Are Progressive Web Apps Right for Your Company?
Having a website is a must for every company striving to keep up with competitors. Once upon a time, a simple website was enough to give consumers, clients, and other visitors a chance to learn more about what the company offers. That is no longer the case. A simple website is not enough. While it's a good first step, you'll quickly realize that modern users expect much more than static (or even dynamic) web pages for browsing information or purchasing goods. Today, users need modern features, interactive and high-performance applications that enhance the user experience. These users not only want sites with great content but also want to be able to use them on their mobile devices for maximum impact. One of the best ways to achieve this is a progressive web app.
What is a Progressive Web App?
The most important part of the equation is that a progressive web app must be delivered via the web. This technology was originally developed by Google and aims to deliver a high level of performance and stability regardless of the device on which the app is displayed. This means that by using the PWA standard, a company can create an app that works consistently every time, no matter what device it's shown on—desktop, laptop, or mobile. Let's think about that for a second.
Consider your company's website. If you visit the site through a desktop browser, it will look exactly as you expect. All elements will display, all features will work. But what if you access the site from an Android or iPhone device? Will the site work as well as it does on desktop? If the site was not designed with mobile in mind, it won't display or perform well. Moreover, sites built specifically for desktops generally do not provide a good experience on mobile devices. This is an important distinction to understand, especially considering that the majority of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site is built as a progressive web app (or converted to a PWA), the user experience will be equally good regardless of the device used.
Benefits of Progressive Web Apps
At this point, you might be wondering about the benefits of progressive web apps. You'll be glad to know there are many, including:
- Work on any platform
- Fit any screen
- Ability to work both online and offline
- Searchable
- Fast content updates and viewing
- Secure navigation
- Push notifications
- Accessible anytime
- Reduced bounce rate
- Increased engagement
- Seamless user interface
PWAs are also a great way to increase traffic to your site. Given that many users go online via mobile devices, an app or site built to these standards will drive business growth. Since PWAs offer a 'build once, deploy on any device' approach, they can be significantly more cost-effective than building separate apps for desktop and mobile. In our mobile-centric world, these features should be a must-have for your site.
Disadvantages of PWAs
Naturally, PWAs are not all benefits. There are a few drawbacks to consider, such as faster battery drain on mobile devices, lack of full support for all PWA features in iOS, and lack of access to all device hardware (e.g., some biometrics, in-app payments, camera access).
How to Build a Progressive Web App
It's important to understand that building a progressive web app is no more complicated than building a website. Moreover, many website platforms and frameworks (e.g., WordPress) can significantly simplify the process, ensuring correct functionality across all devices. For example, there are WordPress plugins you can install to create a PWA based on your site. One such plugin is SuperPWA. With this plugin, users visiting your site will see an 'Add To Home Screen' notification, allowing them to 'install the site' and launch it directly from their device's home screen. This add-on is certainly the easiest way to convert a WordPress site into a PWA. If you're not using WordPress, you'll need to work with developers to create a PWA from scratch (or based on your current site). The main steps for building a PWA are:
- Create an app shell (which should include an index.html document using inline CSS).
- Register a service worker.
- Add push notifications.
- Add a web app manifest.
- Set up the install prompt.
- Analyze app performance.
- Audit the app to ensure it follows best practices.
It may seem like a complex process, but it's not. Any developer who has worked with JavaScript and frameworks like Angular JS should feel right at home developing progressive web apps. Other languages and frameworks used to build PWAs include HTML, CSS, ReactJS, VueJS, Ionic, and Svelte.
Conclusion
If your business is serious about growing traffic to your site, e-commerce or service solutions, then a progressive web app could be the perfect blend of all use cases and user types. By creating just one app, you can be confident that you'll satisfy more users with less effort.