Five Signs It’s Time to Run Performance Testing on Your Website
No matter how hard we try, issues in software apps always arise. But website performance testing can minimize their frequency!
The best time to start testing of any kind is before any code is ever given out; however, this isn’t always possible. Perhaps your website is already up and running or your software application is already in the hands of your customers. Either way, performance issues will arise and when that time comes, performance testing is necessary.
So, how do you know when it’s time to run a performance test? Well, let's first start with what performance testing is and what it means for your website.
The speed of your website matters. Fast loading websites not only generate higher conversion rates, but higher revenue as well. Just check out this report we found a while back that found that issues with performance could impact overall corporate revenues by up to nine percent.
Review the performance metrics of your functional tests to help you avoid such costly mistakes. These metrics help you understand quality all around – reliability, stability, responsiveness, and scalability – when it comes to how your application behaves.
The fact is if you aren’t equipped for handling increases in users or any other performance bottlenecks, your business will suffer. Research shows that if users aren’t able to interact with your website within three seconds, they’ll abandon the page.
Don’t let your business fall into this trap. Learn to recognize the signs for when your website is underperforming.
1) Bounce rate is high – Bounce rates tell you how long a user visited a page on your site before leaving it. Oftentimes, high bounce rates occur because of design failure or perhaps even bot traffic.
2) Content download speed is low – Content is king in today’s market and users demand quality when it comes to content. If the time it takes between loading the first byte to the last byte is high, don’t be surprised when your users abandon your website.
3) Traffic is high, but sales are low – If the amount of users visiting your website is optimal, but there are no sales to show for it then it’s probably because the transaction time is too slow. This could lead users to believe the system is broken when in actuality it’s just crawling at a snail’s pace.
4) Site isn’t responsive – It’s assumed and expected that your website function properly across any device and browser. Users aren’t just on their laptops and desktops anymore. With 66 percent of Americans owning a smartphone, you better hope your website can be accessed accordingly via a mobile platform.
5) Unusual or suspicious activity – Don’t let compromised security be a reason your site experiences poor performance. Look out for a random uptick in traffic or spam of any kind. These could be indicators that your website has been hacked.
These are just some of the signs to look out for, so be vigilant in your performance tests. It’s simply not enough to produce quick products and services in order to stay ahead of the competition. Performance needs to be at an all-time high in today’s market. Anything less and you can expect your users to bounce. By watching out for the telltale signs of trouble and running performance tests when these issues appear, your business will experience higher customer retention, stay on brand, save on costs and increase revenue.
