What is Web Push Notifications and how to use them?

Srinivas Allanki
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

Web Push notifications were first introduced by Chrome in early 2015 in its 42 version. The version included “two new APIs that together allow sites to push native notifications to their users even after the page is closed — provided the user has granted explicit permission.”

The update allowed websites to send notifications just like apps could, so far. It was allegedly the most critical mobile feature that was missing from the web and thus upon release witnessed a tremendous adoption by web publishers.

Why are they used?

Push notifications provide convenience and value to app users. For example, users can receive:

  1. Sports scores and news right on their lock screen
  2. Utility messages like traffic, weather and ski snow reports
  3. Flight check in, change, and connection information

For app publishers, push notifications are a way to speak directly to a user. They don’t get caught in spam filters, or forgotten in an inbox — click-through rates can be twice as high as email. They can also remind users to use an app, whether the app is open or not. They can also be used to drive actions, such as:

  1. Promoting products or offers to increase sales
  2. Improving customer experience
  3. Converting unknown app users to known customers Sending transaction receipts right away
  4. Driving users to other marketing channels, such as social networks

How do push notifications work?
Some of the actors in sending a push notification include:

  1. Operating system push notification service (OSPNS). Each mobile operating system (OS), including iOS, Android, Fire OS, Windows, and BlackBerry, has its own service.
  2. App publisher. The app publisher enables their app with an OSPNS. Then, the publisher uploads the app to the app store.
  3. Client app. This is an OS-specific app, installed on a user’s device. It receives incoming notifications.

What all web push notification can have?

Best Practices.

Push notifications are a direct path of communication with users. App publishers should treat the ability to communication with users via push notifications as a privilege, not a right. App publishers must provide value; if they don’t, push notifications will be ignored or turned off. Some users will uninstall the app altogether.

Analytics and measurement are important tools for improving your app’s performance. But it’s important to write compelling push notifications that are valuable to users and that drive action.

Messaging strategies and tactics need to be measured and tested. Strategies such as maximizing opt-in rates, ensuring new users are properly onboarded and reducing app user churn rates are all key to an app’s success. Other strategies include:

  1. Matching up each user’s data across channels (web, mobile, store etc.) to better understand user behavior
  2. Making it easy for users to share content with their social networks
  3. Encouraging users to opt in by offering them incentives and examples of the value your notifications will provide
Srinivas Allanki

Written by

UX Engineer & Specialize in Optimization & Create reusable and future-proof UI components

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