How important is testing in web development?

Social Media Manchester

When designing and developing a new website, or even redesigning your existing website, there are a number of important steps to consider. One of the most important, but often overlooked stages of development should always be testing. Testing your design across a range of devices, and with a number of potential customers, can be a great way to find issues and problems with your design, before you launch. So what are the advantages of this process, and how important is testing in web development? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design professionals. We work with a variety of companies across Manchester, and the North West, including  those in Blackburn and Chorley, to provide high quality web design solutions. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about the importance of web design testing.

So, how important is testing in web development?

Testing in web design is crucial for a number of reasons, including:

  • Branding and identity
  • Sales, sign ups and bookings
  • Search engine optimization

Web design testing and company branding

Websites that are not fully tested before launching, can be full of errors that have gone unnoticed by your design team. Generally, these errors include:

  • Layout and display problems in responsive design- users that access your website from a mobile device may not be able to see or use important information or interactive content because of problems with the sizing and layout for smaller device screens.
  • Broken links and poor functionality- if you made a last minute change to one of the webpages or documents, but forgot to update the connecting link or button, your users could become frustrated with your website, and simply leave.
  • Typography issues- for headings and header content, typography that grabs attention and looks effective is very important. But without thorough testing, for a full range of devices, your website users could encounter text that is difficult to read, or not sized or spaced appropriately.

All of these errors can have negative impact on how potential customers or clients perceive your brand, and your company. A negative first impression can last a long time, and it can be difficult for your company to recover from this, all because of a lack of web design testing.

Web design testing and sales, sign ups and bookings

A website that has not been tested can have some significant errors, some of which are outlined above. But these errors can also have a knock on effect on sales, sign ups and bookings. In the most problematic cases, users might not be able to complete the online form, or even click through to the checkout, because of functionality issues. More simple, unnoticed errors like poor call to action placement, product description errors and images that do not load, can also have a big impact, even though it is not something that stands out straight away. Any of these errors can lead to a lack of sales and sign ups, either because your users are not persuaded by your website because of design errors, or because users are experiencing technical, functional issues and simply cannot buy or sign up.

For more information or advice, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.