Everything you need to know about web testing

What is web testing?

Web application testing, or just web testing, ensures that any website or web application functions consistently across browsers. Web development is steadily progressing, as businesses around the world create websites for fostering their position and even for running their entire business online. This includes native web applications, which can be opened with just a URL, but can be slow and face compatibility issues; mobile apps, which can be nimble but require an installation; and progressive web applications (PWAs), which fit right in between and bring the best of both worlds.

PWAs are websites written in HTML, JavaScript and CSS, just like a native website but are equipped with the agility and compatibility of a mobile application. They are packed with features, which require integrations with services and other applications for proper functioning. Testing of the web applications, be it native or progressive, along with all its integrations, from the perspective of the end-user is essential to avert potential bugs from the production phase.

The importance of web testing

The progression of Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 and beyond has enabled websites to be more functional and come bundled with an array of state-of-the-art features. Thorough testing of these features, coupled with their integration into the web application as a whole, forms the basis of web testing. Further testing of the web application deals with the evaluation of all the components of the app as a unified system.

Improperly running or skipping web testing altogether can lead to undesirable results—broken links/pages, blank pages, communication mismatch between servers and the application, delays in page loading, or errors in displaying web elements, to list just a few. Zeroing in on a particular error and fixing it during the production phase can cost a lot of time and resources for the organization. This is why it's critical that a QA team conduct exhaustive testing for the website during the development phase.

Types of web application testing

Before delving deeper into web testing and its types, it's imperative to understand the different types of websites to be tested. Following are the types of web application testing:

• Static website testing - A static website is built with simple HTML code and does not have interactive elements. A static website displays the same content for all visitors, irrespective of factors such as cookie personalization, region, or time. Any changes to the website can only be manually coded by the developers. Generally, such websites lack functionalities, and the main focus is on the user interface. Testing just the UI for static websites is relatively easy compared to testing other types of websites.

• Dynamic website testing - Unlike a static website, the content on a dynamic website is interactive and changes based on various factors related to the user. These websites have a functional UI on top of already existing functionalities and can get updated at regular intervals. The content on the website is prone to change, either in between tests or during a test, which can lead to inconsistent test results.

• Ecommerce website testing - An ecommerce website can be dynamic and requires multiple pages, functionalities, and integrations to work in sync to deliver a good user experience. A potential customer subconsciously evaluates the service of an ecommerce business by how swiftly the website performs. A delay of just a few seconds can lead to the customer not making their purchase altogether. Multiple aspects of the website—dynamic UI, database, and various servers—as a whole need to be tested rigorously to evaluate reliability and performance.

• Mobile website testing - Mobile websites, in simple terms, are versions of websites compatible with mobile devices. There are over 5 billion smartphones on the planet, not including handhelds like tablets, and they're getting smarter by the day. More and more businesses rely on mobile websites for handling transactions and for rendering their services. With multiple mobile device OEMs on the market, and a list of releases spanning almost two decades, testing for uniformity across mobile devices is paramount to the success of any business.

Testing techniques and their benefits

While the different types of websites and their testing is discussed above in brief, all these websites need to be tested thoroughly, multiple times, and under different environments for them to truly be user-ready.

These testing techniques include:

• Functional testing - PWAs come bundled with multiple functionalities for delivering advanced features. This is the most essential testing of a website, as it validates individual functionalities. After testing individually, all the functionalities and features as a whole are tested, including links, cookies, forms, etc. Functional testing takes care of important software testing techniques like unit, smoke, sanity, and regression testing, among others. These tests ensure that all functionalities and features work as intended.
• Usability testing - A collection of functionalities on a website doesn't automatically equate to a good user experience. Checking how the functionalities and features perform in real-world scenarios helps in ironing out possible wrinkles that interfere with a good user experience. Usability testing deals with the understanding and usage of the website from a user's point of view and helps with tweaking it accordingly.
• Interface testing - Interface testing corresponds to the communication between the application, web server, and database. The communication between the application and the web server helps in executing various requests from the front end or UI. Any errors on the website affect the user experience, so identifying and addressing these issues during testing can prevent problems.
• Compatibility testing - Websites need to function efficiently across different combinations of operating systems (OSs), and testing needs to account for every combination to ensure uniformity. Compatibility testing can help avoid unforeseen errors when a website is accessed on the plethora of devices and platforms available in the real world.
• Performance testing - Websites need to perform efficiently, and not just under simulated testing by a single tester or the QA team. In reality, the website will be accessed by hundreds or thousands of users at a time during peak usage. Load testing and stress testing are performed to simulate huge traffic to the website, and its performance is evaluated to the breaking point. Results of this testing help in the planning of codebase and system upgrades, and identifying any of their shortcomings.
• Database testing - Websites generally rely on databases to store and retrieve data as a part of the website's functionality. The communication between the database and the application is vital to delivering a personalized experience for users. Database testing helps in ascertaining a database's security, stability, and performance.
• Security testing - Modern dynamic websites gather lots of data related to the user, and track user behavior in the form of cookies. This garners the attention of hackers, who try to gain access to the website and its associated data for various nefarious reasons. Security testing usually includes a checklist of tests to be performed to keep the website safe.

The role of automation in web testing

Automation accelerates any testing project, saving time and money not just for the QA teams, but for the entire organization. But manually executing modules of test cases multiple times can be taunting and exhausting for a tester of any caliber—and repeated executions can get trickier when it involves dynamic websites, which can change content regularly.

Web testing adds more complexity to the testing of dynamic websites by introducing the need to check their compatibility for cross-browser testing and OS combinations. Automation can help cruise through this daunting battery of tests.

Automated testing can be performed at any time, even outside office hours, by scheduling their execution. Furthermore, automation delivers more accurate testing results, since there is minimal chance of mistakes creeping in from human error. Apart from faster and more reliable testing, automated testing can also provide QA teams with precise and consistent reports for test-case executions.

Choosing the right testing automation tool for web testing

As discussed above, QA teams can greatly benefit from automated web testing. Automation, coupled with quickly dealing with bugs and errors, can save time and resources for the entire organization.The ideal test automation tool should make the task of creating test cases easier, and be capable of handling various testing techniques.

Zoho QEngine gives you the ability to create test cases by accurately tracking user actions using a no-code web test recorder. A low-code builder helps in creating test cases by simply dragging and dropping predefined syntax for user actions. Self-healing AI functionality also aids in replacing broken identifiers/locators for web elements.

Organizing test cases in modules and easily retrieving them for automation is just as important as scheduling automation at a given time, based on the project's requirements. The ability to automate the execution of multiple modules of test cases in parallel makes Zoho QEngine the perfect test automation tool.