Learn The Benefits of External Load Testing

Benefits of External Load Testing White Paper
Branding is one of the most critical, and intangible, aspects of your business. No matter how much effort you put into creating a brand that customers want to associate with, it can all go to waste if the experience you create online is inconsistent with your branding. However, having brand consistency is not just about graphics, logos, and a streamlined web interface. Often the experience is dictated by things seemingly beyond your control: for example, how quickly pages load, how fast transactions can be completed, and how often your site is up. The speed at which your customers can find and process information on your site is often the primary driver of how they feel about using your site-which often translates into how they feel about your brand. Imagine planning for a big promotion that drives customers to call your company for more information. Clearly, you would plan for additional staff to field phone calls and ensure no one is forced to hold the line for an unacceptable amount of time. When planning for an online promotion, planning for speed is even more crucial, since a customer's willingness to wait is limited and your competitor is just a click away. How do you ensure that your web site is optimized to deliver an enjoyable customer experience that is consistent with your brand image? The Benefits of External Load Testing Load testing is like having a "fire drill" prior to a promotion. High volumes of web transactions are simulated in short periods of time to ensure your site (and your staff) has the capacity and performance to exceed expectations, and that your customers don't get frustrated and click away to your competitor instead of waiting on hold. That said, not all load testing is the same. Traditional load testing is internal, meaning tests are run from behind your company's firewall. Internal testing only allows you to see potential issues from within your own controlled environment, and does not test for the countless different scenarios in which a customer could be accessing your site. Further, it does not take into account different locations, various connection speeds or real-user experience. Global load testing is the only solution for truly understanding and optimizing the customer experience. Global load testing provides an independent, third-party view of your site and uncovers information that isn't always available from an internal test. As the number of broadband connections increases across the globe, customer expectations for speed also increase. The faster your site, the more customers can access it, and the more your brand is exposed to potential customers. Of course, the opposite is also true: slow sites move less customers through and result in less exposure. Speed has never been as important as it is in today's global Internet-driven economy. In addition, more sites are incorporating complex transactions and connections to other applications outside of their firewall, making the web a truly mission-critical application. In this scenario, old rules of internal networking no longer apply - and load testing becomes even more crucial. Without Global load testing, it's nearly impossible to understand and solve all the potential technical problems that could keep your site from performing at its best during peak periods in different locations around the world.
© 2010, Neustar Inc. www.webmetrics.com External Load Testing 0110 1 / 7 Benefits of External Load Testing
Ensuring a Positive Customer Experience Competition is increasing every day - along with customer expectations for fast, error-free performance. No matter how superior your product, a customer's experience using your website will largely dictate whether or not they use your site again. If your site is difficult to access or transaction speeds are too slow, many customers will give up and find a faster competitor offering similar products. An experienced load testing partner can help you improve customer experience by analyzing the various ways in which customers use your site - where they click, which paths are most often taken, and how long customers normally pause (also called "wait time") between clicks. After these scenarios are developed, they can be tested with different numbers of users to provide greater insight into the following: o Customer Experience o Regional Variances o Overall Site Performance External load testing is... [download for more]