged user inactivity

Test SSL security functions

All attempts at breaking, reporting errors etc. should be logged and stored in a separate file for further analysis.

Check the captcha work using automatic scripts

Ensure restricted files are not downloadable without appropriate access

Ensure there is no login ability while entering wrong password or username

You can use tools like Retina CS Community, OWASP Zed Attack Proxy, Veracode, Google Nogotofail, and SQL Map for the security testing of your site.

Follow this link to know more about the Security testing – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

Change related testing

Change related testing has two main purposes:

Ensuring all detected bugs have indeed been successfully fixed ( Re-testing or Confirmation testing ). In a few words, you should run the test cases that originally detected the bugs again and this time they pass without any problems.

). In a few words, you should run the test cases that originally detected the bugs again and this time they pass without any problems. Ensuring new defects have not appeared after the changes (Regression testing). Beside the detected bug test cases, it also contains test cases checking all functionalities of your site.

Selenium, HP Quick Test Professional, TestComplete, TestDrive, SoapUI tools are often used for Change related testing.

Here you can get more info about Change related testing – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/software-testing-types/

Mobile-friendly testing

As you have read before some of the website verifications were concerned to the mobile version of your site. Nowadays, the number of people, who use only mobile devices for Internet access tends to the stable increasing. That is why it is quite important to ensure if website site is mobile-friendly.

Here are some tips to test your website on mobile:

Verify the compatibility with smartphones and tablets

Ensure the site navigation is as simple as possible

Optimize the loading time of your site

Ensure buttons are large enough for people with big finger

Optimize all images size

Don’t use Flash and pop-ups

Use bullet points and short sentences

Ensure your phone number is one click away from being dialed

Verify the website can access your location through GPS

Useful tools for mobile-friendly testing: BrowserStack, Perfecto Mobile Continuous Quality Lab, Windows Phone Emulator, Android Studio emulator, Google’s Page Speed Online etc.

Here you can read how to test your site on mobile – https://geteasyqa.com/qa/test-website-mobile/

Beta testing

Beta testing – the final prerelease stage of testing. As a rule, it is done by end-users and out stuff people.

Beta testing replaces your site in the hands of real users outside of your team to discover any weak points from the user’s perspective that you would not want to have in your final, released version of the application.

Tools like HockeyApp, Ubertesters, and TestFlight are the worldwide used platforms for beta testing.

Now, when we have considered the main phases of the website test process, let’s try to find the bug und report it with one of the real web testing tools, EasyQA Chrome Extension.

How to test your website with EasyQA Chrome Extension

EasyQA Chrome Extension allows you to create a bug report from your website or web application not wasting time on sending the information can help you to start processing and fixing the bug soon.

It is really simple to use EasyQA Chrome Extension for working with bugs.

The only things you need to do are:

Generate the token for you Project

Install EasyQA Chrome Extension to your browser

Log in (only if you wish).

The main features of the EasyQA Chrome Extension:

Ability to report the bug directly from your website or web app

Bug reporting both for logged in users and users without login

Making screenshots

Video recording of the detected bugs

Preparing and sending bug reports in the description form

Following this link https://geteasyqa.com/sdk/chrome-extension/, you will find the complete tutorial about how to test your website with the EasyQA Chrome Extension.

Hope, reading this article you’ve to find some answers to the question “how to test a website”. You can read more about topics concerned to QA here https://geteasyqa.com/blog/. Maybe you still have some question. Please, leave them in the comments below. Our team will be appreciated to answer them. Also, here you can share your opinion among your colleagues and everybody who are interested in QA.