Web push notifications, also called browser push notifications, are small permission-based informational messages sent by a given web page.
They are displayed on both desktops and mobile devices, even when their recipient is browsing other websites when the message is sent. Web push notifications effectively engage recipients without needing their email addresses or other personal data.
Web push notifications are a versatile tool that can benefit a wide range of industries, including e-commerce, digital publishing, travel, telecom, finance, and more. They serve as an additional channel for effective lead generation, helping businesses build customer loyalty, boost conversion rates, and increase retention on their websites. By delivering timely and relevant messages directly to users, web push notifications enhance engagement and drive meaningful results across various sectors.
Like them or not, you’ve surely seen a web push notification in your favorite online store or news platform or maybe your competition is testing them out.
Whatever the reason, check out this guide with 15+ things you need to know before adding push notifications to your website.
Web push notifications are short messages adapted to browsers in the form of familiar notifications that are sent by mobile applications.
Thanks to the new notification function that has been introduced in all modern web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge), websites can send notifications to their subscribers for desktops and phones.
It is no longer necessary to have a mobile application to do this, which significantly reduces the time and costs of adding this channel to the marketing mix of your company.
In addition, web push marketing is based on permission marketing, so you can be sure that you only communicate with potential customers who have expressed their willingness to receive your communications. Notifications allow you to permanently build brand loyalty, avoiding the harmful “spray and pray” approach.
Web push notifications are still quite a new online marketing channel that went live in April 2015. However, they have already proven to have several advantages over traditional online marketing channels.
Chrome browser push notifications are messages sent through the Google Chrome browser. All notifications you send are collectively referred to as web push notifications, but different types give you different communication options.
Notifications on Google Chrome offer marketers the most extensive functionalities, including:
Source: MediaMarkt.gr
Source: NeilPatel.com
Firefox push notifications are notifications displayed through the Mozilla Firefox browser. As you can see below, they are quite standard for this communication channel.
The options that this browser offers are much more limited than those sent via Google Chrome. You only have a standard rectangular message without any additional features.
Source: hacks.mozilla.org
Safari push notifications are sent through the Safari browser. I must admit that this web push implementation seems to me the least polished and sparks the least interest in the sender.
The message contains a very small picture and little room for text that you can use.
Source: PushPushGo, web push notification example on Safari
You've probably read in the first part of this post that the inspiration to create push notifications in browsers were just notifications sent by mobile applications.
That’s essentially true but here’s a more detailed history of how we got to where we are today.
The foundations for a completely new form of application-based communication started with BlackBerry devices.
This revolution took place at a time when even such ordinary activities as checking email required some effort. Introduced in 2003 by the creators of the BlackBerry push email function, businessmen did not have to re-download email from the server every time.
Emails were displayed in the form of a pop-up window and you could view them instantly from the phone, without spending time downloading them.
This user experience became a model for the use of mobile devices that we know today. This innovative convenience powered the huge popularity of BlackBerry devices among companies that bought phones that allowed employees to be more productive and efficient.
Another big step in the history of mobile notifications was taken by Steve Jobs and Apple. The breakthrough achievement of BlackBerry and its huge potential could not escape the attention of the innovator from the Silicon Valley.
In 2009, Apple introduced a solution based on the 1-to-1 mechanism used today. Thanks to Apple Push Notification Service, alerts sent by applications on mobile devices entered the mainstream. Their goal was to attract the user's attention, inform him about important events on the device and get him to take a certain action.
In 2010, Google also introduced mobile notifications in their Android operating system. However, for the next step in the process had to wait until 2013. That’s when Google Cloud Messaging was created, which is known today as GCM. It allowed sending notifications in the very popular Google Chrome browser.
Over time, all other internet browsers followed and in 2017 notifications were adopted as a standard functionality for all of them in the future.
Today web push notifications are used by Facebook (which incidentally shocked users when it first displayed notifications in the browser, not applications), Youtube and Gmail. They’ve also been embraced by bloggers, online stores, banks, telecoms and all other companies for whom the website is a very important touchpoint with potential clients.
At PushPushGo, we're proud to be part of this revolutionary story as one of the evangelists of web push notifications in Europe.
Web push notifications are always displayed as a rectangular window on the recipient's screen, however, their appearance varies depending on the operating system and the web browser in which the message is displayed.
Notifications differ in the number of characters used or the size of the displayed image. This is due to the different implementation of web push technology among various platforms and the marketer sending notifications does not affect the appearance of the window on the end device.
Despite these small differences, all web push notifications have 4 common elements:
Source: NeilPatel.com
It is worth mentioning that Google Chrome offers some extra functions regarding web push.
These are:
In addition, the web push notification received on the Windows 10 operating system has a unique appearance:
Linux:
macOS user? Take a look:
Web push notifications are supported by the internet browsers used by your recipients. This means that your campaign is delivered as soon as you hit “Send” and you don’t need to worry about cookies, anti-spam filters or ad blockers.
Just like email marketing newsletters, web push notifications are sent only to those who have expressed their desire to receive them.
A unique registration key is generated by the browser for every user who subscribes to notifications. Subscribers decide what kind of notifications they would like to receive, meaning that your message can reach exactly those customers who are most likely to be interested.
In order to enable web push notifications on your site, it’s enough to paste a small piece of integration code script into the page’s source code.
You can also determine the frequency with which the signup form is displayed to particular users and after how much time it appears when a session is initiated.
To resign from further notifications, all anyone has to do is go to the browser settings. There is no threat from spammers! The only way to receive web push notifications is by explicitly asking for them.
After signing up through a subscription form, recipients can also receive an automatic welcoming message. These are frequently used in e-commerce to offer discount codes or other incentives to make a first purchase as well as exclusive content available nowhere else. Information about the benefits of signing up for web push notifications can help to boost the number of new subscribers.
Also, all the messages you send can be can stored in a dedicated inbox on your site.
Marketers know that subscribers often return to newsletters in their email inboxes. Now, your customers can do the same with discounts and other offers sent through web push notifications.
Thanks to the functionality of web push automation, you can also send in targeted campaigns based on the behavior of subscribers on your website. You can find more information on this subject in paragraph 8.
As I mentioned earlier, the notification function became standard in 2017 for all browsers going forward.
Web push notifications are supported by:
Unfortunately, it is still not possible to receive web push notifications on devices with the iOS operating system.
Collecting web push subscribers and sending them notifications does not require collecting and processing any personal data at all. Web push notifications are therefore very GDPR-friendly.
Please note, however, that the provider of the web push platform does not collect additional information about your subscribers without your knowledge. It is always your responsibility to maintain their privacy.
Familiarize yourself with the information that we have prepared especially for clients, for whom GDPR restrictions have a significant impact on their business.
Unfortunately, for the marketing industry, the legal activities of the European authorities are in this aspect more and more restrictive. Personal information is considered to be all information about a person who you can identify as the data controller.
At the same time, "identification" is not necessarily the determination of personal data such as name and surname. If you are able to "isolate" one of the users in a group and assign specific features or information to that person, this constitutes personal data.
If you use tools that allow you to track one user on the web and match advertising messages this behavior, this constitutes the processing of personal data. Therefore, if you use web push automation or combine web push data with data from, for example, a CRM system, some restrictive legal interpretations may consider you are dealing with profiling and personal data.
To enable web push notifications on your website, just paste the small integration script (a web-based SDK) into the <head> section of the source.
If you want to quickly build a subscriber base thanks to the sing opt-in model, you will also need to paste two files on the root path of your server (this might sound challenging, but it’s about 30 seconds of work for a programmer).
Integration scripts do not slow down the operation of your website in any way.
You can immediately check the detailed instructions on the web push website integration, which you can pass to, for example, the person responsible for maintaining your website.
To send web push notifications, your website does not need to have an SSL certificate, but if you have one, you can use additional functionalities such as:
So let's think about it, especially since the lack of an SSL certificate on the site has a significant impact on its reputation on Google and thus the position in the SERP.
Subscribers can sign up to web push notifications through single opt-in or double opt-in processes. These two methods differ in important ways.
If your website has an SSL certificate, the potential recipient will immediately see the native signup form from the browser, as below. Users recognize it, in the same way, for example, that Google Chrome asks if it can track your location.
Pluses
Minuses
Double opt-in web push gives you completely different possibilities to personalize the subscription forms and to collect additional information from subscribers. The process for signing up for notifications takes place in two stages.
First of all, the recipient's chosen form is displayed, which you can freely personalize, like this one:
Only after clicking "Subscribe" will he see the native subscription form from the browser, which will actually sign him up to notifications:
You can freely personalize the form, which can be modified using CSS.
It can be, for example, a pop-up with the possibility of marking the content the recipient wants to receive:
A standard form displayed in different parts of the page, such as the top bar:
Pluses
Minuses
In both forms of opt-in you can select:
As with email marketing, you can transfer a subscribers database to another web push provider at any time. However, this process is a bit more complicated and requires an SSL certificate on the website and corresponding keys (GCM, FCM).
If you are not sure if this is possible in your case, contact us at support@pushpushgo.com and we will explain everything and help transfer your recipient base to PushPushGo.
You can send web push campaigns both to a mass audience at once (at a selected time to a selected segment of recipients) and by using web push automation scenarios.
Notifications can be sent automatically based on the data being read from your website at the moment when it has the best chance of conversion.
The most effective web push notifications are the ones that are sent based on the interests of the recipients and triggered after they perform a specific action on the website. The CTR of such notifications can even reach 14.77%.
Thanks to the integration of your website with the web push platform, all the behaviors of your subscribers on the website can be tracked, which will allow you to create an effective web push strategy.
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