What are some good tools for testing a website's usability on mobile devices?
In the age of the smartphone, it is imperative that your website is mobile-friendly. A staggering 61% of internet users are now accessing the internet solely from their mobile devices, which means that if your website is not designed for mobile, you could be missing out on a huge chunk of your potential market. But how can you tell if your website is truly ready for mobile? Use these three tools to test your website’s usability on mobile devices and find out.
1. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: This tool, provided by the ever-reliable Google, is quick, easy to use, and free. Simply enter your website’s URL into the search bar and Google will analyze your page to see if it meets their criteria for a mobile-friendly page. If it does, you’ll get a green check mark next to your name letting you know that you’re good to go. If not, don’t worry—Google will give you specific suggestions for how to fix what’s not working so you can resubmit your URL for another test.
2. BrowserStack: BrowserStack is a cross-platform testing tool that allows you to take your website for a test drive on over 1,000 real devices, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and more. This paid service starts at $29/month but offers a free trial so you can test it out before commitment. With BrowserStack, you can take screenshots of your site on different devices and browsers and even record videos of how users interact with your site on each platform. This tool is great for seeing how users actually experience your site so you can identify problem areas and make changes accordingly.
3. Adobe Edge Inspect: Adobe Edge Inspect is another paid cross-platform testing tool (starting at $9.99/month) that lets you preview and inspect HTML content on multiple devices at once—meaning no more resizing windows or switching between tabs to see how your site looks on different screens. With Edge Inspect, you can also send push notifications directly to any or all of the connected devices so you can quickly update them with the latest changes—perfect for those times when you need to make last-minute adjustments before going live.
Conclusion:
There are literally hundreds of different tools available for testing websites on mobile devices—but these three are definitely some of the best. So whether you want a quick and easy way to test (Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test), a comprehensive look at how users experience your site (BrowserStack), or an efficient way to manage updates (Adobe Edge Inspect), there’s definitely a tool out there that can help you achieve your goals. And remember: when in doubt, always err on the side of mobile-friendliness—your users will thank you for it!
1. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: This tool, provided by the ever-reliable Google, is quick, easy to use, and free. Simply enter your website’s URL into the search bar and Google will analyze your page to see if it meets their criteria for a mobile-friendly page. If it does, you’ll get a green check mark next to your name letting you know that you’re good to go. If not, don’t worry—Google will give you specific suggestions for how to fix what’s not working so you can resubmit your URL for another test.
2. BrowserStack: BrowserStack is a cross-platform testing tool that allows you to take your website for a test drive on over 1,000 real devices, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and more. This paid service starts at $29/month but offers a free trial so you can test it out before commitment. With BrowserStack, you can take screenshots of your site on different devices and browsers and even record videos of how users interact with your site on each platform. This tool is great for seeing how users actually experience your site so you can identify problem areas and make changes accordingly.
3. Adobe Edge Inspect: Adobe Edge Inspect is another paid cross-platform testing tool (starting at $9.99/month) that lets you preview and inspect HTML content on multiple devices at once—meaning no more resizing windows or switching between tabs to see how your site looks on different screens. With Edge Inspect, you can also send push notifications directly to any or all of the connected devices so you can quickly update them with the latest changes—perfect for those times when you need to make last-minute adjustments before going live.
Conclusion:
There are literally hundreds of different tools available for testing websites on mobile devices—but these three are definitely some of the best. So whether you want a quick and easy way to test (Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test), a comprehensive look at how users experience your site (BrowserStack), or an efficient way to manage updates (Adobe Edge Inspect), there’s definitely a tool out there that can help you achieve your goals. And remember: when in doubt, always err on the side of mobile-friendliness—your users will thank you for it!
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