<- Glossary

Important Metrics to Measure When Load Testing a Website

Load testing a website is an essential part of ensuring that it is reliable and can handle any spikes in traffic. Knowing which metrics to track during the testing process is key to understanding the overall performance of the site and making necessary adjustments to ensure optimal performance.

Response Time

Response time is one of the most important metrics to track when load testing a website. This metric measures the amount of time it takes for the server to respond to a given request. If the response time is too long, it can lead to a poor user experience.

Throughput

Throughput measures how many requests the server is able to handle per second. This metric is important to track because it gives you an indication of how well the server is able to scale when there are more users accessing the site.

Error Rate

Error rate measures the number of failed requests out of the total number of requests. A high error rate can indicate that the server is not able to handle the load and needs to be adjusted to improve performance.

Availability

Availability measures how often the website is up and running. If the website is down more than it’s up, then it’s important to investigate the cause and make improvements.

Resource Utilization

Resource utilization is a measure of the amount of resources (CPU, memory, etc.) that are being used by the server. Monitoring resource utilization during a load test can help identify potential bottlenecks that need to be addressed.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth measures how much data is being transferred to and from the server. If the bandwidth is too low, it can lead to slow loading times and poor user experience.

Memory Usage

Memory usage measures how much memory is being used by the server. If the memory usage is too high, it could lead to performance issues and potential outages.

User Experience

User experience is a measure of how satisfied users are with the website. Monitoring user experience during a load test can help identify areas of improvement and ensure that users have a positive experience.

By monitoring these metrics during a load test, you can get a better understanding of the performance of the website and make any necessary adjustments to ensure optimal performance.

This glossary entry is part of the LoadForge Glossary. LoadForge provides load testing and stress tests for websites, APIs, databases and webservers. Sign up today to start testing.