For years, mobile apps had at least one solid advantage over websites: Apps could receive push notifications. In the event of a hot promotion or an urgent news, the website content manager could send a pop up message to all of their app users inviting them to return to the app to view new content. Web push notifications bring similar functionality to web browsers.

If your website uses WordPress, you can have push notifications set up in less than an hour. Here’s how.

  1. Create a OneSignal account.
  2. Setup your website as a new app. During setup, be sure to indicate that you will be using the WordPress configuration.
  3. Make note of your app key and your API key.
  4. Download and install the OneSignal plugin for your site.
  5. Configure the plugin with the initial content. You will need the authentication keys mentioned in a previous step.

That’s it! If you have email subscribers, now is a good time to send a campaign inviting them to come to the site so that they can take advantage of your newly automated web browser notification feature.