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In managing your ecommerce website, browser testing is a must. The appearance of your site may differ on different browsers and screen resolutions. For example, your website might look beautiful in Internet Explorer 7, but what does it look like in Safari on the Mac? What about Firefox, or in 1024 x 768 resolution? If you haven’t tested your site in the variety of popular configurations, then there is a good chance you are turning away customers.

Merchants should have a plan developed for ongoing browser test.

The following list could be followed:

1. Develop a schedule for your browser testing. You could test your site three to six months, or when there is a new released browser. Since browsers are updated so frequently, it is best practice to schedule some time to review browser usage trends every three to six months. Set a recurring calendar appointment and allow 30-60 minutes to perform the test.
2. Decide what to test. Choose what browsers, operating systems, monitor resolutions, and devices you will be testing your site in. This would include Windows and Mac operating systems; Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and other browsers; and various monitor resolutions. Make sure to include browser versions, such as IE 7 and 8. Base your testing decisions on your analytics and demographic data.
3. Choose which pages to test. Decide what pages in your website will you be running a test, such as home page, product pages, etc.
4. Choose your testing platform. You may use BrowserCam.com, BrowserShots.org, and Litmus.
5. Review results, fix, and retest.

Make it a point to test your website every few months to ensure browser and operating system compatibility. When you are able to test your pages this way, you can at least reduce the number of problems your pages have with the different browsers. Sixty minutes of your time could save your thousands of dollars of lost sales due to the site not working properly on your customer’s computer.

Challenges in Creating a Commercial Website Design

Designing a commercial website is a demanding task. The website designer must learn how to put his creative ideas into reality. All the principles in basic designing in content, usability, appearance and visibility are applied.

In a typical world, web design consists of text and images. However, there’s even more to that. That’s why; I am writing this article to discuss the several issues you encounter while creating a commercial site.

1)     Rapid Technological Change- This process complicates the method of positioning resources to enhance web presence.

2)     Poor Layout- Layouting a website is a matter of content delivery. The idea of publishing different contents such as texts, photos, videos, boxes, automatic pop-ups, podcasts, etc. should imply the adaptation of creative standards. There must be a balance in all forms and functions.

• Text Readability
• Ease in Navigation
• How Well-Optimized the Site is

3)     Wrong Layout Type- Three of the popular dimension formats are: pixel measure in static content, em measure in proportional content relative to font size and percent measure in fluid content (shrinking and growing).

Choose the inappropriate layout type that is inconsistent with the overall theme of a website yield disaster. The hybrid design is generally prescribed by several experts due to its warm and balance effect it gives the eye. A good example of a hybrid design is Wordpress.com

4)     Issues on Layout Concerns- The use of space is becoming more fluid in its potential. When right spacing is applied, it immediately communicates the style to its target audience. Perhaps, some web designers tend to forget that no content is more at risk to changes and variations than the space.

5)     Wrong Utilization of Device- A web designer has absolutely no control over device manufacturers. Those operating system, mouse, touch screen, etc. can result to complicated browser changes. For this reason, these designers are advised to adjust target environment. They should put an effort to remove common mark-ups that corrupt web content.