Progressive web app developer (PWA) is an easy way to make your website act as if it were an app. Why would you want to do that? We’ll discuss the benefits of doing so in this article!
What’s a Progressive Web App?
A progressive web app (PWA) is a website that provides additional functions for mobile devices, such as smartphones. The additional functions of a PWA can include offline access, push notifications, an option to install a PWA on the home screen, and many more.
PWAs first came along back in 2015, when they were developed by Google. The big G developed PWAs specifically for Android devices in the beginning; however, PWAs were also available on iOS around March 2018.
Progressive web apps are very similar to websites in that they’re written with code. The code includes HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and more. With these codes, it’s possible to launch a PWA in different browsers on a broad range of devices, from desktops and laptops to smartphones and more.
A PWA will look just like a regular website in a desktop or laptop browser. However, if a mobile device is used, the site will become something like a hybrid combination of the site and a native app.
So, what are the advantages of making your site a PWA? We’ll cover that in the next sections!
1) Reduced Cost of a Mobile Version
Most companies are interested in creating a native app; however, to accomplish this, it’s necessary to hire two separate teams (in most cases). It takes one Android team and one iOS team to develop separate mobile versions for these platforms. The result is an extremely expensive app development project that costs twice as much.
When you choose the PWA route, this is a great way to get more for your money. This is why businesses should consider making their sites into PWAs. There’s no need to create separate native apps. Instead, one PWA developer team can come in and build the cross-platform application quickly and easily.
Your business ends up saving money and cutting costs by making your site into a PWA.
2) Improved Security
Most businesses are deeply concerned about cyber-attacks and other security issues. And they’re right to be concerned, as the level of cyber crimes continues to rise. This is another benefit that can be found in turning to progressive web apps.
PWAs technology works to improve security. It protects transmitted data, prevents men-in-the-middle attacks, and more through the use of HTTP protocol and SSL certificates.
3) Increased Customer Engagement and Re-engagement
PWAs also allow businesses to have better interactions with their customers. The reason is that brands can reach out to customers through push notifications to let them know about new products, discounts, and more. Users can also be notified of the status of their orders and get personalised recommendations.
This type of deeper interaction with customers is a huge benefit to ecommerce businesses. With the ability to send push notifications, customers end up spending more time on the website. The can lead to higher conversion rates, too.
The PWA makes push notifications an extremely valuable marketing tool, which can help raise brand awareness and increase sales.
What’s more, there’s a function that can allow a customer to let the PWA “add to the home screen.” The advantage here is that a customer can then access the website even faster. The function makes it easier for the customer to re-engage with their favourite ecommerce sites and brands.
In addition, a PWA makes it unnecessary for a customer to install a traditional app on their device. Many customers hesitate to do this, as their device may be low on space, they may be confused about why they would need an app, fear excessive ads and technical issues.
However, the PWA completely removes these issues by making the user experience very close to what they would expect from a native app. This is a great bonus for users, as they are not forced to download an app and go through a lengthy installation process. They also don’t have to worry about not having enough storage on their device for yet another app. Everyone wins—the business and its customers—through the use of progressive web apps.
4) Improved Ranking in the Search Engines
Since 2018, when mobile-first indexing was introduced by Google, the company has been giving priority to fast, mobile-friendly websites. If you want to be high in Google’s search engine, then having a mobile-friendly site has been a must.
These days, however, PWAs can be a huge help. How? Because they are, in essence, mobile-friendly websites. Users benefit by not having to download anything from an App store. The business benefits by not having to create two native apps. Instead, they rely on one PWA, which is installed on the device home screen of their customers.
What’s more, the business benefits from using a PWA because it helps Google to find and index their sites much faster. And users are happy to have easy, fast access to their favourite products and services. They can easily find your site, for instance, which can translate into more traffic and higher conversion rates.
5) Better Conversion Rates
Speaking of better conversion rates… that’s always the goal of any ecommerce site. When the site has a slow response speed and poor performance, the result is a high bounce rate. Users would rather leave the site for a competitor rather than waste their precious time waiting for your slow site to load!
This is another place where PWAs can shine. They are built for speed. Users can shop much faster and complete their shopping cart that much faster, too. The result is a great user experience, which brings customers back for more.
In addition, businesses can benefit from using a location tracing feature. Location traction makes it possible for the company to target the right customers at the right time. What does this look like? It means customers receive personalised messages on their abandoned shopping carts and more. They can also be notified of sales and discounts and other relevant information.
All of these functionalities come together in the PWA and can work well to increase conversion rates for ecommerce companies.
Summing It Up
Progressive web apps can bring huge benefits to both businesses and their customers. PWAs are a wonderful tool to engage and re-engage customers, often resulting in higher conversion rates and improving the user experience.
Now is the time to invest in a PWA for your own website! Not taking action now means your business will surely fall behind. Now’s the right time to turn your website into a PWA.