Running a business successfully on the web is a matter of getting the best products and services to every customer. You need to make your business more flexible, scalable and available for everyone.

But what happens when your business website does not reach all your customers as planned? If your website is not compatible with different browsers, you will have a hard time expanding and growing it online.

This is where cross browser testing comes into play. As new web browsers and devices are getting launched in the market, you need to make sure that your website runs on different platforms efficiently. Cross browser testing helps you accomplish this task.

If you are one of those who think browser testing is irrelevant, you are about to see just why it is everything but that!

What is cross browser testing?

To understand the importance of cross browser testing for your business, we need to first know what cross browser testing really is.

To put it in simple words, cross browser testing is nothing but testing your web application to check its compatibility across different browsers, resolutions, devices, and operating systems.

This helps you make sure that your website runs on every type of environment efficiently and the way you want.

The real reason one needs to perform cross browser testing

Each separate browser has a different set of rules on the basis of which they display content on the page. This results in variations in the format and design of the displayed content of the same website across different browsers.

The elements that make up your website, that is, the javascript code, CSS, etc, work differently on different browsers. A tag may appear smaller in Internet Explorer whereas bigger in Chrome.

When these browsers are run on different operating systems and platforms, you will notice that the same website appears differently on every platform!

Importance of cross browser testing

If you think cross browser testing is irrelevant, you need a reality check!

According to recent studies, 61.8% of internet users use Google Chrome browser. About 12.2% people engage with Internet Explorer and only 10.5% use Firefox. The remaining people use some other browser.

If your website functions efficiently on, say Chrome browser, you might be able to reach to the 76.8% people who use it. However, the remaining 24.2% will never be able to visit your website and engage with your business.

This deprives you of a lot of potential customers. It also limits your business in more than one ways.

If your business is not able to reach the target customers, how will you expand it in the online market?

To give your users and customers quality experience, it has become very important to develop a website keeping all the major browsers in mind.

Instead of letting your business suffer due to browser compatibility issues, you can simply perform a cross browser test and strive in the online market!

How can cross browser testing benefit your business?

As the saying goes “A frog in a well cannot discuss the ocean, because he is limited by the size of his well”.

Similarly, if your business is limited to a single browser, you cannot hope to expand it across the global or even the local market.

Here’s how cross browser testing can benefit your business

Your website will look professional

The most important thing for you when running a business online is to have a professional looking website.

Your website is the first thing that customers will see and the first impression is the last impression, right? This is why you need to make sure they see things exactly what you want to show.

Cross browser testing will ensure that your website looks and works perfectly on all platforms. No matter where and how your customers view your website, they will see the site as you envisioned it.

Reaching all customers

The people who use only a particular browser will not be able to access your products and services at all. This restricts the reach of your business.

When your website is compatible with all the different web browsers your business does not stay confined to a limited audience.

You can expand your business

Naturally, the more successful your web application is, the more successful your business will be.

The best way to ensure the success of your web application is to make it available to a wider audience.

This can be achieved by a simple cross browser test.

Cross browser testing decreases bounce rates and helps you to increase sales!

Still think cross browser testing is irrelevant? It not only helps increase traffic to your website and makes it popular but also helps expand the reach of your business and increases your website’s conversion.

Cross browser testing is also very useful for startups as they need to make sure their services and products reach targeted users, in order to establish their business online.

Steps taken towards making cross browser testing easier

The importance of cross browser testing is well recognized by everyone, including major browsers like Microsoft’s internet explorer.

Recently, Microsoft confirmed that it will adopt Chromium for Microsoft Edge. This step will help bring Edge to other OS platforms like MacOs as well. It will also allow Microsoft to make better and more efficient updates to Edge for Windows 10 as well as all the older versions of Windows.

Their intention behind this move is to increase web compatibility for their customers and reduce web fragmentation for web developers.

How will this help businesses?

As more platforms will be able to work with Edge, including MacOs and all the Windows versions, it will make the web experience of users more consistent.

This means web developers will no longer need to test their website for different browsers and platforms separately.

Conclusion

Cross browser testing is the need of the hour if you want to establish a successful business online. To be able to expand it, reach all potential customers and give your customers a refined website experience, you need to perform cross browser testing.

Conducting cross browser testing has become very easy with platforms like LambdaTest.

LambdaTest is a cross browser testing platform where you can easily test your website across more than 2000 different browsers as well as operating systems.

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Know what is best for your business and do not underestimate the power of cross browser testing!