How To Conduct a Website Beta Test
By: Gina Hoover © 2007
Do you think that just because your
website is finished you are ready for customers? Wait
a minute, not so fast!!! Before you go live with your
new website you should do some beta testing. For the
most part, beta testing exists to work out any bugs
in the website or programming before the site is made
live and ready for customers. If you don't beta test
you run the risk of loosing potential customers who
will not come back to your website later on when it
really is "open for business". It's the
perfect opportunity to confirm that everything is
working as it should. Here are some items that you
should keep in mind as you begin your website's initial
beta test:
-
Make sure that all of the functions
work, such as being able to place an order, etc.
If it's an ecommerce website do a few test orders
of different products. Check out your thank you
pages, which give you the perfect opportunity to
cross-sell other products/services that you offer;
- Click on all of the links to be sure that they are
working properly;
-
Submit data from any website forms
if you have any. Be sure to try different combinations
of the variables to see if the form works;
-
- Make sure you have the proper meta
tags on all of your pages.
- Check again for spelling errors and typos
When doing the beta testing for your
website, ask yourself:
-
Does everything work as it should?
-
Is everything easy to understand
and follow?
-
Do the locations of things make
sense?
-
What is the overall impression of
the website?
It can be helpful to find others who
can help you with beta testing because of their objective
opinions. You might want to think about offering some
type of incentive to get people to beta test for you.
For example, you might offer them a free download
of something that your website offers. That might
make it easier to find people who'll help you.
Good luck with your websites beta testing!
About the Author:
Gina Hoover can be reached for questions
about this article at http://www.hooverwebdesign.com.
Gina's company, Hoover Web Design specializes in professional
web site design, web templates, flash photo galleries
and flash music players for beginning Webmasters.
_________________________________
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