5 Best WordPress Push Notifications Plugins

 

Want to keep readers updated with what’s new on your blog or website? Why not configure web push notifications to share the updates? Learn to use WordPress push notifications plugins and add push notifications in WordPress.

A key to the success of a blog or website is the number of visitors it attracts. You need to keep your visitors engaged and involved to make them return to your website. To achieve this you should ensure that your content stays at the forefront of reader’s minds. Browser-based push notifications update visitors new and trending content on a WordPress site. You can send messages directly to connected phones or desktops. This ensures that your audience knows that you have something new to share. In this article, let us know about web push notifications and how they work.

What is Web Push Notifications?

Push Notifications are the clickable small notes or alert messages which display on your desktop browser or mobile screen when you visit a website. These generally inform you about the latest posts, news offers or deals from a website. The pop-up style push notifications are attractive in look and are able to catch the user’s attention. An example of a push notification would be the browser prompts for any activity on your social profile even if you are offline.

Push notifications help in the real-time pushing of blog or site content updates to visitors. 

Types of Push Notifications

Some of the commonly used types of push notifications:

• Time-sensitive critical event notification.
• Personalized notifications.
• Reminder notifications.
• User-subscribed notifications.
• Marketing notifications.
• Content notifications.
• Update Notifications.
• Location-specific notifications.

How do push notifications work?

Push notifications are easy to implement and follow a simple mechanism. Push notifications are delivered on user’s devices as a message. If the notification is clicked on it will take the user directly to the website.

Look at how a push notification is set up and delivered in real-time:

• A visitor to a website with push notifications enabled is prompted to allow notifications. If he chooses so, the browser registers a script corresponding to the website.
• If the website wishes to push a notification, the push notification service provider delivers the notification using the script registered with the browser.
• Online subscribers will see the notification immediately.
• Offline subscribers will see it the next time they open the browser.

How to Add WordPress Push Notifications to a Website?

Push notifications for a WordPress site are very easy to set up using a WordPress push notifications plugin. There are many different WordPress plugins and they all follow a similar approach. Most plugins allow you to choose what content you want to promote with a push notification.

You need to install and configure a WordPress push notifications plugin. The first time visitors to your site will receive a prompt to opt into the notifications. After they agree they will receive all the push notifications that you send from your website or blog. Users can also choose to opt out of the push notifications anytime.

Best WordPress Push Notifications Plugins

OneSignal – Free Web Push Notifications

The OneSignal is the popular WordPress push notifications plugin. You can send automatic notifications to the readers whenever new content is published. The plugin allows you to set opt-in for the site visitors to configure desktop notifications. The website visitors can sign up for push notification services with features like targeted notifications, A/B testing etc.

Features

• Setup scheduled and automatic notifications for both online and offline users.
• Reminders to readers if they haven’t visited the website for a long time.
• Target visitors based on pre-defined and custom attributes such as language, the frequency of visits etc.
• Opt-in customizations to select when and how to ask site visitors to opt-in to browser notifications.
• Real-time analytics to view notifications being delivered and leading to more site visits.
• A/B testing to verify the kind of messages that draw the most subscribers.
• Unlimited push notifications.

Push Notifications for WordPress (Lite)

The Push Notifications for WordPress (Lite) plugin has a built-in hub that allows WordPress to send push notifications directly. You can send real-time alert messages to the website visitors. This WordPress push notifications plugin is great for personal blogs or for beginners.

Pros:

• Configurable and automatic notifications to subscribers. 
• Users can select the categories of posts for which they want to receive notifications.
• Detailed push notifications analytics.
• Localization ready for English and Italian.

Cons:

• In the free version, the notifications are limited to 1000 per platform for each post.
• Supports only mobile devices (iOS, Android, and Fire OS).

PushEngage Browser Push Notifications Plugin

PushEngage is a leading WordPress push notifications plugin for blogs and websites. This plugin sends web push notifications to site visitors and engages with them. The visitors get the notifications even when they are offline. WordPress websites can use the plugin to get automatic notifications when publishing a new post.

Pros:

• PushEngage enables Push without requiring the websites to implement HTTPS.
• Multiple sites can be managed and different people gets added to a single PushEngage account. Access to different screens is controlled by each team member.
• Using Custom Segments you can personalize the messages or you can use your own segments.

Cons:

• The free plan allows only up to 2,500 subscribers and up to 120 notifications a month.
• The supported browsers are Chrome and Firefox. 

SendPulse Free Web Push

SendPulse free Web Push is a WordPress plugin to add push notifications functionality to a website. You can use this WordPress push notifications plugin to quickly inform the customers about important events.

Features

• With support for offline notifications, users will see the notifications as soon as they come online.
• Can send notifications as per user personalization and segmentation.
• Send push messages on triggers and set up automatic messaging when certain conditions are met.
• Real-time analytics, see the notifications being delivered in real time.

Roost Web Push

Roost Web Push allows you to send automatic notifications for all new posts or for posts in a certain category. You can also decide to send notifications when updating a post. Site visitors can share notifications on social media. They can also control the number and type of messages they receive. This WordPress push notifications plugin offers versatile features such as customized user experience, content triggers, and notification prompt controls etc.

Pros:

• Can send messages to selected groups or on a one-to-one basis.
• Can send notifications with an article’s title, a custom headline or an image. You can customize user experience to let the subscribers receive messages that are relevant to them.
• Real-time analytics and scheduling of post notifications.
• ‘The Bell’ which is a notification center letting subscribers view most important recent notifications. This gives subscribers complete control over their subscriptions.
• With the ‘bbPress’ subscriptions feature, site visitors can subscribe to forums, topics, or individual messages when posting replies.
• Social sharing options and support for all major browsers.

Cons:

With the Starter plan, the free limit is up to 100,000 messages per month.

Conclusion

Push notifications offer direct connect with the target audience and a WordPress push notifications plugin serves you at its best. You can not only share new content with them, but also send reminders to visit your website. You need to keep in mind that the balance has to be right in the number of push notifications that you send out.