Test Your Wix Store Before Going Live

Learning Objectives

• Understand how to test and improve site speed on desktop and mobile devices
• Learn to find and fix broken links in your Wix store
• Master image optimization techniques to boost site performance
• Identify and resolve layout problems that could harm user experience

Introduction

Your Wix store might look perfect to you, but how does it perform for real customers? Before you launch, you need to test everything works properly. A slow site or broken links can cost you sales before you've even started.

This chapter shows you how to spot and fix the most common issues that trip up new store owners. We'll check your site speed, hunt down broken links, optimize your images, and make sure your layout works on every device.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Testing Your Site Speed

Site speed directly affects your sales. If your pages take more than three seconds to load, you'll lose customers. Here's how to check and improve your speed:

Step 1: Go to Google PageSpeed Insights in your browser
Step 2: Type your Wix store URL into the search box and click 'Analyze'
Step 3: Wait for the results to load – you'll get separate scores for mobile and desktop
Step 4: Review the suggestions in the 'Opportunities' section

Common fixes include compressing images and removing unused apps. Focus on the suggestions marked with the biggest potential savings first.

Lesson 2: Finding and Fixing Broken Links

Broken links frustrate customers and make your store look unprofessional. Here's how to find and fix them:

Step 1: Use a free tool like Dead Link Checker or Broken Link Checker
Step 2: Enter your site URL and start the scan
Step 3: Wait for the tool to crawl your entire site
Step 4: Review the list of broken links it finds
Step 5: Go back into your Wix editor and update or remove each broken link

Pay special attention to links in your navigation menu, product descriptions, and footer – these are the most visible to customers.

Lesson 3: Optimizing Your Images

Heavy images are the number one cause of slow Wix stores. Here's how to fix this:

Step 1: Download your existing images from your Wix site
Step 2: Use TinyPNG or a similar compression tool to reduce file sizes
Step 3: Aim for product images under 200KB and hero images under 500KB
Step 4: Upload the compressed versions back to your Wix media library
Step 5: Replace the old images in your store

For new images, compress them before uploading to Wix. This prevents speed problems from building up over time.

Lesson 4: Checking Your Layout on Different Devices

Your store needs to work perfectly on phones, tablets, and desktops. Here's how to test this:

Step 1: Open your Wix editor and click the mobile view icon
Step 2: Check every page of your store in mobile view
Step 3: Look for text that's too small, buttons that are hard to tap, or images that don't fit properly
Step 4: Fix any issues using Wix's mobile editor tools
Step 5: Preview your site on actual devices if possible

Common mobile problems include overlapping text, tiny buttons, and images that don't resize properly.

Practice

Complete this checklist for your Wix store:

• Run a speed test and implement at least one suggested improvement
• Scan for broken links and fix any you find
• Compress and re-upload your three largest images
• Check your homepage, product pages, and checkout on mobile view
• Test placing an order on your phone

FAQs

How often should I test my site speed?
Test monthly, and always after adding new content or apps. Major changes can slow down your site.

What's a good speed score for a Wix store?
Aim for 80+ on mobile and 90+ on desktop in Google PageSpeed Insights. Scores above 90 are excellent.

Do I need to check for broken links if I haven't changed anything?
Yes. External links can break when other sites change, and Wix updates can sometimes affect internal links.

How do I know if my images are too large?
If your product pages take more than 2-3 seconds to load, large images are usually the problem. Compress any images over 200KB.

Jargon Buster

Site Speed: How quickly your website loads for visitors. Measured in seconds, with under 3 seconds being ideal for ecommerce.

Broken Links: Links that don't work anymore, usually showing a 404 error page when clicked.

Image Compression: Reducing image file sizes without making them look noticeably worse. Essential for fast-loading websites.

Mobile Optimization: Making sure your website works properly on smartphones and tablets, not just computers.

Wrap-up

Your Wix store is only as good as its performance. Regular testing catches problems before your customers do, and fixes are usually simple once you know what to look for.

Speed, functionality, and mobile compatibility aren't just nice extras – they're essential for making sales online. Make these checks part of your regular store maintenance, and you'll avoid the frustration of losing customers to preventable technical issues.

Ready to make your store even better? Continue learning at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership