Nowadays, it’s no longer enough to carry on with business as usual. With company costs increasing and the UK on the brink of a recession, businesses have to be innovative to stay ahead.
As well as developing new and exciting products and services, businesses must develop their online presence. One way of doing this is by designing and building a brand-new site.
But it’s not as simple as it sounds. Although having a new website can elevate your business, there are some ways you can get it very wrong. In fact, one of the most common new website blunders is simply not testing your site.
To find out why it’s so important to test your new website, read on.
Why is it important to test your website?
In an increasingly competitive market, website users want websites to be informative, user-friendly, and accessible.
Website testing is an umbrella term that covers the process by which websites are tested for unwanted defects and issues. Taking into consideration functionality, usability, accessibility, and performance, website testing helps you understand how real users will use your site. Once you have that knowledge, you can go away and tweak your site to help each user along their journey.
What are the benefits of website testing?
If you’re still not sure whether to test your website, here are just some of the reasons why you should consider website testing.
- It increases revenue
Did you know that website crashes or issues can cost your business significant amounts of money? While your business crashing might not have the same implications as a blue-chip website being down, you can still lose out on valuable revenue.
Website errors are colloquially known as ‘conversion killers’, meaning that if your website has errors, doesn’t function as it should or it’s slow to run, people will give up trying. This can add up if your website is consistently down.
In a day and age where every sale is valuable, it’s important to test your site so you can maximize revenue.
- It boosts your brand
You might have a great business model, a wonderful team, and loads of loyal clients. But if you don’t have a solid online presence, it can seriously hamper your brand. Security breaches or poor user experience can be ‘brand ruiners’ – not to mention they can be costly to repair.
- It helps your launch run smoothly
Rather than calling on your web developers in a panic, website testing gives your web development the tools to proactively fix any issues – before launch day.
Rather than trying to put out unexpected fires, your developers can use the time to provide an enhanced and up-to-date digital experience.
- It saves money
Yes, really!
Testing your new website before it’s rolled out is hugely beneficial to your bank balance and saves money in the long run. Rather than spending money fixing issues once your site is live, by testing your website, you can vastly reduce your tech costs.
If that wasn’t enough, if your website works well, your customer service team are likely to have to deal with fewer customer issue. That means you might even be able to reduce your customer service resources.
- It’s secure
Did you know that 80% of UK businesses experienced a cyberattack in the past year? So, it’s never been more important to stay safe online.
By testing your website, you can identify cybersecurity hazards early on. Once you’ve identified the issues, your web team will be able to better protect your website from cyber threats.
If that isn’t enough to convince you to test your website before launch day, we don’t know what is!