Creating great content on a regular basis isn’t enough if you want a steady, engaged audience for your website. Getting people to come back to your page time after time is the harder part.
That’s the gap push notifications fill, and it’s a tactic that has picked up real traction in recent years. Site owners use them mainly to:
- Capture audience attention in the moment
- Increase return visits
- Get higher CTR and engagement than a typical newsletter signup
Let’s look at what push notifications actually are, how they work, and what they’re good for. If you’re still setting up the basics, our 5 Simple Tips For WordPress Beginners is worth reading first.
Benefits of WordPress Push Notifications
WordPress push notifications let you reach readers no matter where they are online. Even while they’re scrolling somewhere else entirely, your notification pops up on their screen.
Some of the biggest benefits:
- Alert subscribers the moment you publish a new post
- Send out coupons and deals if you’re selling a product
- Promote new product or feature releases
- Give subscribers a clean opt-in/opt-out
- Take less attention than reading an email
- Pull subscribers back to your site effectively
That said, moderation matters here. Notify people too often and some will opt out.
How to Set Up Web Push Notifications in WordPress
One of the most popular ways to add push notifications to WordPress is the OneSignal plugin, a free service that handles notifications for both mobile apps and the web.
OneSignal Setup
- Install and activate the OneSignal plugin.
- You’ll see a new OneSignal menu item below the WordPress admin bar once it’s active.
- Click the icon to open the plugin’s settings page.
The settings page has Setup and Configuration tabs, with the credentials you’ll need to connect OneSignal to your site. Add your API key and application ID there, then follow the steps below.
Step 1: Setting up Push Notifications for Chrome and Firefox
- Create a free account on the OneSignal website.
- Log in, click Add a New App, and enter an App Name.
- Click Create after naming your app.
- Under platform to configure, choose Website Push, then click Next.
- Select Web Push under browser platform, then click Next.
- On the next screen, choose WordPress plugin (rather than Website Builder).
- Scroll down and add your site name and URL.
- Check the “My Site Is Not Fully HTTPS” box only if your site doesn’t support SSL/HTTPS yet. It’s not mandatory otherwise.
- Click Save to close the dialog. Click Yes if a setup-incomplete prompt appears.
You’ll then be given the App ID and API Key you’ll need to finish setting up the OneSignal WordPress plugin.
Step 2: Getting OneSignal Keys
- In your app dashboard, click App Settings.
- On the page that appears, click the Keys & IDs tab.
- Copy the OneSignal App ID and REST API Key shown there into the configuration tab of the OneSignal WordPress plugin.
Step 3: Setting up Safari Web Push Notifications
- From your App Settings page, scroll down to web platforms and click Configure next to Apple Safari.
- In the dialog that appears, enter your site name and URL.
- Check the box next to “I’d like to upload my own notification icons.”
- Upload each icon size using the Choose File buttons provided.
- Click Save and close the dialog.
- Refresh the page and scroll to the Web Platforms section. Your Web ID appears under Apple Safari.
- Paste that Web ID into the Configuration tab of the OneSignal plugin.
Once these steps are done, push notifications are configured for your WordPress site.
Step 4: Testing push notifications on your WordPress site
By default, the OneSignal plugin adds a subscription icon to your site. To test it:
- Visit your site in a supported browser and click the subscribe button. You should see a default “Thank You for Subscribing” message.
- In your OneSignal account, open the App Settings tab and click your app name. Scroll to the web platform section, then click Configure next to Firefox and Google Chrome.
- On the platform configuration screen, click Save and Continue.
- Select the target SDK, then select WordPress and click Next. Since you’ll have a single subscriber at this point, your subscriber ID fills in automatically.
- Click Next to open the Test Settings section.
- Click Send Test Notification.
- You’ll receive a web push notification from OneSignal. Its appearance depends on the browser you’re using.
- Click the notification when it appears. A confirmation message tells you the setup succeeded.
- Back on the OneSignal configure screen, click Check Notification Status to confirm push notifications were added to your site successfully.
Wrapping Up
If you’re looking for a reliable way to stay in touch with the people visiting your site, WordPress push notifications are hard to beat. Because subscribers opt in, you can be confident the people receiving your notifications actually want to hear from you.
Author: Syed Qasim Abbas is a digital marketing consultant at PressTigers, a WordPress development company. You can hire a WordPress developer from PressTigers to help set up push notifications on your own site.
