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14th May 2014

Browser Testing - Why is it important?

Browser testing your website is of great importance these days. Why? Well simply because there are many different browsers out there that people are using and you want to make sure they're all seeing your website how it should be. Also it should be a core factor when choosing your website development company.

The following make up 98% of the Internet market share of browsers. So chances are you're going to be using one of them. This also means that your website should be compatible on all of them too, to avoid excluding potential customers.

The most popular browsers are as follows;

  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Internet Explorer
  • Google Chrome

Browser Testing - What's Involved?

Browser Testing means you test how your website looks and works on a range of different browsers in order to prevent running into problems after your website goes live.

If you run a Browser report on Google Analytics, you will be able to identify which browsers your website visitors are using. From this you can determine which ones you should be cross-testing.

Why do websites look different when browser testing?

The most common problem identified when cross-browser testing is the fact that browsers have not been updated by the user. Everyone should update their browser when the option is available, otherwise how you see websites can be affected.

The reason why browsers sometime display website's differently is because they read the code in their own way. A prime example of this is with 'padding'. Padding is needed for features such as the menu on a website, browsers Firefox and Chrome will read the code in the same way, but Internet Explorer will add extra padding. This shows that it's vital to check how your website looks by performing thorough browser testing before going live.

So how are problems like this avoided? The developer will write different style sheets in order to make the website compatible across all the relevant browsers. At PS Website Design we take the necessary steps to ensure that your site works perfectly across all browsers, therefore you can be reassured that you don't deter potential customers.

Is one browser better than another?

A lot of developers say that Chrome and Firefox are the best browsers to develop on. This doesn't mean to say the others should be not used, as which ever browser you develop on you need to test on others.

Would you like to find out how your website could work better on different browsers? Do you want to ensure all your customers can access your website? Get in contact with us today to find out more about our browsing testing, and how we build our websites.


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