You now have a website or an application for your business. The ideas you’ve brainstormed during meetings have been executed and look great. They have also responded well to your beta testers. However, can they withstand unexpected demands of high user traffic or limited internet access?
Earlier this year, Google stated that it takes an average of 22 seconds to fully load a mobile page. Yet 53 per cent of visitors close the tab when it takes more than three seconds to load. For businesses like yours, those extra nineteen seconds can cost a lot in the long run.
The best software undergoes thorough performance testing. Whether manual or automated, performance testing determines the performance of website in terms of speed, effectiveness and responsiveness under a particular workload. By putting a simulated demand on websites and applications, it analyses breaking points and evaluates expected behaviour.
Read on to find out how performance testing identifies weaknesses in your website and other pieces of software.
Load Testing
Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines a programme’s performance under real-life load conditions. This helps determine how the application will behave when multiple users try to access it simultaneously. It usually identifies the maximum operating capacity of the software and its ability to run during peak user times.
It first looks at the application under normal conditions — how quickly it loads when a single user visits the site. It then identifies bottlenecks in the system under heavy traffic scenarios before they become problems in a production environment. Load testing gives you confidence in the system’s reliability and performance.
Stress Testing
This type of testing checks the limits of your website’s performance under extremely heavy load conditions. For instance, an application will likely perform differently with the heavy traffic of 20,000 users than it does during average everyday use. Stress testing simulates a huge number of users to test the system’s error handling and robustness before performance slows down or breaks completely. This is done to ensure that the website or application will not crash under heavy-use situations.
Stress testing is also valuable because it displays the appropriate error message when the application is under stress. System failure because of abnormal traffic spikes can result in enormous losses in revenue, which is why it’s better to be prepared.
Benefits to your business
The first impression of any potential customer is important. Performance testing helps maintain the website or application properly before users come across any defects in the system. It also helps increase your confidence in delivering a stable service to your customers.
These tests help your business identify problems in the software so that your team can analyse and resolve the issues before its release. Effective performance testing gives an opportunity to improve the technology, which also means fewer chances of fighting the system’s pre-existing issues after its release. This provides customers with an efficient and satisfactory experience when navigating through your website or application.
In a digital age where the majority of your customers are online, they are less likely to use websites and applications that don’t meet their expectations. Testing your software before releasing it will keep your potential customers from faster competitors. With performance testing, you prepare for real-life scenarios without sacrificing customer retention and your company’s reputation.