According to Market&Marketers, the value of the QA market is growing with an average annual CAGR of 19.2%. The $20.7 billion value for 2021 is expected to increase by $29.2 billion through 2026. It is due to the rapid pace of IT solutions development and their implementation in almost all business sectors and even in everyday life of users. Testing digital products ensure that the target consumer warmly receives the minimum acceptable level of programs’ quality and sites. And this means that the functionality, UI, and business logic should work with minimum or no bugs.
Invespcro’s analysis showed that after the most effective user testing, the second most popular is the A/B method, used by 71% of companies. Unfortunately, a minimum of resources are allocated for website performance testing, and in vain because this is the main factor affecting the usability. Today we will talk about this type of testing and specifically about website performance testing tools, which leading specialists in QA services use.
Table of Contents
Performance Testing: Importance and Challenges
Most of today’s work tools and user resources are developed in the format of websites. It reduces the cost of creating and maintaining an IT product and reduces the number of problems that arise in native or mobile apps. But there are also some difficulties, for example, long query processing, poor indexing, or complex architecture (heavy framework), which negatively affect the productivity of such solutions.
Challenges
The main challenges that come up in web performance testing are:
- Selecting web performance testing tools.
- Incorrect test planning.
- Resource constraint.
- Misconception about performance testing.
- Insufficient analysis of test results.
- Lack of prepared environment.
These problems arise due to the unwillingness of entrepreneurs to invest additional funds in the services of QA specialists. If you do not devote enough time and resources to testing an IT product, it is almost 100% likely that there will be problems with the site’s performance in the future. And this automatically worsens the attitude of users toward the business and reduces the final income of the enterprise.
Importance
We periodically face annoying problems that prompt us to close a particular site. Among the most common is performance. Slow page loading, errors that occur, e.g., 4xx or 5xx, and especially 509, UI rendering speed, etc.; all this encourages us to close the resource and go to a competitor’s site. It prevents all kinds of “artifacts” for which automated performance testing is designed.
Why this type of testing is so important:
- There are site problem areas.
- Slowing factors on the site are identified.
- The resource load limit is checked.
- Stress-resistance of the platform is studied.
- Fixed UI/UX issues.
- Performance errors are eliminated.
Although not the most popular, this type of testing helps developers optimize their IT products, such as websites. Improving performance positively affects user experience, customer loyalty, and, accordingly, the company’s income.
Top-10 Tools for Website Performance Testing
The most important part of preparing for direct website testing is choosing the performance testing tools. There are many different types of verification software, but they often perform only certain types of error detection and cannot be called universal. Representatives of our top are the most viable tools and utilities that QA experts use to test the performance of websites.
Sematext
It is a comprehensive solution for monitoring, logging, and analyzing the site’s performance as a whole or its pages. The tool service allows you to effectively monitor the load, flows, and simulate user actions, such as transitions or activities. In addition to the convenience of operations, this solution provides the most detailed reporting with logs and statistics.
Pros:
- Intuitive interface.
- Clear control logic.
- Support for various scenarios.
- Variety of monitoring screens.
- Convenient reporting.
This tool is recommended for use in the complex testing of websites. It can speed up the routine processes of identifying performance issues.
Pingdom Speed Test
Intuitive interface, flexible script editor, and detailed performance log are the strengths of this tool. The developers put the idea of maximum website productivity into their creation and provided testers with an effective utility for quality testing of Internet resources.
Pros:
- Lots of features.
- Convenient productivity charts.
- Effective monitoring.
- Structured reporting.
- Low threshold for learning the utility.
One of the best tools for working on website productivity. Recognized by many QA service industry experts and actively used in bug-finding work.
Google PageSpeed Insights
A free advanced tool for traffic analysis and website speed testing. It does not require the product installation for its operation and configuration, and the data obtained can be used to analyze problem areas of a web resource. It makes it one of the best solutions for testing web pages and sites.
Pros:
- Easy access to the tool.
- No skill requirements.
- Complete report on performance parameters.
- Ping accounting, load speed analysis, caching.
- A wide range of scopes for using the utility.
This tool is recommended for both novice and experienced testers. Its trump cards are easy to learn and a detailed performance report with full resource monitoring.
Uptrends
A comprehensive utility for testing the performance and speed of a web resource. This tool has extensive API support for integrated or standalone testing, unlike competitors. Detailed analytics and full monitoring of all characteristics qualitatively increase the efficiency of working with this solution.
Pros:
- Easy interface and its customization.
- Large selection of features.
- Full activity monitoring.
- Flexible editor of check parameters.
- Simulation of real user actions.
A good solution for troubleshooting website performance issues. Leading experts in QA services recognize its effectiveness.
WebPageTest
If you need an all-inclusive tool, this solution perfectly fits this definition. Its flexibility allows you to fine-tune the parameters down to the version of the browser or OS for testing a particular website. Detailed monitoring of activity, traffic, and latency makes this tool a must-have for complex testing of Internet resources or even individual pages.
Pros:
- Wide range of utility settings.
- Advanced functionality.
- Intuitive interface.
- Support for all modern communications.
- Emulation of different OS and browsers.
Clear and easy-to-learn app with a large selection of test scenarios. The utility’s range of functions allows you to test all website performance parameters fully.
GTmetrix
It is a comprehensive tool for testing the speed, stability, and correct operation of the whole site or its components. The program’s functionality has a wide range of settings for test parameters and allows you to monitor in detail the most critical indicators of the web resource.
Pros:
- OS and action emulation.
- Output of stream logs and monitors.
- Detailed reporting.
- Script processing speed.
- Full coverage of productivity parameters.
With this utility, you can optimize the site’s performance testing or its components. The effectiveness has been proven by the experience of QA experts who have checked almost 1 billion different web resources with this solution.
Varvy Pagespeed Optimization
Need a program to monitor website activities fully and emulate actions? This is your choice. Convenient graphical display of traffic, protocols, and the most accurate information about the speed of all elements up to the rendering of styles and images.
Pros:
- Utility speed.
- Complete information about the site’s performance.
- Graphic display of statistics.
- Flexible functionality and emulation settings.
- Support for modern and old systems and browsers.
A high-speed and user-friendly interface and powerful functionality make this solution one of the favorites among QA specialists.
dotcom-monitor
A multiplatform tool with a powerful functional set of utilities allows you to test the performance of websites more effectively. Depending on the tasks, the utility can launch a complex or standalone test of an individual element in just a couple of clicks on the interface icons.
Pros:
- Global system and browser support.
- Emulation of individual processes or actions.
- Deep monitoring integration with logs.
- Detailed reporting.
- Convenient interface for setting up scenarios.
One of the best tools for solving most of the tasks of a modern website QA expert. Depending on the specific situation, it is recommended to be used with other utilities or standalone.
Site 24×7
The most convenient tool with deep integration between the utility and supported cloud systems. It expands the range of the solution apps from ordinary websites to full-fledged apps or even SaaS products. Thanks to such an assortment of functions, this utility is great for testing all web services, sites, and other Internet resources.
Pros:
- Comprehensive set of functions for solving various problems.
- Detailed monitor with a full display of statistics.
- Convenient reporting system.
- Clear and fast interface.
- Expanded range of apps.
One of the best utilities for performing various website performance and productivity testing tasks. The tool’s functionality covers most of the needs of QA experts, which allows you to use it offline to solve problems with site speed by constantly monitoring activity and subsequent optimization.
Yellow Lab Tools
Lightweight and handy utility for monitoring the speed and stress resistance of websites. With its help, you can emulate real devices and conditions to get the site’s statistics as accurately as possible.
Pros:
- Works without prior installation.
- Monitors traffic and activity.
- Produces a detailed report.
- Has flexible settings.
- Facilitates testing routine.
Recommended by QA experts to work on optimizing the speed of a website or web app.
Summarizing
If you need a high-quality Internet resource, we recommend that you do not ignore the process of finding bugs and errors in all aspects of an IT product. ZappleTech provides comprehensive QA services that will help your IT solution get to market faster and accelerate its payback, up to higher income. For advice and details of cooperation, please contact our manager.
