How do you test a website before it goes live

Whether you’re building a website yourself or having a website builder do it for you, you want it to look great and function perfectly. Before your new or redesigned website goes live, be sure to review and test the following.

Things to test before your website goes live

Website usability

Try performing some common actions that you want users to do. For example, try conducting a search for content, finding a product and putting in your shopping cart, or going through the checkout process.

Responsive display on page

How does your website look on mobile devices? A mobile-responsive website is essential for success, since most people look up businesses or conduct searches on their smartphones. You can use a free Google tool to test how your website renders on a variety of mobile devices and in a variety of different browsers.

Webpage content

Proofread every word on your website for errors in spelling, grammar and capitalization. Don’t forget about headings, subheads and product descriptions – those are all super important when thinking about search engine optimization. Make sure fonts are consistent throughout. Finally, information such as prices, phone numbers, hours of operation and your address needs to be accurate.

Working links

Check all hyperlinks on your website to make sure they work properly. If you have links to any external websites, make sure they open in a new tab—that keeps visitors from leaving your site.

Icons

Make sure that any social media or online review icons for sites like Yelp or Google My Business that are on your website link to the appropriate social media account.

Form submission

If your site has forms for users to fill out, such as a contact form or a form to download a white paper, make sure the forms submit the information to you properly. Also make sure that a confirmation page displays after submission.

Downloads

If users are supposed to download white papers, eBooks or other content, test that they download properly.

Email subscription

If you have a field for users to subscribe to marketing emails from your company, test it to make sure that 1) you get the email addresses and 2) the user gets a confirmation email in response.

Images

Check to see that all images and videos are optimized, load quickly and display properly. You’ll want to do this both on your desktop and from a mobile device. Make sure all of the images have been licensed for use and that any copyright or licensing information required is on the website.

Tags

Each image should have alt tags. Every page should have a unique title tag and meta description.

Website analytics

Whether you’re using Google Analytics or another analytics tool, get it set up correctly before launch so you can start tracking your website metrics right away.

Security certificate

If you have an ecommerce site or collect payments from users for any reason, check that your security certificate is displaying properly. Things like an SSL certificate or Sitelock and Codeguard can make a huge difference!