A complete guide : impact of Web Push Notifications on your SEO

If you’re looking for ways to generate qualified traffic, then this is the article you need to click on.

You’ve probably already noticed a little pop-up window on some websites asking you if you’d like to receive notifications. Well, these are Web Push Notifications, messages sent by websites directly to desktops and mobiles, even when you’re not even on the site in question.

But to start off, if the notion of Web Push Notification is still pretty vague for you, here’s everything you need to know ⬇️

Google introduced Web Push Notifications with Chrome version 42. According to the American giant, users who accept these notifications are 2.5 times more likely to revisit the site.

But, did you know that Web Push Notifications can also impact your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in a positive way? They influence KPIs for search engines, like bounce rate, time spent on the site, user loyalty, etc.

The aim of this article is simple: to show you how to boost your SEO with Web Push Notifications.

🫡The “friendly SEO” via Web Push Notifications

All the different SEO techniques used by content publishers and blogs have one thing in common: they aim to attract as much traffic as possible. So, it only seems natural to focus on generating relevant, repeated traffic.

Thanks to notifications, you can:

• Make sure your qualified users revisit your site on a regular basis
• Boost your site’s reputation
• Promote your site’s recommendations
• Generate new visitors

For example, a notification sent for a newly-published cooking recipe could include a link to the recipe, an image of the dish and a short description. (Note that the number of characters is limited to 100). This would inspire users to revisit the site to check out the recipe, give their opinion or ask for advice, and maybe even share it on social media.

Web Push Notifications are also really effective for improving your bounce rate, average session time and page views.

First advantage to start off with: the push notification opt-in rate is 15 times higher than the emailing one. This means that you’re 15 times more likely to reach your users again via Web Push Notifications than via email.

🤔How do Web Push Notifications influence your SEO

The question that often comes up: can Web Push Notifications have a negative impact on my SEO? Well, the answer’s NO! Rest assured 😌 For proof: even Google encourages you to use Web Push Notifications to boost your site’s ranking and improve your traffic.

Web Push Notifications, a lever that reduces bounce rate

Web Push Notifications can help you reduce your bounce rate, by sending relevant, customized messages to users who have visited your site but who haven’t continued to browse. 

For example, you can remind them about a product they viewed, propose a special offer to them, suggest a bonus article, etc. When users click the notification, they’re redirected to your site and can discover more of your content pages. Like this, you’ll increase the number of page views per user and you’ll reduce your bounce rate.

As you can see in the graph below, Shopify and The Quint saw their bounce rates drop by 30%* by using Web Push Notifications

And, that’s only a few examples. There are a host of other case studies about firms which achieved huge success thanks to Web Push Notifications. Let’s go a bit further and take a look at a case study about Koovs which also reduced its bounce rate by 12%.

A tool for increasing time spent on a site

A Localytics study showed that Web Push Notifications can increase time spent on a site by 90%** (that’s really incredible 🤯).

Time spent on a site is a key visitor engagement indicator. The more users visit your site, the more likely they are to interact with your content, convert and become customers, and recommend your site.

The winning combo:

Time spent on the site = conversions + recommendations -> jackpot ✨

Here are a few examples of push notifications you can send to keep your visitors on your site:

• A news site sent a push notification to inform visitors about a major event. The notification led to a 50% increase in visits to the event page. (Localytics study)
• A blog site sent a push notification to inform visitors about a new competition. The notification led to a 20% increase in competition entries. (Leanplum study)

By using Web Push Notifications strategically, you can increase the time spent on your site and improve your visitor engagement. As the graph below shows (with randomly selected customer data, for reasons of confidentiality 😉): time spent on a site via Web Push Notifications is 2.3 times more than via email marketing.

Here are a few tips for using Web Push Notifications effectively 👌

• Send relevant notifications (write your messages without rambling on)
• Send notifications at the right time (no-one wants to receive notifications in the middle of the night!💤)
• Vary your notification content (be creative)

Web Push Notifications: a boost for page views

As you know, to ensure your SEO is good, you need to choose your keywords🎯 well and, at the same time, optimize other aspects of your website, like loading speed, structure, content, etc. And, among these aspects, there’s a key engagement indicator for any website: page views. This tells you the number of times a page has been visited and can be used to keep track on your content and marketing campaign performance.

The more your pages are viewed, the more you can boost your natural SEO. Google, Bing and the other search engines take the number of page views for a site into account to determine its ranking in search results.

Using an acquisition source such as Web Push Notifications can help you increase this KPI significantly, and even more.

Assess the impact of Web Push Notifications on page views, by combining these two tools 

✅Your Web Push Notification platform, that will show you statistics for click-through rates, opt-in per device, open rates, conversions generated by your notifications and a host of other key KPIs. As such, you can find out how many people clicked your notifications and what actions they performed on your site.

✅Your web analytical tool, like Google Analytics, which will deliver you a report detailing the number of users or number of page views per acquisition source. So, you’ll be able to find out which percentage of your traffic comes from Web Push Notifications and compare its performance with other sources, like organic, social media, Paid, etc.

A real-life example of Web Push Notification impact on page views is that of multimedia giant Prensa Libre, which totted up over 300,000 monthly visitors on its website in a year by using this communication tool.

Prensa Libre was able to segment its subscribers based on their: 

• Interests
• Location
• Behavior

The click-through rate, which is the ratio between the number of notifications sent and the number of clicks generated, depends on the quality and relevance of your notifications, as well as on how often and when you send them. A click-through rate for Web Push Notifications can reach 7% on average. As such, if you launch a campaign to 20,000 subscribers, an average of 1,400 of them will visit your site. (estimation)

User loyalty and re-engagement

User loyalty and re-engagement are must-haves. Basically, it’s easier and cheaper to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new one.

Loyalty brings a host of advantages. In addition to their tendency to revisit the site on a regular basis, a loyal user becomes a real brand ambassador. Actively recommends the site to their social circle and, as such, creates a positive snowball effect.

How do Web Push Notifications pull off this feat? 

• By boosting return visits: notifications encourage users to revisit the site to discover new content, products and offers. This increase in return visits is seen by search engines as something positive that boosts the site’s relevance and appeal.
• By increasing conversions: well-targeted notifications can direct users to specific pages, these messages help change visits into real actions, as such improving conversion metrics. Like United eXtra Electronics which increased its e-commerce sales by 100% by using Web Push Notifications.
• By boosting backlinks: loyal users often share content in forums and on social media. This natural action can lead to generating organic backlinks which boost the site’s status and credibility for search engines.

😎SEO strategies via Web Push Notification

As you’ve seen, Web Push Notifications can impact your SEO in a positive way by influencing KPIs for search engines.

Checklist of best practices for including Web Push Notifications in your SEO strategy

• Select a tool tailored to your needs: there are a host of tools that let you create and send Web Push Notifications, such as Adrenalead’s Notifadz, OneSignal, PushEngage, etc. Compare their features, customer support, prices, and user review before making your choice. Also think about checking that you can send scheduled campaigns and triggers
• Segment your audience: (hands-on case of Prensa Libre who did this brilliantly, our team awards them 5 stars)
• Come up with THE tagline, THE buzz: attract, charm and spark emotion. To do this, you need to use short, powerful messages, get straight to the point, be brief, and remember to use your call-to-action 😉. And, finally, you need to comply with best web editing practices, such as using keywords, tags, and SEO-optimized URLs.
• Test and analyze your notifications: remember to log into your Google Analytics, as well as the notification platform you use, to compare data. You can also perform A/B testing, that will let you compare the performance of two different versions of a notification.

 Infographic on the advantages of Web Push Notifications for publishers

🔒HTTPS and Web Push Notification 

Search engines take security and privacy into account when ranking websites. They favor sites that comply with standards and regulations in effect, like HTTPS protocol and the GDPR.

How can you guarantee the security and privacy of your Web Push Notifications?

There are a few basic rules to follow to guarantee the security and privacy of your Web Push Notifications:

• Use HTTPS protocol: HTTPS protocol ensures the security and transmission of data between your site and users’ browsers.
• Comply with the GDPR: the GDPR sets out obligations in terms of consent, transparency, and protection of users’ personal data.
• Be clear about the purpose: the frequency and content of your notifications. Users need to know what to expect when they receive your notifications.

🤓Conclusion: what you should remember

Are you still here? Okay, we’re ready 😁. Let’s try to sum it all up in a few lines.
Web Push Notifications are powerful and can have a positive impact on your SEO, by influencing KPIs, such as:

• Bounce rate
• Time spent on the site
• Page views
• User loyalty

To get the best out of web Push Notifications for your SEO, here are a few tips:

• Select a tool tailored to your needs
• Ask users for their consent
• Segment your audience
• Come up with the right tagline, buzz
• Test and analyze your notifications

And, last but not least, remember to comply with best security and privacy practices, by using HTTPS protocol and the GDPR.

Sources : 

*Shopify blog, “Comment les notifications push peuvent améliorer votre taux de conversion”, article du 20/07/2022.
The Quint, “Comment les notifications push ont boosté notre trafic organique”, article du 20/08/2022.
**Localytics: Case Study: How a News Site Increased Website Traffic by 50% with Push Notifications 
Leanplum: Case Study: How a Blog Increased Contest Entries by 20% with Push Notifications