Why You Should Install Browser Push Notifications On Your Site

Digital marketing has never been easy but as search engines and social media sites continue to reduce free referral traffic to encourage businesses to pay to reach their user base going direct will be the focus of many websites looking to remain successful. Creating your database will become increasingly important in 2019 and beyond. To do so, brands will need to collect user data. 

Direct channels include:

• SMS
• Email
• App downloads
• Web notifications

The issue with creating direct communication databases is the fact that users aren't willing to share their contact details with every brand they come into contact with and you need to provide additional options of communication and this is where website push notifications look to bridge the gap.

Note: If you would like to see how desktop notifications work you can find out all about how to subscribe to nichemarket notifications here

Website push notifications

Web differs from mobile app push notifications in that you don't need to download an application first. App push notifications are limited to mobile devices and tablets while website push notifications also cover desktops. Desktop usage still accounts for 42% of total internet time and desktop users are more likely to take action than mobile users.

Another point which makes website push notifications very important for websites is the cost factor. Building a quality app is an expensive and gathering downloads and keeping your app on users Smartphones cost even more which means very few businesses have the means to build an ecosystem like that.

Which is why an easy to use streamlined web-based service is critical since it gives businesses the ability to send push notifications without investing in an app.

How do Website Push Notifications work

Websites have to explicitly take permission from their users to send them a push message. This is how website push notifications work: The first step is getting opt-in from visitors. As soon as someone arrives on a website, an opt-in box is triggered.

If a visitor clicks on “Allow” or your push notification, subscribe button he/she is added to your subscriber list. This one-click opt-in without having to provide any information make it an attractive prospect for users. As soon as a ‘visitor’ becomes a ‘subscriber’, you can send a user a push notifications from your website.

Setting up web push notifications

Depending on the scale and your need for push notifications and how granular you would like to get with your campaigns and messaging you may want to build your native system, and you can do so with the following guide from Google. 

However, If you're trying to reinvent the wheel, want to try out the service, or you're looking for an easy to use push notification system you can set one up by installing one of the following service providers on your site.

1. One Signal

OneSignal is a customer engagement tool powering mobile push, web push, email, and in-app messages for 600,000+ businesses worldwide, they offer seamless integration with a number of CMS's like WordPress and is free for up to 30 000 notifications.

Visit their site - https://onesignal.com/

2. Push Engage

Push Engage is platform helps you automatically segment and automatically send web push notifications. Its free service allows sites to have 2,500 subscribers, 120 notification per month and 5000 Clicks per month.

Visit their site - https://www.pushengage.com/

3. Count.ly

Countly is a platform that assists marketers in enhancing customer journeys in the web, desktop and mobile applications. Sign up is free and users get 30 day trial of Countly Enterprise Edition.

Visit their site - https://count.ly/

4. Signal

Free for everyone as it is an Open Source project supported by grants and donations, Signal can put users first. There are no ads, no affiliate marketers, no creepy tracking. Just open technology for a fast, simple, and secure messaging experience.

Visit their site - https://signal.org/

5. Web Engage

WebEngage helps you craft contextual and personalized campaigns to engage your users through Push Notifications, In-app Messages, SMS, Web Push, Emails and more with a free trial available.

Visit their site - https://webengage.com/

6. Intercom

Intercom offers web push notifications along with a host of modern products for sales, marketing and support to connect with customers and grow faster. They also have a free trial of their services available.

Visit their site - https://www.intercom.com/

7. Push Alert

Push alert is another platform that specialises in web-based push notifications and offers a free version for up to 3000 subscribers.

Visit their site - https://pushalert.co/

8. Fox Push

Generate high quality leads with Fox push who provide a free version of their web-based push notification service.

Visit their site - https://www.foxpush.com/

10. Pusher

WebSocket creates an interface which establishes a continuous connection between the client and the server, they offer a free sandbox version for testing.

Visit their site - https://growth.pusher.com

11. Push Pad

Send web notifications manually from their dashboard. You can also automate notification sending with the REST API or using one of the libraries. Push Pad also offer a Zapier app for RSS feeds and other integrations. Push Pad offers a demo but no free service. They also offer a pay as you use service with no additional or hidden costs.

Visit their site - https://pushpad.xyz/

Creating a push notification

Once you've built up a database of subscribers you can then send them messages directly to their browsers. A web notification will require the following:

• The title of the message
• The text of the message which is customisable within certain character limits and a URL has to be specified.
• The URL you want to send a user to
• The users you want to send it to

These notifications will arrive in real-time even if the browser is not open at that point of time. Clicking on the announcement will take the subscriber to the URL specified.

Push your message

Setting up web push notifications is only half the battle; you will then need to refine your strategy over time. You will need to look at how you segment your users and define your message to make sure your notifications are attractive enough to encourage click through. 

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Have you been losing traffic to your website? How are you building direct lines of communication with your visitors? Share your story with us in the comments.

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Tags: marketing technology