Load testing means examining whether your website can handle the amount of traffic it is attracting and is a must for an online business. Yet as not enough onus is placed on its importance, it is something that can get regularly overlooked.
When a business’ website is attracting a large amount of traffic and running without a glitch, it is also easy to fall into the mentality that it will continue to do so. Then, all of a sudden, through viral marketing, a major advertising campaign or even a widespread press release, your website is flooded with visitors. This is fantastic! Or is it?
The consequences of an overwhelmed website
For many websites, when this sudden spike in traffic occurs, they find that their site simply cannot handle it. The website will slow down or even completely shut down.
This in turn can result in:
– A loss of reputation with users believing the business to be impractical and unprofessional.
– A loss in revenue with current or future advertisers veering away from a site that does not function optimally.
– A loss in revenue for customers buying your company’s products, who subsequently look elsewhere for their purchasing needs.
The facts
A Kissmetrics blog survey has found that a whopping 79% of shoppers who are dissatisfied with website performance are less likely to buy from the same site again. The survey also states that 44% of online shoppers will tell their friends about a bad online service, limiting the possibility of an expanded customer base.
This along with the fact that 40% of these shoppers abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to upload is enough to show that load testing your website is key to attracting and keeping impatient clientele, eager to spend.
The advantages
Efficient load testing can prepare you for the unanticipated flood of users to hit your site. This means you can know what your site is able handle and how it will respond in the event of such a deluge. Most importantly, it will enable you to put in place the mechanisms and procedures that will help ensure your site will continue to run proficiently.
The NCC Group provide various load testing services including Managed Services Load Testing and SaaS Load Testing.
