Imagine hosting a grand opening of your business, but when it is time to open the doors – they are stuck and you can’t get them open. Not a good way to make a great first impression. The same thing can happen when you launch your website. Before you hit “Go Live” or “Publish,” there is a critical step you can’t afford to miss – a stress test. Skipping this step can lead to a frustrating experience for your clients and customers, not to mention lost opportunities for sales or connections.
At Central Florida Media Group, we understand the importance of a perfect launch. Our website development and services are here to help you. So, let’s dive into the best practices to make sure your website launch is ready for success.
Server Capacity
Remember when Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour crashed the behemoth Ticketmaster? People were stuck in queues for hours, getting kicked out of the line, and causing frustration and anger. This may have been a problem with Ticket Master’s server capacity. It wasn’t prepared for the sheer number of people going to buy tickets.
Your website’s servers need to be able to handle expected traffic, especially during high-demand periods like sales and new product launches. You can use tools like Apache, JMeter, or LoadRunner to simulate heavy traffic conditions and monitor your server’s performance. This also helps you identify bottlenecks and performance issues.
Similar to server capacity, load testing will look at how your website performs under various levels of user demand. There are programs that can simulate users accessing your website at the same time, which allows you to measure response times and make sure your site can handle high traffic.
Do All Your Interactive Elements Work?
Test these elements under various scenarios and user inputs to confirm they handle errors gracefully and provide feedback to users. Regularly verify that all interactive components are working as intended, as suggested by UserTesting.com, to avoid frustrating user experiences.
You’ve created contact forms, buttons, and other interactive elements for your website. These are all crucial for user engagement and lead generation, but you must make sure they all work! Part of stress testing is making sure all of these elements are functioning correctly. Each form on your website should be tested to ensure it submits and communicates data accurately. Make sure all your buttons lead to the correct action. Part of our work at CFMG is to make sure all of the components on your website are in working order. The goal is to mirror various user interactions and input scenarios to ensure there are no errors.
Different Devices – Different Website?
People view websites across different devices. Your website should look the same and offer the same experience for users across desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. Before you launch, test your site of different screen sizes and browsers. You can even use tools like Google Mobile-Friendly Test and BrowserStack to help you identify and fix any issues across devices. Making sure your site is optimized for different platforms will provide a consistent experience for your clients and customers, no matter how they access your site.
Stay Secure
When you’re dealing with other people’s data, security is important. Cyberattacks and data breaches can destroy consumer trust and can have financial repercussions. Make sure to conduct vulnerability assessments to identify and fix any security issues before you launch. However, cyber security isn’t something you should do only once. After your launch, scheduling regular security testing will keep your website and your customer’s information safe.
Back It Up!
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can have an unexpected failure or a website crash. Make sure to have a reliable backup and recovery plan in place before you launch. It is important to make sure all critical data is saved and can be restored correctly and quickly.
Final Thoughts
Stress testing is a crucial step in preparing your website for launch. By putting your website through simulated high traffic spikes and checking to make sure your site is accessible and fully operable creates an inviting user experience in the long run. Following the steps above will help you avoid roadblocks and give you a smooth launch.
Don’t have a website yet? Don’t worry, we can help! Our websites come with solid SEO, lead generation opportunities and user-friendly designs. Reach out today and we are happy to answer any questions you may have about stress testing or website development.
