What is a PWA and why your Business can benefit by having a Progressive Web App

Progressive Web Apps are going to be the future. But why?

The internet is changing so fast that the website you built in 2013 is not the same. New technologies come out every month, so falling behind with the time is actually pretty easy. Most business owners think that having a website can last many years without any updates or changes.

The day of having a site that is static and not updated regularly with the latest code and technologies is over. Long gone are the day of just having a few keywords and pictures, and "vualá" you showed up as the main website on a Google search. Customers now have big expectations for websites they visit. Load time, browse time, and many other factors are important to your customer.

PWA basic described by Google's official website

Progressive Web Apps are basically an easier more efficient way to access information on a website. Here is the key criteria

Reliable

Fast

Engaging

1) Reliable and consistent usage

PWA allowed your website visitor to add your icon to their smartphone home screen. Your website is also accessible when the person is in a spotty reception area or even offline in airplane mode. The reason this is so advantageous to any small business owner is because your customers and visitors can access your information at any time right from their smartphone home screen. This means that the return rate at which people will come back and visit your website will be much higher than if your icon was not on their home screen and had to visit your website by memory.

2) Fast for returning customers

Did you know that 53% of users will most likely abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load? This is according to Google's internal statistics.

Like I was saying earlier, a website build in 2011-2014, or even a couple years ago most likely is not going to cut the mustard anymore. With consumer attention spans gets shorter every year , a small business owner can't afford not to capture EVERY single visitor that they spend time and money marketing to. Having a PWA compatible website will help your visitors have easier access to your information at all times.

3) Building more engaging content

With a PWA website you can engage your customers once they have added your site to their home screen using Zambuki's unique way of prompting them to do that.

Creating a website that drives user engagement will also get Google's attention. According to Convert.com reducing page loan time can lower your website's bounce rate (how fast people leave your site).

Big Companies Are Going PWA

It's no secret that big companies want to use the latest technologies out there to drive more sales. Usually the way it works is: a big company finds out a technology is going to benefit their customers and then they have their internal team figure it out. Since most of small businesses don't have a huge IT department they don't usually jump on new things right away because there is a barrier to entry. Zambuki is partnered technology providers that allow us to roll out this type of technology normally reserved for large companies, at a small business price. Below are some of the house hold name companies that are also jumping on this technology because they know how valuable it is.

‍

Twitter

‍

Twitter announced it was going to build their web based platform as a PWA which they called "Twitter Lite". As more and more large companies begin to transition their platform to PWA, it will become more and more common for websites to be PWA compatible. So why not get ahead of the curve with your own PWA capable website?

Spotify's desktop application is a PWA

‍

Spotify is the number one streaming platform in the world. In a community post, they let their user base know that they will be using Google's PWA technology to build all of their platforms going forward.

Washington Post

The Washington Post announced way back in 2016 that their website was now PWA compatible. This allows their users and readers to have a more seamless experience.

‍

The list goes on.

How can a Small Business use PWA technology?

Being a small business owner can be kind of tough. But it doesn't have to be. The number one goal of owning a business is to create enough revenue to keep everything going and be able to pay yourself at the end of the day. When you first started your business you probably just built a website yourself or got your "brother" to build it for you since they know "HTML". A few years later that once, fresh and new looking website has fallen behind with the trends. The good news is there's a much better way to accomplish your goals. By working with a company that specializes in web design you can focus more of your time on building your company while we take care of the rest. All the while you're website being PWA compatible and up to code with Google and the latest web technologies.

‍

1) Get more returning visitors

Getting people to return to your website could be one of the biggest challenges. If your website is not top of mind or easy to use visitors might not return unless they think of you. But how do you make them think of you? We have the solution: since PWA websites allow your visitor to add your site to their home screen, you will be always top of mind and in front of them 24/7 at the palm of their hand.‍

2) Capture more leads or news letter subscriptions

Your business does not run on air. It runs on cold hard LEADS! Well how do you normally get your leads? Maybe someone calls every once in a while or you get a referral or two from a friend. That's not enough to run a business or become a millionaire. You need to have a predictable business model that drives results each-and-every-month. With a PWA enabled website you will be able to predict how your visitors will interact with your information. You can have them download an Icon to their home screen. You can promote your latest services and products with a real time pop up, based on their location and number of visits. This is how the big companies are doing things and that's what EVERYONE will be doing in the next few years.

3) Keep visitors looking at your service or product longer

Your PRODUCT IS AWESOME! But unless people look at it no one will know about it! That's where PWAs come in. According to Google, PWAs allow users to browse faster and longer, which in turn gets your products and service more exposure and the ability for visitors to fully understand what you offer, this is one of the secrets of getting bumped up on the search engines over time.

The Conclusion

The future is clear: BIG and small Companies and going to be using PWA as a base technology to drive more visitors and potential customer conversions. Don't get left behind with a website that could be costing you business and potential customers. Consider redesigning your current website to be PWA compatible so you can start reaping the benefits of this new technology.