The Blogger Guide to Web Push Notifications

Bloggers rely on web push notifications to build relationships with their readers. Specifically, push notifications serve to help bloggers share their content and, most importantly, drive traffic.

Picture this. You recently published a new blog post and now you are looking to promote your content. The internet provides plenty of tools for blog sharing, such as social media or email marketing.

But, the problem with social media is that posts often get lost amongst the clutter of timelines. Similarly, emails are often lost in inboxes, or worse, never get delivered.

So, what if there was a more direct way to reach readers? Introducing, web push notifications.

What are Web Push Notifications?

Website Push Notifications are short notices that are sent directly to devices, such as your computer or mobile. They work similarly to smartphone notifications but are sent through a user’s browser.

Many Fortune 500 businesses regularly rely on web push notifications. Today, bloggers and small business owners can access this technology through many affordable and free services, like Seynd.

How it Works for Bloggers:

Web push notifications are clickable messages that are sent through subscribers’ browsers. By using the internet to send notifications, push notifications can appear on both desktops and mobile devices.

Subscriptions often require only one click, and users are then added to your ‘marketing list’. Once a visitor subscribes, you, the blogger, can start sending notifications any time you publish a new post.

To clarify, your marketing list will consist of all browsers that agree to receive push notifications from you. Rather than capturing email addresses, web push notification services often collect IP addresses to build your subscriber list. This method is how subscribers will receive your notifications when they open their web browser.

Before you start using web push notifications, you should consider the overall advantages, drawbacks, and how to solve those flaws.

Pros and Cons

Web Push Notifications are still a fairly new marketing tool, and not all services are the same. Here is an overview of its merits and faults to consider.

Pros

• New technology will give you a competitive advantage. Visitors have yet to become fatigued with banner blindness. Now that web push notifications are available to bloggers, it will be easy to compete.
  
  
• Works on Desktop and Mobile. Bloggers don’t need to develop an app to reach their mobile readers. Web push notifications work through most mobile devices through its browser. Note: iOS does not support web push notifications at this time.
  
  
• Open rates are 50% higher than email marketing. Since web push notifications are sent directly to subscribers, read rates and open rates are usually 100%.
  
  
• Web push notifications are clickable, so redirecting visitors to your blog post is easy.

Cons

• Web push notifications can affect email opt-in rates. The trade-off with the one-click subscribe method is that it doesn’t capture email addresses. So, if growing your email list is your goal, you may need to add another subscriber pop-up. Bloggers may even notice a drop in email subscriptions if users prefer push notifications instead.
  
  If email addresses are what you’re after, try using push notifications to promote content surveys or giveaways, requiring users to sign up with their email.
  
  You could also use the double-opt-in method. Seynd makes customizable double opt-in landing pages to work alongside your email marketing efforts.
  
  
• Push notifications can interrupt or distract visitors. The initial confirmation box and the later notification messages may annoy online users when they are using their browsers.
  
  In that case, sticking to best practices for scheduling and frequency control for web push notifications is vital. But more on that later!
  
  
• They don’t always account for subscribers that may change browsers. Luckily, Seynd works with most browsers including Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Chrome, UC Browser, and Safari.
  
  Still, push notifications may look differently depending on the browser.

Web Push notifications are new and changing the way bloggers market their content. The following are seven popular reasons why bloggers are starting to use web push notifications.

Why Bloggers Use Web Push Notifications

1. Avoid Negative Rankings

In 2017, Google announced that pop-ups on mobile devices would begin to receive a negative ranking.

Browser push notifications are a great alternative for bloggers to reach subscribers through their mobile devices without worrying about any backlash.

2. Higher Blogger Opt-Ins

The one-click subscribe feature makes it easy for visitors to become subscribers and is four times more effective than email. Subscribing no longer require visitors to fill out any web form.

As a result, bloggers feel less pressure to create email incentives or upgrade their content.

3. Drive More Traffic

Since web push notifications are direct, they reduce the number of actions subscribers must take to get to your blog. Top bloggers who use web push notifications are thus able to redirect subscribers and maintain high levels of repeat traffic.

Magnet4blogging.com is a great example of how using Browser push notifications can drive more traffic. They gained 20 new subscribers in their first day of using web push notifications. Push notifications have since been their third-largest source of traffic for their blog.

Web push notifications are also a great alternative to email and social media to promote time-sensitive posts. They allow you to reach subscribers in real-time and can help you build a reputation for being the first to every story or trend.

Additionally, real-time delivery is perfect to drive traffic to your live events, your broadcasts, or your latest social media posts.

4. Easy and Instant

Every time you publish a new blog post, your web push notification will notify your subscribers instantly.

Viewers feel more connected to bloggers with instant updates on new content compared to repeated social media posts. Developing relationships with your subscribers can do wonders in building your brand as a blogger.

Also, web push notifications are short. So designing and composing a campaign takes you way less time and effort.

At a minimum, push notifications require a title, short description (about 126 characters), an image, and a link to your blog. It’s like sending a Tweet, only your subscribers are certain to read it.

5. Higher Click-Throughs

The average click-through rate (CTR) for web push notifications is roughly 18% across different industries, with up to 40% CTR.

Notifications are clickable, so subscribers are likely to click on them immediately after delivery. Then, they are redirected to your blog post.

Seynd’s web push notifications can even be set up so that notifications require an action to be taken to disappear.

Web push notifications show up on top of your browser windows. Thus, they are the center of attention in every delivery. This helps create a sense of urgency for subscribers to check content, compared to emails that may sit in their inbox or spam folder.

Even if subscribers don’t end up clicking, the immediate view of a push notification keeps your blog fresh on their minds.

6. Relevant Blog Content for Readers

Segmentation is a great tool to send readers relevant blogs based on what topics interest them most. Most notification services allow you to segment your subscribers.

Seynd can segment visitors based on the web page they choose to subscribe to. In turn, you can segment your readers based on the original content that inspired them to opt-in for more.

Scheduling notifications can also increase your blog engagement. Reaching out to readers when they are likely to have free time will increase the chances that they will read your blog.

7. Establish Unique Blogger Brand

Using web push notification drip campaigns can effectively direct new subscribers to your cornerstone content. That is the content and blog posts that establish your brand, ideologies, or achievements.

However, too many web push notifications can annoy your readers. Be sure to limit the number of notifications you send per week.

At this time, there is no set frequency average. So it’s up to you to monitor your engagement and understand your readers to find the right number for you.

Blogger’s 5-Step Set Up with Seynd (Plus Best Practices)

1. How to Sign Up

Bloggers can set up their web push notifications with Seynd by heading over to the ‘Purchase’ page and selecting a plan that works for them. Seynd’s Free plan starts users with a 2,000 subscriber limit. They will also get a free trial of Seynd’s “Pro Package” which includes more custom features and tools.

After you sign up, navigate to the customer login to access your dashboard.

2. How to Add Your Blogger Site

Once you access your dashboard, move your cursor to the sidebar and click on ‘websites’. To add a new website, click ‘New Site’ and add a website title, URL, and a brief description.

Next, you can either add a small javascript code to your blog or install Seynd’s WordPress plug-in.

3. Customize Subscriber Prompt

Now that you’ve connected Seynd to your website, you can start customizing your sign-up prompt. Move to ‘CTA’ in the sidebar.

Here you have the option to use a pop-up modal, an inline text, or an inline button.

Here are some best practices for your prompt:

1. Use an image that best represents your brand as a blogger. This could be a logo or a photo of yourself.
   
   
2. Clearly state the benefits of subscribing to your web push notifications in the description.
   
   
3. Highlight your subscribe button to entice your visitors to click.
   
   
4. If visitors choose not to sign up, don’t be afraid to ask again later.

As good practice, give visitors a week before asking for their subscription again. However, Seynd does allow you to customize this between one day to 30 days.

When you’re done customizing your subscriber prompt, click ‘save and activate’.

Now when your subscribers visit your page, they will be greeted with the option to receive your notifications. When they hit accept, they will be taken to a separate landing page that instructs them on how to allow notifications from you on their browser.

Seynd offers various default landing page templates for bloggers to start with. To customize a landing page, click on ‘Landers’ to preview and edit any of the layouts.

4. Set up Welcome Campaign

Welcome campaigns are the best way to introduce your brand and connection with your blog subscribers. Take the opportunity to show new subscribers how web push notifications work and how you plan to use it.

Like email drip campaigns, a notification welcome campaign (and campaigns in general) are triggered by a new subscriber. Once triggered, a series of notifications are sent over time.

To create your welcome campaign, go to your ‘Campaigns’ sidebar tab. Then, proceed to the ‘New Campaign’ tab.

Under the drop-down menu for ‘Campaign Type’, select ‘Welcome’.

Next, give your campaign a title and a brief description of its purpose, then click ‘Save Campaign’.

Now you can add new messages, as shown in the following.

Here are a couple of best practices to keep in mind:

1. Use large images and button icons to allure subscribers to take the action to read your blog.
   
   
2. Avoid spamming. Spread out your drip campaign over a few days.

A welcome campaign is perfect for a blogger to start driving traffic as soon as visitors subscribe.

5. Generate Traffic and Promote Your Blog

When your welcome campaign is over and you have built a rapport with your readers, you can continue to promote your blog and generate traffic using normal push notifications.

Simply click on the ‘Seynds’ tab to get started.

From this page you have the option to send a notification immediately, schedule a push notification, or A/B/n test your web push notifications.

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind:

1. Again, you’ll want to use bold and attractive images to entice subscribers to read more.
   
   
2. Keep your body text short to evoke curiosity.
   
   
3. When you can, use custom buttons. These might only show on PCs, but they have proven to increase click-through rates.

Blogger’s Secret to Success: Web Push Notifications

Web Push Notifications are an effective and underrated tool for bloggers. They can enhance your relationship with your audience, drive consistent traffic, and are easy to use.

If you’re looking for the same results as most successful bloggers, start using web push notifications.