Web Testing in 2024: 7 Different Types & Automated Web Testing

Testing takes 15% to 25% of total project costs. It is estimated that the cost of software bugs found in the production stage is 5 times more than in the testing stage. Web testing allows for identifying bugs in the program before the build goes live and ensures high quality for the project. 

Although manual web testing is a possibility, it is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process (See Figure 1). Businesses can automate the testing and utilize their staff for more profitable activities by using test automation platforms. In this article, we outline 7 steps of web testing and best practices that executives should apply to maintain a better website for their companies.

Figure 1. The most time-consuming activities within a test cycle

What is web testing?

Web testing is a software testing method to ensure that the websites or the web applications function and have the quality that is required. Web testing covers a wide range of areas such as: 

• Functionality 
• Security 
• Performance. 

Web testing can be performed manually. However, 45% of businesses are expected to use automation tools to accomplish their web testing because they offer the following advantages:  

• Reducing time & cost of testing
• Increasing testing coverage
• Increasing testing speed
• Increasing testing accuracy
• Enhancing data insight 

For more on automation testing, read Automation Testing: Types, Frameworks, Tools & Best Practices.

Sponsored

Testifi is a test automation solution provider that, through their collaborative automated system test (CAST) tool, offers test automation for web testing. It can integrate with Jira and Xray. Many Fortune 500 global companies such as Amazon, BMW, and Vodafone use their services. 

The rest of the article will continue with 7 steps of web testing and our recommendations for executives to improve the web testing process.

1- Functionality testing 

Functionality testing ensures that the website functions as intended. Poor functionality can result in low user engagement and high bounce rate which can result in lost revenue. 42% of people leave a website due to poor functionalities.  Functionality testing involves:

Link testing/URL testing

Checking if different types of links such as outgoing, internal and anchored links direct the users to the correct place. Link testing also enables finding broken links that need to be replaced.

Input field testing/form testing

Input fields enable interaction between users and the website. Each field must be checked to make sure they take the correct type of input. Default values must be checked and error messages must be constructed to inform users if they have filled a form wrongly or left a section blank. 

Cookie testing

Cookies enable tracking of visitor’s actions to improve user experience such as login information and provide information on the visitor’s behavior on the website to the website operator. Cookie testing ensures that the necessary data are gathered, stored, and if necessary deleted correctly. 

HTML & CSS testing

This test ensures that the website is crawlable and if there are any syntax errors.

Business workflow test

An end-to-end workflow test by testing every page that the user goes through to complete a process. Error messages must be developed if the user steps outside the workflow process. 

Our recommendations:

• Make a well-planned test execution workflow 
• Identify which tests to run

• Automate testing for functions that you test repeatedly 
• Test periodically 

2- Usability testing

The user interface has a substantial impact on conversion rate, it is estimated that a well-designed UI can increase conversion rate by 200% to 400%. This test is done to ensure that the website is easy to use and instructions are clear for the users. Different buttons, boxes, and menus are checked for clarity, visibility, and consistency. The content also is checked for grammatical errors and picture visibility. 

Our recommendations:

• Determine what to measure and break it down into tasks
• Choose between moderated and unmoderated  test methods
• Set a target success rate for each task
• Analyze the results and take action

3- Interface testing

This test focuses on how the interface reacts to interruptions and its compatibility with servers, networks, and databases. The key areas of focus are:

• Application server
• Database server
• Web server

This test ensures that the mentioned servers are connected and when the connection can not be established the correct error message is shown to the user. 

Our recommendations:

• Conduct scenario analysis to check servers performance & behavior.
• Ensure there is high quality communication between servers.
• Ensure disruptions are handled properly by showing relevant error messages. 

4- Compatibility testing

Compatibility testing ensures that the website is displayed correctly on different:

• Browsers( Chrome, Edge)
• Operating systems( Windows, IOS)
• Devices ( mobile, tablet) 

Businesses should conduct compatibility tests because if their websites do not display properly on various operating systems or browsers, they risk losing visitors. For instance, 15% of computers use the IOS operating system. You wasted 15% of potential customers if your website does not function with IOS. 

Our recommendations: Browsers and operating systems consistently issue new versions, make sure the website is compatible with different versions, and if not alert the users that they need to install the new version.

5- Performance testing 

Performance testing allows the developers to understand the website’s behavior under different amounts of loads and make the necessary changes accordingly. Performance and accessibility testing is the biggest trend in testing that companies plan to invest in 2022 (See Figure 2).

Figure 2: Testing areas that companies are looking to invest in 2022

The following tests can be done to understand the performance of the website:

Load testing

Understanding the behavior of the website under peak and non-peak loads.

Stress testing

Pushing the system beyond its limits to crash in order to understand its behavior and recovery. 

Our recommendations:

• Determine testing environment
• Specify performance metrics
• Plan & design performance tests
• Configure test environment 
• Develop the test design
• Execute the test
• Analyze, report and repeat

6- Security testing

On average, a cyberattack occurs on the internet every 10 seconds. Successful cyberattacks have a cost in terms of money and reputation (See Figure 3). As a result, it is essential for companies to guarantee the security of their websites.

Security testing discovers vulnerabilities, threats, and risks in the website which will enable the developers to fix them. This test is important as loopholes and vulnerabilities can lead to the loss of data and revenue by malicious actors. Types of security tests are:

• Vulnerability scanning
• Security scanning
• Penetration testing
• Risk assessment
• Security auditing
• Ethical hacking
• Posture assessment

Figure 3: Long and Short term cost of successful cyberattacks

Our recommendations: Having adequate security measures is important for every type of business but it is crucial for banking and healthcare-related websites that store sensitive personal information. You should:

• Test early
• Test periodically
• Outsource it if your team does not have high experience with security testing
• Communicate clearly between security testers and developers to address vulnerabilities.
• Use white hat hackers

7- Database testing

The database is a crucial part of any web application. The database enables web applications to efficiently manage information and make it accessible to the user. Database testing is done in order to :

• Identifying errors during queries execution
• Checking queries response time
• Checking data integrity after modifying or adding new data
• Accurate visibility of the fetched data in the web application

Our recommendations

• Validate all data according to their mapping by the requirement specification documents.
• Validating and Creating test data by consulting with the developer team.
• Check if scheduled jobs are executed on time.
• Consistently back up the data.

Further Reading

• Automation Testing Tools: Code-based, Robotics & AI tools 

For more on AI and automation

If you are ready to deploy automated testing, feel free to check out our data-driven, transparent list of top vendors that can enable testing automation.

If you are interested in investing in AI solutions, check out our data-driven list of Data Science / ML / AI platforms.

And if you need help choosing the best tool for your business, reach out to us for guidance: