Websites can slow and even crash when many visitors interact with them all at once. This not only affects the response times users get when they put in requests but can prove devastating for your business if not kept under check. A fast website generates better leads and turns leads into customers. A top reason users jump to competitors is because your business’ online home, your website, lacks a fundamental quality: speed.

This post will give you a fundamental understanding of why load testing provides critical steps to ensure a well-functioning, performative website for all of your users. You’ll learn some simple, precautionary steps that can ensure success. You will also gain perspective into how at LoadView we can help you generate quality results for your website within minutes.

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What Is Load Testing?

Initially, software developers used the waterfall method for load testing. The waterfall method conserved resources by only testing a website once it was considered a finished product. This was not ideal, as it resulted in a slower development process than is required for the demands of today’s world. Websites are no longer “finished” as much as they are perpetual works in progress.

So developers turned toward the Agile method of development and testing that utilize automated script making to ensure a website is tested in every step of the way. As a result, the website development process has become more resource-intensive, and load testing platforms have adapted to support ongoing, regular, and extensive load testing at every phase of the development process.

As software development has evolved and changed, companies have turned from Waterfall to Agile development method, which allows development to be carried out iteratively. With this turn, testing has also evolved toward an Agile approach, which allows development teams to respond quickly to issues as they arise and ultimately provide users of websites and web applications with a better experience.

Let’s take a deeper look at the Agile methodology as it pertains to load testing your websites and applications.
 

Agile Method of Load Testing

Routinely load testing your websites will allow you and your developer team to improve them for your users. Agile development with a load testing feedback loop will help you create the best websites possible. Per the University of Minnesota, the following are 12 principles that guide the Agile testing method:

  1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. Customer satisfaction and quality deliverables are the focus.
  2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage. Don’t fight change, instead learn to take advantage of it.
  3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. Continually provide results throughout a project, not just at its culmination.
  4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. Collaboration is key.
  5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. Bring talented and hardworking members to the team and get out of their way.
  6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. Eliminate as many opportunities for miscommunication as possible.
  7. Working software is the primary measure of progress. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to work.
  8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Slow and steady wins the race.
  9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. Don’t forget to pay attention to the small stuff.
  10. Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential. Trim the fat.
  11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. Related to Principle 5, you’ll get the best work from your team if you let them figure out their own roles.
  12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. Elicit and provide feedback, absorb the feedback, and adjust where needed.

The key takeaway here is that it’s essential to adopt a load testing mentality and to integrate it into every phase of your development process. Load testing should not be left as an afterthought, to occur once at or just before launching a new website or application or after a major update. The proper approach to regular load testing is called Continuous Integration.

So, what is Continuous Integration?
 

Continuous Integration in Load Testing

Through Continuous Integration, you can achieve the best experience for your users and get the most out of your websites and load testing budget.

The Continuous Integration process calls for regular sharing of load testing results so developers can iterate and test as they progress in the development of a website.

Continuous Integration (CI) is a development process through which code is integrated and shared in a repository multiple times in a given day. This methodology serves to make code available to a collaborative development team as soon as it’s completed/fixed. CI is usually paired with automated testing tools to help ensure code is bug-free and behaves as anticipated. A typical continuous integration process includes the following steps:

  • Review source code from the main branch.
  • Run automated unit tests.
  • Run the build sequence and decide whether to accept or reject the build.
  • Deploy to Test/QA environment.
  • Deploy to production/live environment.

Developers typically build a repeatable sequence for load tests that allows them to come clean into the QA process. By the time they reach the QA process, the website has already been scanned for bugs several times. This reduces last-minute surprises at launch under deadline. Load testing should play an essential part of any development process, as it allows for rapid, ongoing feedback and unbiased data to inform development teams about their work and guide future development. 

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LoadView Makes Automated Load Testing Easy

LoadView’s ability to scale your tests allows for a higher number of users in your simulations. You and your developers can then improve your websites so they can serve more users, faster. LoadView features real user, real browser, and cloud-based testing, which combined provide the most accurate results available on the market today. Accurate results means a clearer picture of what your websites need, which saves you and your developers time, so you can focus on creating a better experience for your users.

With LoadView, complex tests are easy. With our point and click EveryStep Recorder, you can generate test scripts and start to test within minutes, not hours or days. And our interface is designed to be useful for both technical and non-technical users. Beyond that, if and when you need support, we’re available at every stage of the load testing process.
 

Conclusion: Use LoadView Load Testing Services

Our team at LoadView is your expert partner to achieve your load testing goals, Agile development, and Continuous Integration based on regular, automated load testing with real users and browsers. Sign up for a free LoadView trial and start testing in minutes.