What Is a Push Notification on a Website and How to Use It

In today’s highly competitive market, businesses are constantly looking for effective ways to attract and retain their target audience. Push notifications are a powerful and cost-efficient solution that allows brands to instantly connect with users, stay top of mind, and encourage repeat interactions. With this tool, companies can maintain communication with their customers even outside of their website or app.

This article explains what push notifications are, how they look, and how they differ from other types of short alerts. We’ll also cover their advantages, types, best practices for creating them, and the most popular platforms for sending notifications.

How Push Notifications Work and Why They Matter

A push notification (from the English word “push”) is a short message sent to a user’s device by a website or mobile app. The key point: the message can arrive even when the app or browser isn’t open.

Push notifications are widely used by e-commerce companies, banks, insurance providers, transportation services, taxi apps, and media outlets to:

• Notify users about new events, discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs.
• Promote new products or services.
• Bring users back to the website or app — for example, to complete a purchase or revisit a specific page.

Both mobile and browser notifications share a similar structure, typically including:

• A brand logo.
• A headline (up to 65 characters).
• Main text (up to 240 characters).
• An optional image.
• A link (in some cases).

The main difference between push notifications and pop-ups or other interruptive formats is user consent. Because users opt in to receive them, push messages are much less likely to feel intrusive and are generally perceived as useful.

Key Benefits of Push Notifications

For businesses, push notifications come with several clear advantages:

• Instant communication: Unlike SMS or email, a push appears immediately — no need for the user to open anything.
• One-click subscription: Users can subscribe without typing in an email address. Once they opt in, they receive a unique ID that’s tied to the service or website.
• Audience segmentation and personalization: Marketers can deliver targeted, relevant messages to different user groups.
• Low cost: Many platforms offer free or low-cost plans for sending notifications.

In short, push notifications are a simple, affordable, and effective tool to capture attention, boost engagement, and drive traffic. Done right, they can turn a casual subscriber into a loyal customer.

Types of Push Notifications

Push notifications generally fall into two main categories:

• Mobile Push Notifications. These are sent to users who subscribe when installing an app. In-app push messages are perfect for sharing updates or guiding customers to specific features. Android and iOS are the main delivery platforms.

According to RubyGarage, in-app notifications can increase engagement with an app by up to 88%.

• Browser Push Notifications. These appear on a user’s desktop or mobile browser. Brands use them to announce promotions, restocks, or news updates.

Subscribing is simple — users typically click “Allow” or adjust their browser settings to enable notifications. For instance, the accounting portal Debet-Kredit offers this feature to its visitors.

This is what push notifications can look like in a browser.

Tools and Platforms for Sending Push Notifications

Integrating push notifications into your website or app is easy with services such as:

• Gravitec;
• SendPulse;
• PushEngage;
• OneSignal.

Gravitec and SendPulse are Ukrainian-based platforms. Many of these services allow businesses to send push notifications for free, either indefinitely with limitations or during a trial period.

Best Practices for Creating Effective Push Notifications

To design push notifications that grab attention and drive action, follow these steps:

1. Define your goals — whether that’s increasing sales, driving traffic, or getting users back into the app.
2. Segment your audience — tailor messages for different groups and set up triggers for personalization.
3. Craft a strong headline, text, and call to action.
4. Add compelling visuals where relevant.
5. Schedule your notifications — optimize timing and frequency to avoid overwhelming users.

To measure success, track metrics such as CTR, subscription and unsubscribe rates, time on page (for media sites), and conversions.

Conclusion

When used strategically, push notifications are an excellent tool for building stronger relationships with your audience, boosting engagement, and driving repeat sales.

Looking to integrate push notifications into your website but not sure where to start? The experts at Sprava Agency can help you set up a high-performing notification system designed to increase customer loyalty and maximize engagement.