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Hiring a QA to find bugs in your website or software

To ensure your website is built to last, you need a QA technician to pressure test it. Learn the website QA process and how to hire the right tech.
19 mar 2020 • Lectura de 7 minutos
Actualizado el 19 jun 2020 por Ayesha A.
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Before launching your website you need to put it through the right QA process

To help ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional, you need to hire a QA technician to test every aspect of it. Even if you are a seasoned web designer, it pays to have a second set of eyes thoroughly test your site to ensure that there are no blips, glitches or other bugs that will discourage visitors from using or returning to your site in the future.
In this post we will run you through a website QA process and show you what to look for when hiring a QA technician. 

What is quality assurance (QA) testing?

QA testing is the method of inspecting a website design for any flaws or errors. The goal is to identify any bugs that could break your website, either immediately or eventually. 
QA testing also will boost the usability of your website as well as strengthen your brand. Customers will gain a positive experience and feel comfortable and confident returning to your site for repeat businesses or usage. 
A QA technicians will test the following categories of your website:
Functional Elements
Static Elements

Functional elements

Payment gateway testing

Without a doubt, the payment gateway process is one of the most crucial components of testing a website. QA testers will inspect the payment process in completion, from a user point of view, taking the following into account:
Is the payment gateway functioning correctly? Of course this will be tested on the different methods of payments offered (i.e. credit card, online banking, PayPal and so forth).
Is the user required to create an account during the checkout process?  How hard is it to do so?
Are all the features working properly (i.e.: login, checkout, etc)
What are the timeout limits of your website?
Are the confirmation emails and/or SMS being sent and received properly?

Search functionality

As well, the QA team tests the search functionality throughout the website as this is an imperative of a business website. Most customers land on your site because they were searching for a specific product. The customer should be able to easily locate the most useful product by using the carefully calibrated search algorithm on your website.

Functionality of hyperlinks

Every hyperlink that is confined within the entirety of your website will be checked manually to make sure that it is linked properly. Hyperlinks that are embedded within any graphics, images, icons, logo, buttons will be tested as well as those in text and images. Any dead-end or abandoned pages that will negatively impact user experience as well as your SEO efforts.

Mobile responsiveness

A QA will test the responsiveness of your website on all of the popular mobile devices. It is vital for your website to be optimised for mobile platforms as this is now a major ranking metric in Google's algorithm.

Screen size functionality

Your website display will be evaluated on the most popular laptop and desktop screen sizes, including: 
1366×768
1920×1080
1280×800
1024×768

Browser compatibility

QA testers will determine if your website is compatible with the most popular web browsers, including Safari, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.
An incompatible web browser will display your website in a messy and disoriented manner which will be a gross misrepresentation of your laborious website creation efforts

Security testing

The security of your website is perhaps its most important feature. In today’s world, internet security is one of the top concerns that prevents users from engaging with new websites. The security testing aspect of QA involves resolving any existing or potential security issues and potential vulnerabilities that your users might encounter upon visiting your site. Security testing will act as an added barrier from unauthorized access by potential hackers and scammers while protecting all the data.

Performance testing

This aspect of QA testing involves web stress testing and web load testing. The latter tests the ability of your site to handle simultaneous connections, bulk loads and requests from multiple users. Web stress testing measures how your site will recover from crashes as well as its reaction to stress.

Usability testing

Usability testing will determine if your site is user-friendly. QA experts will test whether users are easily able to understand and navigate your site. Both the readability and the navigation of your site will be tested to ascertain whether your visitors are able to fully comprehend the website content and images for an overall pleasant experience. 

Interface testing

In this method, the QA team will ensure that the interfaces are compatible between the various servers to ensure that errors are handled correctly while strengthening overall interaction. This includes the database server, web server and application server interfaces.

General functionality 

In addition to the above tests, the QA team will also test all of the functions on your site. This may include any of the following:
Are you users able to make a reservation, booking, etc?
Are they able to easily subscribe to a service offered on your site?
Are they able to successfully and easily create a user account?
Does your site contain any intrusive pop-ups that could discourage users from engaging on your website?
Are the icons and buttons contained on your website sized properly?
Is the layout of your content optimized? Is it pleasing to the eye as well as presented in an organized and user-friendly manner?
Are any physical addresses, email addresses and phone numbers linked correctly?

Static elements

The static elements include all the aesthetic aspects of your. Your QA technical will look for the following:
Proper Grammar
Correct Spelling
GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design
Consistency of fonts and proper sizing
Testing of the status bar
Title bar message testing
Scroll bar presence and functionality
Functionality of advanced tabs
Is the font and font size able to be adjusted per different browsers?
Conformance to W3C standards WRT tags
Is there proper spacing throughout the website?
Does the color scheme affect the readability of the website? Is it consistent throughout the website?
Is it compatible with privacy options?
Is your website accessible for users with disabilities  (i.e.: vision, hearing impaired
 Are the images able to be displayed?
What is the load time for your website? 

What to look for in a QA specialist

Now that you have an idea of the website QA process, you're ready to hire a QA specialist.
Here are some of the key attribute to look out for when canvassing candidates:
it should give you an indication of what to expect from your QA specialist.  

Ability to prioritize

Good organizational skills and the ability to  prioritize tasks is one of the top qualities of a professional QA tester. They must be organized to make sure that each test is thoroughly and properly executed to produce accurate results. 

Knowledge of testing techniques

The tester must have sufficient knowledge of the various QA testing techniques. They should have prior experience at conducting said tests. Always check to see if they possess the proper knowledge before you trust them with your website.
The benefit of hiring a freelance QA tester is that you can see a portfolio of their completed work. You can also read through reviews from past employees which will give you a very clear indication of their QA expertise.

Good communication skills

While you may never meet your QA analyst in person, it's imperative that they possess the ability to be able to communicate effectively. Most likely, they will have to communicate with other members of their team to ensure that the project is handled in  an effective and timely manner. They should have excellent written and verbal commutation skills.  

Creativity

Your QA tester should be able to think outside the box. They should also have the ability to confidently offer you website fix suggestions

Programming skills

This may seem obvious, but many website designers fail to ensure that their QA tester is skilled at programming. They need to be skilled at coding in order to effectively stress test your website.

What does the hiring process involve?

You should ideally only partner with a QA tester that agrees to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This way you will be able to provide the testing team with confidential details without the fear that your information will in any way be disclosed to another party. 
Remember, you are trusting them with intricate and private data so you'll want to make every effort to ensure that this information is protected at all costs.
 Once your QA technician is given access to your website they'll be able to commence the QA process. If you have Wordpress website, you can give them access as a new user.
 If you want to be absolutely certain of the QA capabilities of your technician, you could request a proposal to be drafted prior to any formal agreement. This will include details of the objects, milestones, cost and scope of the QA testing process. You will then be able to accept or disregard their proposal at this time.
Why It’s easier to hire a Freelancer
You can save a great deal of time and money by hiring a freelance QA tester. Simply post a QA project on Freelancer.com and the best QA testers will find you. 
You will also be communicating directly with your QA tester and not an account manager which will keep your communications streamlined and efficient.  
Follow these steps to get started:

Post a project

Post your project (it's always free) and outline all of the details of your project. You can even upload files to so if you have a very lengthy specification, save it as a PDF and upload it. 

Hire the right freelancer for the job

Once your project brief is posted, freelance QA technicians will start bidding on your project (give you quotes). You can peruse the profile of each freelancer to read previous employer rating and also see their portfolio of work.
When you've selected your freelancer, break up your project into separate milestone payments. That way you can pay your freelancer in stages as they progress through your project instead of in one lump sum. 
This gives employers the security of only releasing payments once they are satisfied with the completed work. It also allows them to keep track of the progression of the project. 

Final thoughts

Failure to pass your website project though a QA process could result in serious reputational damage if any aspect of your website breaks during your official launch. Functions that might seamlessly work at your end may not work under different digital conditions. Hire a freelance QA for your website project to ensure your website is built to last for many years to come.
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