Testing your SellerDeck Website
Here is a list of some of the things that I check before even thinking of putting a new website live.
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Browser Testing
Seriously important to check your website design in all major browsers, for example Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9, Opera and Chrome. Personally I don’t design for IE6 any more, I hate it with a vengeance plus it is an ancient browser and designing for it is a nightmare, however I do try and make sure my designs don’t look completely awful in it. -
Page Speed
Have a fast website it not only important for your users but increasingly for your search engine optimisation as well. I use a multitude of tools to test my design such as Google Page Speed, Pingdom and Web Page Analyzer -
Usability
I like to get as many people as possible to check my new website design before going live as possible, mostly friends and family members get roped into this fabulous job. I find quite often that when you spend so much time building a website you can sometimes loose track of the overall objective, so by getting people who are not familiar with the design to try using the site and getting their feedback can be invaluable. -
Testing on multiple screen sizes
I always like to check my SellerDeck website design on multiple screen sizes, if you are lucky like me you’ll have multiple monitors but I also like to use testing services such as Test Size to test my SellerDeck website design in smaller and larger screen sizes. -
Test on mobile devices
Nowadays almost everybody uses a mobile/or tablet device to browse the web at some point, so it is essential that you ensure that your website displays correctly. I like to check my website designs on multiple devices to ensure all is well. -
Test your SellerDeck network settings
Before going live with your SellerDeck website you will need to ensure that your network settings are correct. A simple way to do this is to do the following in SellerDeck, click on Web > Network Settings > Test. If your network settings do not pass, then try using the SellerDeck network setting wizard or contact your hosting provider for assistance. -
Upload your site to your test area
One thing I completely adore about SellerDeck is the ability to upload your website to a completely separate area, meaning that it would not affect the running of your current site. To switch your site to test mode in SellerDeck simply click on Web > Switch to Test Mode, this will upload your site to www.yourdomain.co.uk/acatalog/test/ The majority of my time when building a SellerDeck website is spent on testing it, I want to make sure every little thing is perfect. Here are some of the things that I look for when testing on the SellerDeck test area - Check the site functionality, e.g. add to basket, any funky functionality you have added
- Check the checkout is displaying correct and functioning correctly
- Check the search results are displaying and working correctly
- Check your terms and conditions are correct and check the terms and conditions popup works and looks correct in the checkout
- Create a dummy customer account and check the account features work correctly
- Test your payment service providers work correctly
- Check all your links work as they should and those going to other website should open in a separate window.
- Make sure all email address and obfuscated (hidden from spammers)
- … basically go through the site with a fine tooth comb.
- Cookies Disclaimer
With the new EU regulations on cookies it is really important to include a disclaimer on your website if you are tracking/saving cookies. I would recommend reading up on the regulations. -
Check the spelling
How many times have you gone onto a website and seen loads of spelling mistakes, probably far to often. Make sure you check the spelling of your content before putting it live, there are multiple online tools to help you do this, or simply write your content in Word, spellcheck and then copy into SellerDeck. -
Check your search engine optimisation
OMG! this is so important, please make sure your site is optimised before going live, simple things like making sure your heading tags are included (and include your keywords), alt tags, title tags, meta tags can really help to give your new website a good start. Of course this does not mean your SEO is complete, SEO is an ongoing process and there are many things you can do to optimise your website for your key terms. -
Finally, do one last cursory check, and if you are 100% happy with it, put it live. Congrats!