Over the years, the business industry has witnessed a huge shift in the operational paradigm, adding to all the wealth and sustainability that all the global brands are enjoying. Thanks to the introduction of the internet and advanced business platforms like websites, software, and applications that have made it easier to take the products and services to the customers.

Initially, it all started with the websites, and then it changed for the positive with web apps allowing more progressive lead generation. However, the only thing that diminishes the chances of conversions is the poor focus on web app testing solutions.

Just in case you are new to the digital concept of business, web testing is about checking your website for bugs or defects before it reaches the end-users. More importantly, the web testing process focuses on yielding functionality, compatibility, security, usability, and maximum performance from the web solution.

Also, it is vital that you should collaborate with the right web app testing services provider to aid on security requirements of the application in order to deliver an equally pleasing experience to all the users, irrespective of the fact that the end-user is handicapped or just a regular person accessing your services.

In this blog, we will highlight the eight most important web app testing techniques that you must necessarily consider when taking your hands on a new web app testing project.

Let’s begin!

Start With Functionality Testing

Functionality testing is the primary yet most significant part of the web app testing services. It needs a tester to evaluate an extensive list of parameters varying from APIs, basic functionalities, client & server testing, database testing, security testing, and server testing. However, the best part of working on functionality tests is that they can be exercised through manual techniques as well as automation.

• At the most basics, the functionality testing begins with link testing to avoid any broken links entering the web app. Either it is some outbound links or some internal anchors, or MailTo links, every link is assured to work well.
• At the secondary level, functionality testing needs testers to work on test forms. These include scripting checks, check default values being populated, the test form data validation (email checks), and overall readability of the forms.
• Once done with links and forms, testers can proceed with testing the cookies to remember all the user sessions for a convenient launch while assuring the cookies are cleared on their expiry or cache issues. Also, testers should ensure that users are asked for the credential if cookies are deleted to avoid any security issues.
• In the fourth stage, testers should test HTML and CSS for any syntax errors, color schema issues, and all the compliance requirements (mainly ECMA, IETF, ISO, OASIS, W3C, & WS-I).
• At the end stage of functionality testing, testers can focus on the workflow of the application for end-to-end user convenience. Besides, testers can check for all the negative scenarios where unexpected issues or errors may occur during the execution of tasks on the web apps.

Popular Functionality Testing Tools: Selenium, QTP

Usability Testing – The Second Stage

When it comes to any web app testing project, usability testing plays a significant role in deciding the fate of the product. Carried out by a focus group similar to the potential users in real-world situations, usability testing is all about testing the navigation and content.

• At the primary level, usability testing needs testers to work on the navigation of the web app. This usually involves testing all the buttons, links, and menus for visibility, consistency, and access.
• The next step involves testing the content on the web app for any kind of grammatical issues or concerns with the visuals. Besides, testers even focus on checking the validity of ‘alt’ text on the web app.

Popular Usability Testing Tools: Maze, Usability Hub.

Interface Testing

Interface testing is done with the purpose of transforming the overall user experience and therefore needs testers to work on the web and database server.

• At the application level, it needs testers to work on test requests to ensure they are sent correctly to the database for the correct display of output. Testers even ensure that any errors caught must be immediately rectified at the administrator level and not be passed to the end-user.
• For the web server, testers ensure that all the application requests shared to the server should not possess any denial errors.
• Lastly, any queries related to the database server should be checked for giving desired outcomes. Overall, the process works at testing the response time between all the layers to ensure an appropriate response is received by the end-user.

Popular Interface Testing Tools: Ranorex, Rest-Assured

Database Testing

Since the database is a critical part of a web application, it is essential that the application under test must meet all the database testing benchmarks.

• The first step needs testers to look for any errors that they encounter while executing queries.
• The second step needs testers to maintain the data integrity for all the operations that need creating, deleting, or updating the database.
• The third step needs testers to work on the response time of the queries and fine-tune anything necessary.
• Lastly, database testing ensures that any test data retrieved from the server should reflect all the particulars in a defined manner.

Popular Database Testing Tools: Selenium, QTP

Compatibility Testing

Compatibility testing is another important factor that testers need to consider on their way to creating an outperforming web solution. It helps testers to ensure that only the correct information is displayed to the user, irrespective of the device in use.

• Browser Compatibility Test refers to testing the same website for different browsers or a web application for different operating systems and devices. The process helps to ensure that JavaScript, AJAX, and Authentication should work well on different browsers.
• The compatibility testing even helps testers to check on all the button and text fields to work fine for varying OS, irrespective of the device combination or use of the browser.

Popular Compatibility Testing Tools: Lambda Test, BrowserStack

Performance Testing

Performance testing refers to testing a website for varying loads and user conditions. Some of few important steps that testers can take to work on performance include:

• It begins with testing the response of the website or application for different connection speeds.
• Once done, the load testing is exercised to ensure that the application offers a consistent output under varying loads.
• Load testing is followed by stress-testing, where a breakpoint is checked.
• The next step involves crash testing the application for peak load and recovery.
• Lastly, the testers aim to reduce the load time through optimization practices like enabling cache control and gzip compression.

Popular Performance Testing Tools: JMeter, LoadRunner

Security Testing

Security testing is an essential part of testing an application or website that needs to contain sensitive user data related to personal information and financial details. The testers need to ensure that:

• Any unauthorized attempt to access secure pages should be restricted.
• Any restricted information should not be made accessible without proper access details.
• Prolonged user activity must be checked for authenticity and should be killed if it seems malicious.
• Implementation of SSL certification must be done with effective redirection.

Popular Security Testing Tools: ZAP, Netsparker

Crowd Testing

Last but not least, testers can lean on crowd testing activities, gathering a large number of the tech-informed crowd to ensure any new concept or project requirements must be fulfilled while cutting any unnoticed defects.

Popular Crowd Testing Platforms: Uber Testers, Testlio

The Crux

Even if you are an experienced website testing professional, it is natural to come across various obstacles for every new project for the unique requirements associated with it. Above all, the extensive deadline pressure could make it much difficult to foster the QA initiatives properly.

And when everything was needed yesterday, you can take advantage of the right approach, technique, and tools to help you plan your operations. Moreover, having a complete picture of what is required from the project helps you create a more accurate work chart and have the best estimates on testing the web application for optimal end-user experience and market response.