Here is our guide for running a successful, foolproof test. In this guide, we are going to cover a few of our main principles of running a test:
Principle 1:Incognito/Private Browsers
Use an incognito window for every test you run.
This will prevent any caching errors that could ruin your test. You can open a private browsing window on most browsers by clicking File in the menu bar and then clicking open new (private browsing window) the verbiage will vary depending on the browser.
If you don’t know how to find your incognito/private window, here are some links to instructions for common browsers:
Principle 2: Create an email account specifically used for testing
When you use a personal email or an agent's email there is a much higher chance that your test will not actually end up testing what you set out to test in the first place. Your test results will be much clearer if you use a new email that you create for testing.
We recommend using a Gmail or Yahoo email for your tests:
OR
You can use a https://www.mailinator.com/ email address to sign up on your site. Mailinator is a 100% free public email creation service that you can use to create a short-term email for testing (the emails are deleted after a few hours). This system is used by developers and professionals across the globe to test emails without bombarding their emails with tests. You can insert a Mailinator email (you can create your own email simply by typing out your email @mailinator.com. for example, you could use rgtest@mailinator.com or bestagentever@mailinator.com) then you can go to mailinator.com and search for that email you used in your test to review any emails/autoresponders on your site.
To learn more about Mailinator, you can head over to https://www.mailinator.com/faq.jsp
Principle 3: Use a test phone number
The phone number you use can be any random string of numbers, for example, 123-456-7890. It must be 10 digits long.
Principle 4: Signing up on your website
When you are creating a new lead to run a test, you should always sign up on your website as if you were a user accessing your site for the first time. This is a good idea for two reasons:
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You gain a better understanding of how your site works from a new lead's point of view.
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Signing up on the site allows you to properly test many of the Lead Managers features such as lead assignment, text notifications, and so on.
Principle 5: Deleting the test lead when you're done
You never want to use the same test lead account for multiple tests. Deleting the lead frees you up to be able to run other tests on your website in the future without creating multiple emails.