Let me ask you a question, what makes a good website?  Is it the design of the site, the content, the color palette, the artwork?  The answer is yes, yes, yes and yes; however one of the most important elements in a good website is simple functionality.  No matter how sharp a site looks or how relevant the content is if you click on a button and it doesn’t work then it’s all for not.  There’s nothing more frustrating for a website user then stumbling upon bugs, most of which could have been found and fixed if a little time was spent testing the site.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we’ve all visited a website at one time in our lives and ended up leaving because something didn’t work.  It’s frustrating to say the least.  Thorough website testing is a necessity to ensuring the user will have the most pleasant and user friendly experience possible. 

Websites, along with functioning correctly, also need to flow correctly.  The user experience on the site should be one that makes sense.  If a user finds him or her getting lost in the many pages of a site then the ability to relate the content to that user is gone.  Making the users experience on the site a pleasant one will increase the chance that they remain on the site for a longer period of time; which in return provides you with what you are looking for from a visitor.  So please, if you create a website have a friend or even a professional put it through the ringer.  Take my word for it in the long run it will pay off.