![](https://www.rgrmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Thu_11_Jul_2013_14-45-41_0000.jpg)
We sometimes get asked by mortgage and other finance industry professionals how they can improve the quality of their websites so we decided to share our own QA best practices on our blog. Hope fully it can help your site get off to a professional looking start.
Everyone has had the unpleasant experience of clicking through to a lame website, or attempting to navigate a webpage that is full of broken links and out-of-date navigation. This is not only frustrating, but reflects poorly on the business itself.
When applied to a website, quality assurance, or "QA," describes the process through which businesses can avoid this damaging scenario, and instead ensure the most effective online interaction--pertaining to both user experience and content.
A Very Brief History of Quality Assurance
While QA's roots developed in the United States following the end of World War I, the practice has evolved over the years. Today, QA remains relevant across all industries, but in website development it is something that can be easily tested. In fact, every 21st century business should implement a process through which their website's functionality is tested before going live to the public. Remember: anything that stops a web page from creating a seamless experience for your customers, can detrimentally affect conversions and bottom line. Viewed in this light, QA should become part of best business practices for every professional website.
What is Quality Assurance As It Pertains to Websites
When quality assurance is properly implemented and maintained, websites exhibit decreased bounce rates and increased conversions. One example of a frequently overlooked aspect of web development is browser testing, the act of making sure a page functions at optimal capacity in multiple browser environments Failure to ensure that each version--whether it be Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer--is functional can result in a massive drop in revenue for one simple reason: if customers can't access your site, functions don't work properly, they can't learn about your business, and they certainly can't or will refuse to buy from you.
While it may seem obvious in this case that QA should be an integral part of a modern business, some companies struggle with techniques for its incorporation.
QA Best Practices
The solution is surprisingly simple: the best way to ensure a website's performance is through the manual inspection of each page. This may sound labor-intensive, and it is, but it's mostly just going through and using your pages the way a customer would who was visiting your site. Take the time to click on all your links, double and triple check your spelling, grammar and punctuation and you will be one step ahead of your competition. You can pretty much guarantee increased conversions to a page that performs as specified.
How About A Handy QA Checklist!
In QA, double checking is not enough. QA prioritizes attention to detail, so triple checking, even, can be insufficient. Here is a handy list of things to keep an eye out for during the comprehensive QA process:
· Browser compatibility · Comprehensive navigation · Spelling and grammar accuracy · Properly working in body and navigation links · Accurate & useful content · Mobile functionality, in this day an age, it's a must
After all of these features have been inspected and deemed in ideal working order, the page should be inspected one last time by a second set of eyes to get a new perspective. This final step is where previously overlooked problems that may occur for real world users are often discovered. But the work isn't done yet. QA not only catches problems, but also tracks them to resolution. QA assumes an active role in fixing issues while striving to eliminate recurrences in the future.
What is Quality Assurance - In One Word
Ultimately, the answer to the question, "What is quality assurance?" can be answered in one simple word: opportunity. As today's internet users have a multitude of options, well-implemented QA is a method through which finance industry professionals can provide the optimal experience for their users, not only with functionality but with easily accessible content. This not only reflects well on a business, but also keeps customers coming back for more.
Start making more
money today!
Search Categories
Tags
Tag Cloud
Latest from Twitter
Contact Us
Call us at 310-540-8900 or fill out the form below and we’ll tell you how you can get high quality leads for free*.
* Get up to 10% free leads on your first order!