Web Application Testing: How to Test a Website? Types

Before we pen down more details on the types of web testing, let us quickly define web testing and see where it fits into the delivery cycle.

What is Web Application Testing?

Web Application Testing, or website testing, is checking your web application or website for potential bugs before it is made live and is accessible to the general public. Web application testing checks the functionality, usability, security, compatibility, and performance of the web application or website.

During this stage, issues such as web application security, the functioning of the site, its access to handicapped as well as regular users, and its ability to handle traffic are checked.

A website is not one program. It is a stack: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the browser, plus APIs and databases on the server. A layer that passes alone can still fail once it talks to its neighbour, so web testing needs complementary techniques.

Types of Web Applications You Need to Test

Before choosing techniques, identify the architecture in front of you. The structure decides where defects concentrate and how you split effort between client and server.

Architecture	How it behaves	What this means for testing
Single-Page Application (SPA)	Loads once, then updates the view without full page reloads. Gmail works this way.	Most logic ships to the browser: focus on JavaScript state, dynamic rendering, and client-side sessions.
Multiple-Page Application (MPA)	Many pages reached through separate route URLs, rendered server-side. Common for e-commerce and news sites.	Navigation paths multiply: test every route, form, and redirect end to end.
Progressive Web App (PWA)	Runs like a native app using service workers, a manifest, and an app shell.	Add offline behaviour, stale caches, push notifications, and install prompts.

Most products mix these patterns. Confirm which one you are dealing with, then work through the eight techniques below.

How to Test Web Application or Website

In Software Engineering, the following testing types/technique may be performed depending on your web testing requirements.

Each technique can be run manually or by script, and that choice drives cost more than coverage.

Aspect	Manual testing	Automated testing
Best suited to	Usability and exploratory checks	Regression, cross-browser, load runs
Speed on repeat runs	Slow; effort repeats every cycle	Fast; the suite reruns on demand
Cost profile	Low upfront, rises every release	Higher upfront, then script maintenance

1. Functionality Testing of a Website

Functionality Testing of a Website is a process that includes several testing parameters like user interface, APIs, database testing, security testing, client and server testing and basic website functionalities. Functional testing is very convenient and it allows users to perform both manual and automated testing. It is performed to test the functionalities of each feature on the website.

Web testing activities include:

Test all links in your webpages are working correctly and make sure there are no broken links. Links to be checked will include –

• Outgoing links
• Internal links
• Anchor Links
• MailTo Links

Test Forms are working as expected. This will include-

• Scripting checks on the form are working as expected. For example- if a user does not fill a mandatory field in a form an error message is shown.
• Check default values are being populated
• Once submitted, the data in the forms is submitted to a live database or is linked to a working email address
• Forms are optimally formatted for better readability

Test Cookies are working as expected. Cookies are small files used by websites to primarily remember active user sessions so you do not need to log in every time you visit a website. Cookie Testing will include

• Testing cookies (sessions) are deleted either when cache is cleared or when they reach their expiry.
• Delete cookies (sessions) and test that login credentials are asked for when you next visit the site.

Test HTML and CSS to ensure that search engines can crawl your site easily. This will include

• Checking for Syntax Errors
• Readable Color Schemas
• Standard Compliance. Ensure standards such W3C, OASIS, IETF, ISO, ECMA, or WS-I are followed.

Test business workflow– This will include

• Testing your end – to – end workflow/ business scenarios which takes the user through a series of webpages to complete.
• Test negative scenarios as well, such that when a user executes an unexpected step, appropriate error message or help is shown in your web application.

Tools that can be used: QTP , IBM Rational , Selenium

2. Usability Testing

Usability Testing has now become a vital part of any web based project. It can be carried out by testers like you or a small focus group similar to the target audience of the web application.

Test the site Navigation:

• Menus, buttons or Links to different pages on your site should be easily visible and consistent on all webpages

Test the Content:

• Content should be legible with no spelling or grammatical errors.
• Images if present should contain an “alt” text

Tools that can be used: Chalkmark, Contentsquare, and Clixpy

3. Interface Testing

Once features and usability hold up, check that the tiers behind them talk to each other. Three areas to be tested here are – Application, Web and Database Server

• Application: Test requests are sent correctly to the Database and output at the client side is displayed correctly. Errors if any must be caught by the application and must be only shown to the administrator and not the end user.
• Web Server: Test Web server is handling all application requests without any service denial.
• Database Server: Make sure queries sent to the database give expected results.

Test system response when connection between the three layers (Application, Web and Database) cannot be established and appropriate message is shown to the end user.

Tools that can be used: Ranorex

4. Database Testing

Database is one critical component of your web application and stress must be laid to test it thoroughly. Testing activities will include-

• Test if any errors are shown while executing queries
• Data Integrity is maintained while creating, updating or deleting data in database.
• Check response time of queries and fine tune them if necessary.
• Test data retrieved from your database is shown accurately in your web application

Tools that can be used: QTP, Selenium

5. Compatibility Testing

Compatibility testing ensures your web application displays and behaves correctly across different devices. This includes:

Browser Compatibility Test: Same website in different browsers will display differently. You need to test if your web application is being displayed correctly across browsers, JavaScript, AJAX and authentication is working fine. You may also check for Mobile Browser Compatibility.

The rendering of web elements like buttons, text fields etc. changes with change in Operating System. Make sure your website works fine for various combination of Operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac and Browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari etc.

Tools that can be used: Dynatrace

6. Performance Testing

This will ensure your site works under all loads. Testing activities will include but not limited to –

• Website application response times at different connection speeds
• Load test your web application to determine its behavior under normal and peak loads
• Stress test your web site to determine its break point when pushed to beyond normal loads at peak time.
• Test if a crash occurs due to peak load, how does the site recover from such an event
• Make sure optimization techniques like gzip compression, browser and server side cache enabled to reduce load times

Tools that can be used: Loadrunner, JMeter

7. Security Testing

Security Testing is vital for e-commerce website that store sensitive customer information like credit cards. Testing Activities will include-

• Test unauthorized access to secure pages should not be permitted
• Restricted files should not be downloadable without appropriate access
• Check sessions are automatically killed after prolonged user inactivity
• On use of SSL certificates, website should re-direct to encrypted SSL pages.

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8. Crowd Testing

You will select a large number of people (crowd) to execute tests which otherwise would have been executed by a small in-house group. Crowdsourced testing is an interesting and upcoming concept and helps unravel many an unnoticed defect.

Tools that can be used: Crowd Testing Platform

Web Application Testing Process: Step-by-Step

The eight techniques tell you what to check. The process below tells you when to run them.

1. Gather and clarify requirements. List what the application must do and how it should behave. Ambiguous requirements produce untestable expectations, so resolve them first. This step anchors web testing in the wider software testing life cycle.
2. Write the test plan. Decide which techniques apply, who runs them, which tools are needed, and on what timeline. The plan is your roadmap and your estimate.
3. Develop test cases. Turn each requirement into concrete steps with expected results, covering both the happy path and the negative scenarios users trigger by accident.
4. Set up the test environment. Mirror production as closely as budget allows: the same browser and operating system pairs, comparable data volumes, realistic network speeds.
5. Execute the tests. Run the cases, record actual against expected results, and capture screenshots, console output, and server logs while the failure is still reproducible.
6. Report and track defects. Log each one with steps to reproduce and a priority, then retest after the fix and confirm nothing nearby broke.
7. Close the cycle. Produce a test summary covering what was tested, what was found, what remains open, and what to improve, then sign off for release.

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