Website testing is the most important procedure for verifying that your website works properly and for ensuring a seamless user experience.
The guide below explores website testing in detail, covering the main types of tests, proven best practices and the tools that help you execute them.
What is website testing?
Website testing is the process of checking how a website works from the user’s point of view. In addition to checking functions, buttons, forms, links and flows, it also covers security, payment services, performance and accessible use so that you can be sure everything works as expected.
Testing can be done either automatically (with tools and software) or manually (by hand, simulating real user interactions).
In an automated test, for example, you might use a tool that checks your contact forms and verifies that they work correctly.
Why is website testing important?
People can focus for shorter and shorter periods of time, especially when browsing. A single small error or uncertainty in how the site behaves is often enough for them to leave. That’s why it’s critically important for every company to ensure their website works flawlessly – and the only way to verify this is through thorough testing.
Here are some interesting statistics that underline the importance of website testing:
- Every third visitor leaves a website if they have a poor user experience.
- 58% of users will not recommend a business whose website doesn’t work properly on mobile.
- 87% of online customers say they are less likely to return to a website if they had a negative experience previously.
Main approaches to website testing
There are two main approaches to testing websites:
1. Manual testing
In manual testing, testers go through the website themselves, trying out its functions, user interfaces and user experience without using any automation tools.
Advantages:
- Flexible method for uncovering UI/UX problems
- Doesn’t require programming skills or special software
- Some bugs can only be found through manual testing
Disadvantages:
- Time-consuming
- Does not scale well
- Human error is always a factor
2. Automated testing
With automated testing, you use predefined scripts and tools to run tests, which enables fast and accurate checks.
Advantages:
- Fast and reliable
- Ideal for large projects and frequent updates
- Requires less human intervention, so it’s cheaper in the long run
Disadvantages:
- Initial setup costs are higher than for manual testing
- Test scripts need to be maintained
- Less effective at uncovering UI/UX issues than manual testing
Tip: to get the best results, combine manual and automated testing.
Types of website testing
There are many types of website tests based on what they aim to check. Here are the most commonly used ones:
- Functional testing – checking whether all features and services on the website work correctly.
- Usability testing – how simple and intuitive it is to use the website.
- Compatibility testing – whether the site works well across different devices, operating systems and browsers.
- Cross-browser testing – whether the site displays and functions properly in all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).
- Responsive testing – checking whether the layout and design adapt correctly to different screen sizes and devices, providing a consistent user experience on desktops, tablets and smartphones.
- Accessibility testing – checking whether the site can be used by people with disabilities and complies with WCAG standards.
- Performance testing – measuring page load speed, response time and overall performance.
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT) – in UAT, end users test the website to verify whether it meets their needs and expectations.
- Regression testing – regression testing involves retesting the website after changes or updates have been made to ensure new features or fixes do not introduce new issues or break existing functionality.
- Language / localization testing – if the website is intended for multiple languages or regions, localization testing checks whether content, formatting and features work correctly in each locale.
How to carry out website testing
1. Ensuring cross-browser compatibility
Each browser has its own rendering engine. What’s more, rendering engines can differ between versions of the same browser. There’s a high chance that a website will appear slightly differently in different browsers. Simply put, a website’s appearance can be inconsistent across browsers and browser versions.
To avoid such inconsistencies in the viewing experience, it’s worth performing thorough cross-browser testing on the website. This helps optimize how the site is displayed across all major browsers and fix browser-specific rendering issues.
2. Responsive testing
Responsiveness allows websites to dynamically adapt to the screen size on which they are viewed. Almost 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices, and in some sectors this figure can exceed 80%.
Web developers must ensure that websites are mobile-friendly, so that visitors enjoy an optimal viewing experience at different screen resolutions.
A mobile-friendly design is essential, as Google has long been using a mobile-first indexing approach.
Even if a developer calls a site responsive, there may still be specific resolutions or devices where visual issues appear. The goal of responsive testing is to uncover these issues.
The ideal way to run this test is to use an online responsive design testing tool that simulates how the site looks on different device types (mobiles, tablets, desktops).
3. Functional testing
This is the most basic yet critical phase of website quality assurance, where specialists must thoroughly test all user interface elements, taking into account every possible scenario.
Validating user interface elements includes tests such as:
- Data entry forms, registration and login flows
- Input fields
- CTAs
- Dropdown menus
- Header navigation and search field
- Formatting and spacing
Manually testing the elements above can work for a smaller website. However, comprehensive UI testing on larger sites is a large and time-consuming task. That’s why specialists often rely on test automation tools such as Selenium to run automated tests. These tools help validate UI functionality much faster.
4. Checking for broken links
Broken links that go nowhere or lead to an error page provide an extremely frustrating experience for users, especially when they’re looking for important information. On top of this, broken links have a negative impact on the site’s SEO as well. Naturally, testers must pay special attention to ensuring that every link points to the correct page or document.
Searching for broken links can be well automated with the right tools. However, fixing those links usually still requires human intervention.
Beyond checking for broken links, an even harder task is validating the correctness of working links – that is, checking whether the links on the website actually point to the right pages or documents.
5. Security testing
In online business, websites often handle personal data, especially in the case of e-commerce sites. That’s why, as part of your website testing checklist, security testing is of outstanding importance.
These days, having an SSL certificate is a given. In addition, you must check every area that handles sensitive data (personal data, credit card details, etc.).
6. Testing online payment systems
Thanks to digital progress, it’s now easy to accept online payments on websites. To ensure smooth transactions, e-commerce websites must thoroughly test their integrations with payment providers so that customers don’t encounter obstacles during checkout.
The ideal approach is to run test payments in a sandbox environment and verify all payment methods.
7. Cookie testing
Cookies are text files stored in the user’s browser. They contain user-specific information such as login data, cart contents, visited pages, IP address, etc. When a user logs in to a website, the site places a cookie for the session. This cookie can later be used for various purposes, such as personalizing content or serving personalized ads.
Cookie testing should be done based on several user behaviour scenarios and then evaluating how the site behaves with cookies enabled or disabled.
Website testing should be performed in popular browsers, under real user conditions and on real devices.
Popular website testing tools
To complement manual testing, it is crucial to start automating testing procedures as early as possible. Without software tools that support automation, testing is not only challenging, but for larger websites practically impossible.
1. BrowserStack
BrowserStack is an industry-leading testing infrastructure that offers powerful manual and automated testing capabilities for analysing websites across browsers and devices.
2. Selenium
Selenium is an automation framework that supports multiple programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, C#, Python and Ruby. It supports all major browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari) as well as several operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux-based systems). Selenium is a solid choice for functional and regression testing.
3. Cypress
Testing with Cypress is reliable and fast because there is no separate browser driver involved. Cypress talks directly to the browser, which makes tests faster and more stable. Cypress is a good choice for end-to-end testing.
4. Playwright
Playwright is an open-source tool that supports multiple browsers, including Chromium, Firefox, Edge, Chrome and Safari (via WebKit builds).
5. Puppeteer
Puppeteer is a Node.js-based automation framework that lets you script browser actions in JavaScript. It is open-source and maintained by Google. Puppeteer communicates directly with Chrome-based browsers such as Chrome and Chromium, and its advanced features also support Firefox (Nightly build).
Benefits of website testing
Thorough, comprehensive website testing offers the following benefits:
- Improved functionality: Confirms that all features work as intended across different devices, screen resolutions and browsers.
- Better user experience: By identifying and fixing usability issues, the user experience improves and visitors become more satisfied.
- Better performance: Optimising load times improves response times, reduces churn and lowers the bounce rate.
- Stronger security: Identifying vulnerabilities helps protect user data and prevent potential attacks.
- Cross-browser compatibility: Ensures that the website runs smoothly and provides a consistent user experience in different browsers.
- Lower costs: Detecting issues early reduces development risk and saves development time.
- Higher conversion rates: When the website operates without errors, conversions will naturally improve.
Best practices for website testing
Combine manual and automated testing methods to achieve the best results. While manual testing helps detect user interface and user experience (UI/UX) issues, automation efficiently supports regression and performance testing, thereby reducing the number of errors.
Website testing is not a one-off activity. It should not only be done before launch, but also at regular intervals to keep the site error-free. Any changes to the website, content updates, external links going dead or changes in browsers can all introduce potential issues that usually can only be caught through testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does basic website testing take?
Anything from a few hours to a few days, depending on the number of features and device/browser combinations.
Is manual testing enough?
For smaller sites, often yes – but after updates it’s wise to run automated regression tests.
How often should I test?
Always before going live, then roughly quarterly with a short regression test – plus whenever you make major changes.
Can I measure the impact of testing?
Yes: fewer bug reports, lower bounce rate, better conversion rates and a faster website.
Summary
A good website is not only attractive and fast, but also consistently error-free. Website testing improves user experience, increases trust and boosts conversions.
The checklist above helps you review the critical areas; and if you’d like, the Usernet team can also create a tailored testing plan for your site.
