5 Proven Ways to Test Your Website Using Multiple Devices

As a small business owner, your website is the digital storefront that showcases your products or services. It’s the first impression prospective customers get of your business, making it essential to ensure that it works flawlessly across all devices.

One of the most important necessities for a modern website is that it must be easy to navigate on any device. A visitor on a mobile device should have the same positive experience as a visitor using a laptop or desktop computer.

Access to multiple devices can be beneficial when testing and managing your website. As a good rule of thumb, having a desktop computer, laptop, and mobile device in your office is helpful.

In this blog post, I share five ways you can use multiple devices to test the performance, functionality, and content of your website. 

Test Website Speed

In our attention-focused economy, it’s crucial to pay attention to the speed of your website. If your website loads in more than a second or two, you’ll lose the attention of prospective customers. Regularly testing your website speed each month ensures it’s loading quickly, providing a seamless experience for visitors.

Tools for Testing Speed:

• Google PageSpeed Insights: This tool analyses your site’s performance on both mobile and desktop devices and provides suggestions to improve speed.
• GTmetrix: Offers detailed insights and suggestions for optimising your website’s speed across various devices.
• Pingdom: Monitors your website’s performance and provides real-time speed insights.

Manual Testing on Desktop and Mobile:

Testing manually involves using your actual devices to see how quickly your website loads. Navigate through different pages and note any delays. This hands-on approach helps identify real-world issues that automated tools might miss.

Addressing Customer Support Issues

Occasionally, a customer may have an issue with your website, such as finding a bug or having trouble accessing some content. Having multiple devices available will help you replicate your customer’s issues and solve their problems effectively.

Tools and Methods for Troubleshooting:

• BrowserStack: Allows you to test your website on a wide range of devices and browsers virtually.
• CrossBrowserTesting: Provides access to numerous real devices and browsers for comprehensive testing.
• Remote Debugging: Tools like Chrome DevTools let you debug issues remotely on different devices.

Replicating customer issues on different devices helps you understand and resolve their problems more efficiently, ensuring a smoother user experience. 

Verify Website Updates

When you make changes or updates to your website’s content, it’s vital to test them visually using multiple devices. Modern websites are designed to adapt to suit the size of the screen on which they are viewed; however, there are still some nuances with specific devices.

Best Practices for Testing Updates:

• Responsive Design Testing: Ensure that your updates look good and function properly on different screen sizes.
• A/B Testing: Compare different versions of your website to see which performs better.
• Real Device Testing: Physically check updates on your desktop, laptop, and mobile devices to catch any inconsistencies.

Testing updates on various devices guarantees that your website maintains its functionality and visual appeal, regardless of how it’s accessed. 

Ensure Form Functionality

Your website likely contains several forms. You could have a contact form, a newsletter opt-in form, a lead magnet opt-in form, and a quote request form. Each of these forms should be tested regularly to ensure that they work correctly and that your team receives the information.

Types of Forms to Test:

• Contact Forms: Ensure they send messages properly and provide confirmations.
• Opt-In Forms: Verify that they correctly add users to your email list.
• Quote Request Forms: Check that all data is transmitted accurately to your team.

Step-by-Step Testing Process:

1. Submit the Form: Try submitting the form on both desktop and mobile devices.
2. Check Confirmation: Ensure that the confirmation message appears and that the data is sent to the correct place.
3. Verify Data: Double-check that the information has been received accurately.

Regular form testing ensures that you don’t miss out on any important leads or communications from your website visitors. 

Assess New Functionality

Adding new functionality to your website can be a significant change for your business. One example could be adding an e-commerce store to your existing website. If you’re working with a web designer or agency on a new functionality project, they’ll be responsible for testing across multiple devices. However, it’s still a good idea to conduct your own testing to feel confident that your visitors will have a great experience.

Self-Testing New Functionalities:

• User Experience (UX) Testing: Ensure that the new features are intuitive and easy to use on all devices.
• Performance Testing: Check that the new functionality doesn’t slow down your site.
• Compatibility Testing: Verify that new features work correctly across different browsers and devices.

Conducting thorough testing on new functionalities helps you maintain a high-quality user experience, encouraging visitors to engage more with your website.

For more tips, read our article on adding new website functionalities.

Conclusion

Testing your website using multiple devices is crucial for maintaining a high-quality user experience. By ensuring that your site performs well, functions correctly, and looks great on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, you can provide a seamless experience for all your visitors. Regular testing and addressing any issues promptly will help you retain customers and keep your website running smoothly. 

FAQs

What are the best tools for testing website speed?

Some of the best tools for testing website speed are Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and Pingdom. These tools offer comprehensive analysis and suggestions for improving site performance on various devices.

Why is it important to test website updates on multiple devices?

Testing website updates on multiple devices ensures that the changes look good and function properly across all screen sizes. It helps catch any device-specific issues that could negatively impact user experience.

How can I replicate customer issues on my website?

You can replicate customer issues by using tools like BrowserStack and CrossBrowserTesting, which allow you to test your site on a wide range of devices and browsers. This helps you understand and resolve problems more effectively.

What types of forms should be tested on my website?

You should test all forms on your website, including contact forms, newsletter opt-in forms, lead magnet opt-in forms, and quote request forms. Regular testing ensures they function correctly and that you receive all submitted information.

How often should I test my website’s performance and functionality?

You should test your website’s performance and functionality regularly, ideally once a month. This helps ensure that your site remains fast, functional, and user-friendly across all devices.

What is the best way to test new functionality added to my website?

The best way to test new functionality is to conduct user experience testing, performance testing, and compatibility testing across different browsers and devices. This ensures that the new features work correctly and enhance the overall user experience.