Talking Performance – Preparing for peak with Tacit Knowledge
With lockdown measures easing but consumer confidence still shaky – the most effective way of trading is still online and forever growing, with 17.2million consumers…
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How can you ensure new site launches/upgrades aren’t adversely impacting customer journeys?
Replatforming can transform businesses – but only if it delivers the kind of experience customers demand. If you’re migrating a site for a client, you’re probably looking to enhance the user experience (UX) across multiple devices, at the same time creating fresh opportunities for your client to engage more personally and effectively with their customers.
A successful transition is dependent on the use of accurate metrics. Analytics can offer some insight but there’s no substitute for real data taken from customers’ own online experience. An intelligent testing and monitoring program throughout the development cycle will ensure a flawless UX and enable the development team to measure the impact of migration on performance.
thinkTRIBE’s managed load testing and synthetic website monitoring services instantly extend your team with proactive, experienced performance experts – freeing your technical team to focus on your re-platforming project.
How can you effectively prepare your clients’ websites for known and unknown peak?
Even sites that cope well with regular and planned seasonal traffic patterns can fall over when demand spikes unexpectedly. Now that traffic peaks are no longer as predictable as they once were, businesses are increasingly focusing on delivering an acceptable UX 365 days a year.
We always recommend preparing for peaks that are significantly higher than your clients’ business projections. It’s a good idea to employ three types of test: a benchmark test (against historical peaks); a soak test (maximum users the site can host without degrading the UX); and a spike test (simulating peak load in a single surge).
We work with clients to prepare for planned peaks and to ensure that websites are in the best condition possible at all times – which includes testing when changes are made throughout the year, not just in the run-up to an expected peak.
Are you missing performance bottlenecks?
There’s little doubt that the rapid growth in the use of third parties is impacting website functionality. Sometimes it only takes a simple code change to spark a domino-like request response that can overwhelm a database. An audit of third-party widgets (and dependencies) is an essential part of regular site maintenance.
An effective program of load-testing – based on real user data – will replicate actual customer journeys through a website and help to identify the pinch-points and bottlenecks that could impact the UX. The best load tests span a variety of journeys that explore different routes on a range of devices.
thinkTRIBE’s performance monitoring services help to flag performance issues dynamically, ensuring third-party solutions are operating properly and prioritising those issues that require immediate action because they’re impacting the UX.
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