Testing and Maintaining a Web
Side
Presented by: Tina Walker
Student number: #13
Acknowledgement: This information is primarily gathered from:
Web Design, 5th ed.
Jennifer Campbell
CENGAGE Publishing, 2015
Self-Testing the Site
• Self-Testing, the first phase of prepublication,
is when the website’s structure, page layout,
color scheme, and other elements are tested.
Importance of Self-Testing
• Self-Testing is important because it helps to
ensure that all of the website’s pages look and
function as designed and all aspects of the
design plan have been satisfied.
Test Images & Multimedia
• All of the images and multimedia images
should be checked to make sure they work as
intended and link to a valid folder or external
webpage.
Test Navigation
• The navigation, search tools and website structure
should be tested. This will help to ensure that
website visitors can easily find all of the website’s
pages.
Test All Links
• All of the internal and external links should be
checked to make sure they function properly
and are not broken.
Check All Text
• All of the website text should be checked to
make it uses a readable font style, adequate
font size and does not contain any
typographical errors. In addition to this, the
link text should be verified that it identifies its
target and the correct page opens when
clicked.
Check for WAI Compliance
• The WAI, short for Web Accessibility Initiative, is an
effort to improve the accessibility of the Web for
people with disabilities. It is important to have WAI
compliance because it helps to ensure that disabled
individuals can use their non-standard devices to
access the website. In order to ensure that WAI
guidelines are met, all nontext elements should
include a text equivalent.
Test Site on Different Browsers
• Self-testing steps (1-5) should be completed should by using different
browsers, devices, and screen sizes. This will help to make sure the
webpage is consistently legible and well laid out regardless of the device
used to view it. Some of the major browsers are: Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft
Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple Safari.
Target Audience Testing
• This involves the recruitment of a small group of people that
represent your target audience and other interested parties.
These people will test and evaluate the website to provide
insight about how potential visitors will respond to the
website and its pages.
How to Organize a Test Group
• Review the website’s developed audience profile which
should include age range, gender, educational
background, geographic location, careers, income
levels, interests, and activities. The target audience’s
needs wants, and expectations for content should be
identified.
• Identify individuals who match the target audience’s
profile and ask them to participate in the testing of the
website.
• Develop a questionnaire for the testers in which they
can express their opinions about their website
experience.
Target Audience Testing: Observations
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Which pages appear to appeal to them?
Which pages appear to disinterest them?
How much time do they spend on various pages?
Which links do they visit or ignore?
How easily do they navigate the website?
Do they at any time demonstrate any confusion or
frustration?
Target Audience Testing: Questions to
Ask
• Did the website’s content satisfy your needs, wants, and expectations for
content at the website?
• Was the website’s content interesting and valuable?
• Was it easy or difficult to navigate the website?
• What improvements, if any, would you suggest for the website?
• Would you return to the website and recommend it to others?
Website Promotion
• Website promotion can occur through the use of online and
traditional promotional techniques. Free social media
platforms should be used to establish an online community of
subscribers which can be directed to the website.
• Manual search tool submission, search tool optimization
techniques, free link exchange, awards, word of mouth will
also help the website to be noticed.
• E-commerce sites can use paid online promotional tools such
as search engine paid or sponsored placement, an affiliate
program, website advertising, and opt-in email advertising.
Maintainance of the Site
Add/promote timely content
The website should contain timely content and this can be accomplished by
changing the photographs, substituting text, publicizing upcoming events,
offering timely tips, and frequently updating the blogs. It is also ideal to use
social media, opt-in email, and other methods to promote the new content to
your audience.
Check for broken links
The website should be checked and all of the broken links should be replaced
with working links.
Add new links
The functional navigational system should be maintained so all of the website
visitors are able to find the content. The navigational system should include
links to primary pages in the website and should have a search feature.
Maintenance of the Site (Cont.)
Get user feedback
The website should have features that allow it to receive feedback from the
users. The visitor’s suggestions and criticisms will help to improve the
website. Also, the website should use analytics to track webpage views,
sharing of your content using social media, and trending content.
Evaluate and implement new technologies
The website should evaluate and implement new technologies by adapting its
content to new platforms and devices. This will help to further the website’s
objective, increase its accessibility and usability, meet the audience’s
expectation, and fit into the website budget.
Evaluate Website Performance
The Website should be regularly evaluated to make
sure its performance has accomplished its defined
goals and purpose. Website performance can be
evaluated by ongoing testing and visitor feedback,
benchmarking, web server log transaction analysis, and
performance measurement by third-party marketing
analysis.