What Is Website Smoke Testing & When to Do It

Developers may overlook some of the most important aspects of a website during testing because of their simplicity. One doesn’t always expect basic website functions to fail in production because they are small in scope and may not seem complex from an engineering perspective. Because of this, one of the best practices in software development is to break down software into smaller components and verify that the most important functions work before deeper testing begins. These checks are part of a process called smoke testing.

Smoke testing is a way to test software to determine whether it is stable enough for further testing. It confirms whether the QA team can proceed with functional, performance, or load testing, or whether additional development work is needed first. Smoke testing is typically done in a QA or staging environment to verify the stability of a given application. Smoke testing can also be called “build verification” or “confidence testing.”

The integration of smoke testing into your software development process is essential because it acts as an early checkpoint between development stages. A smoke test, compared to a load test, is relatively small in scope and can be implemented at different stages of the development process. It’s typically done before a website or application moves into deeper QA or production readiness testing.

You can benefit from smoke testing by making it an integral part of your software development process. By smoke testing each critical function of your website as it is produced, you reduce the chance of discovering major issues later. Sequentially checking the software for errors reduces the risk of later discovering problems with important functions such as user login, e-commerce checkout, account creation, forms, or other critical processes your website needs to serve users.

What Is Smoke Testing?

Smoke testing serves to tell you whether the most important parts of a piece of software work or not. You can’t move confidently into the next stage of development or testing until the core functions before it are working. Smoke testing is generally run on important website functions, such as creating a user profile, logging in, submitting a form, or completing a checkout process. Because other steps often depend on these functions, it’s essential to smoke test them before moving forward with more detailed testing.

Smoke testing is also known as “confidence testing” because it gives teams confidence that a website’s key functions are stable enough for additional testing. Smoke testing can also be thought of as the test conducted before other forms of testing, such as load and performance testing. If a piece of software fails a smoke test, it usually does not make sense to test it further until the basic issue is fixed.

When to Perform a Smoke Test

You should perform a smoke test after each important addition to the main software build. If, for instance, the goal is to create an e-commerce website, then you should design a smoke test for each of the following processes:

• Create a user profile
• Log in and log out
• Select an item
• Add an item to the cart
• Check out

You can expand this list depending on the complexity of your website and the key interactions users will take across the site.

Smoke testing generally happens before the QA team begins deeper functional testing on the website or web application. If the QA team finds errors during a smoke test, the issue is sent back to developers, and the testing cycle pauses until the problem is resolved. Because functional testing, load testing, and other formal testing efforts take time and resources, it’s smart to smoke test the system before it moves on to more detailed testing.

A smoke test determines whether the software is stable. With smoke testing, you can also check whether the software meets the basic requirements that were initially set for its construction. In other words, does the website deliver the core functionality expected? This builds initial confidence in the software, which can then be developed further through more rigorous testing as you move toward production.

What Happens if You Don’t Smoke Test

Because each stage of the software development life cycle depends on the step before it, it can become costly to encounter problems in the later stages of software development. Release requirements are important, and any issue that appears late in the process can create delays, rework, and added pressure on developers and QA teams. Simply put, if the website you’ve developed doesn’t do what it’s intended to do, and you only discover this when it’s time to move into production, it can cause costly delays.

Smoke tests allow developers and QA teams to detect issues early so they don’t have to deal with them in a hurry when a website is near completion and deadlines are closing in. Nobody enjoys a missed deadline, and smoke testing can help you avoid that.

Who Does Smoke Testing

Most often, smoke tests are conducted in a development, QA, or staging environment where the functionality of any addition to the build is tested before deeper testing begins. Smoke testing doesn’t always require a full user interface to run correctly. Some smoke tests can be automated at the API or backend level, while others validate key browser workflows such as login, checkout, or form submission.

Typically, QA engineers, developers, and analysts conduct this type of test to help prepare their website or application for production. Smoke testing is an essential part of serious web development because it helps ensure a given website is ready for deeper testing and, eventually, real-world users.

Why Perform a Smoke Test?

Smoke testing helps you determine whether software functions according to its basic requirements early in the development process. By catching faults early, teams can avoid wasting time on deeper testing when the build is not stable enough to support it. Smoke testing gives your software the initial validation it needs before moving on to more detailed functional, performance, or load testing.

• Smoke testing allows you to identify what stops the software from functioning early in the process.
• This lowers the burden on the QA team because major problems can be identified before deeper testing begins.
• The process simplifies the detection of critical faults in the code.

A few examples of early detection with smoke tests include:

• User is not able to create a profile
• User is not able to sign out
• User is not able to add items to the cart
• User is not able to submit a form or complete checkout

The Two Types of Smoke Tests

Manual Testing

Because smoke tests focus on specific tasks, such as logging in or creating a profile, teams may manually test these workflows before moving forward. This constitutes manual smoke testing. While manual testing is common, most organizations have their own standards for what must be checked before a build can move forward. Manual testing can be useful for quick validation, but it may take more time when the same checks need to be repeated frequently.

Test Automation

To save time, many organizations automate smoke tests so the same critical checks can run after each build or deployment. Automated smoke tests are especially useful in CI/CD pipelines because they can quickly confirm whether key functions still work after code changes. This helps teams catch broken login flows, API errors, checkout problems, or other major issues before they move further into testing or production.

Smoke Testing With LoadView Benefits Your Business

LoadView offers performance testing capabilities that help teams validate how websites, web applications, and critical user flows perform under load. Smoke testing helps confirm that core functionality works before deeper testing begins, while LoadView helps teams understand how those same workflows behave under real user traffic. Using LoadView’s reports and easy-to-use tools, you can implement a comprehensive load testing strategy and improve your websites and web applications to deliver a better experience for your users. Book a demo today or sign up for a free LoadView trial here.