Website bugs can negatively affect the performance, security and usability of your website while also affecting your reputation, and this is particularly important for business website owners.
Website bugs are any errors, flaws or faults which are found on the site and you might be surprised at just how common these are. Web design is a complex, time-consuming and stressful task, so bugs often occur, particularly in more complicated websites. So, how can you rid your site of bugs for a smooth user experience? Read on for a few effective strategies.
Check Website On Different Browsers & Devices
Bugs often occur because the website is designed for a certain browser or device, but in today’s day and age, users are browsing on many different web browsers and devices. This is why you need to check the website on the main browsers and different devices to identify any potential bugs.
Link Validation
Perhaps the most common website bug is broken links, which can be easy when you have many links throughout the website. You should check every link and make sure that it goes to the correct place before launching to ensure smooth navigation.
Have An Outsider Use The Website
One of the best ways to find bugs in your website is to get someone else to browse the website before launching. When you are designing the site yourself, it is sometimes hard to get a clear overview, which is why fresh eyes are so important. This is particularly helpful for proofreading content and identifying spelling and grammatical errors.
Online Form Testing
If your website contains online forms for visitors to fill out, then this is an area where you will often find bugs. Be sure to check all the forms by entering data into each field and hitting the submit button; you should then check to make sure that you receive this data.
Website Testing
You can also use a specialist service from a website testing company who can carry out a thorough examination of the website for all kinds of different bugs. They can check for any issues relating to functionality, security, payment, accessibility and usability so that you can easily make any corrections prior to launching.
PEN Testing
Another type of testing that is worth carrying out is penetration testing (PEN testing). Also known as ethical hacking, this will involve a company testing the website for security vulnerabilities which could be exploited by a cybercriminal. This is particularly important for business websites that might contain important business and customer data. Cybercrime is a massive problem, so you need to make sure that there are no bugs that could lead to a data breach on your site.
After putting in a considerable amount of work designing a website, you do not suddenly want to find that you are getting messages from visitors saying that they are having issues with the site. Website bugs can be damaging in many different ways for a website owner, but the above advice should help you to identify and remove any bugs from your website.