Pest Control: How Bugs Can Affect Your Website

Everyone has their pet hates, those irritating facts of life we’d rather do without. The digital world is no different: between hundreds or thousands of lines of code, virtual pests can weasel in, wreaking havoc on a website’s functionality. Practically no coding project is 100% safe from bugs.

A good developer, of course, carries out an extermination process as soon as they’ve been spotted. We're highlighting the perverse effects a bug can have if it isn’t swept up and dealt with, just so you know how crucial this process is.

Cosmetic defects

Appearances count online. When code – even a miniscule part of it – is wrongly inputted, the cosmetics of your website can be thrown off from the intended look and feel.

A single paragraph could have variations in font compared to the text surrounding it, or an image might have shifted out of place. Other dangers include wrong colours, oversaturation and scrambled formatting.

Broken/nullified links

Link-building is a high priority for any site looking to guide the user through its twists and turns. Hyperlinks between pages simply must work if you’re to foster a great UX. Bug tracking is therefore essential to ensure any issues are spotted as quickly as possible.

An ‘apply now’ button, for instance, could have disastrous consequences for conversion if it isn’t working properly, turning customers away at the last second. The same goes for an ecommerce cart that should never, ideally, malfunction.

Poor cross-compatibility

These days, having a website isn’t enough. It’s becoming ever more vital to adapt it for mobile browsing. Optimisation requires adding extra code into the build of the site at large, letting it be malleable (and intuitive) when someone finds you on their smartphone or tablet device.

However, bugs can throw all of this up in the air, messing up the carefully-hewn interface you’ve tried to implement. Cross-device compatibility is steadily changing the face of online marketing, so glitches on your mobile site will do you no favours.

Slow load times

The fancier end of the web spectrum, including coding language like JavaScript, can pull off amazing multi-media touches. Videos, animations and dynamic backgrounds can flavour your site with great engagement tools. The one caveat is that online users don’t tend to have much patience for slow or crash-happy loading processes.

Without diligent bug tracking, any of these features are prone to collapse. There’s considerable pressure to give your visitors a fast, responsive encounter with your brand; not checking up on this mandate will drive people away.

Launching a website isn’t the be-all, end-all finish line of the development schedule. Combing for chinks in the chain is essential to making the most of what you’ve accomplished.

Our free project management tool, Skwish, functions as a bug tracking solution, scanning your site for anything that’s slipped through the cracks. It’s imminently useful for every development project, so check it out, along with other features that court solid teamwork skills.