Overview
Chrome push notifications allows site owners to send notifications to their site visitors. Notifications are based on Google Chrome technology, so will only display for Chrome (Desktop or Android) users. Once site visitors subscribe to notifications, they do not need to visit the site in order to receive notifications. Notifications appear on the Chrome browser and on Android devices. Advanced users can also configure their Chrome notifications to be presented straight on their desktop device, so there is no need to have the Chrome browser open.
Please note: Notifications are only available for websites with custom domain names. Please see the Requirements & Limitations section for more information.
Add Push Notifications
To use this feature, a Push Notifications widget must be added to the site. The Push notifications element is located under the "Business" section.
- The Push notifications button is a toggle-button with two states - Subscribe / Unsubscribe.
- In addition to standard design / style editing, the site owner can edit:
- What happens when notifications are not supported (for example, visiting the site in IE) : Hide button / Hide column (in case there is an additional text or any other elements which are related to the service) / Disable the button.
- Choose the subscribe button text
- Choose the unsubscribe button text
Please note that a secure domain is required to send push notifications, for this reason, all notifications are sent from a custom sub-domain of our secure domain *.push-notifs.com. The subdomain is derived from the site’s custom domain. For example, if the originating site's custom domain is www.mydomain.com, the notifications' subdomain will be mydomain.push-notifs.com. Site owners can not edit or change their notifications' subdomain.
Manage Notifications
Once a Push notifications element is added to the site, the site owner can start creating notifications by going to Site settings, then clicking the Push Notifications tab.
Notifications Editor
Here the site owner can edit new notifications, including the following parameters:
- Thumbnail
- Title
- Message
- Link
Once editing is completed, the notification can be saved as draft, OR in case there are already active subscribers to the site, the notification can be sent directly by clicking "Send Notification Now".
Notifications Dashboard
Here there is a list of all notifications which were created. Notifications have two states:
- Draft - Meaning the notification was created but has never been sent.
- Sent - This is a one-off action. Once sent, the notification is available in the dashboard for documentation and stats data, but it cannot be edited nor deleted.
A new notification can be created from scratch or copied from an existing notification. All the analytic data which is related to notifications is presented in the notifications dashboard:
- Subscribers : The number of site visitors which have subscribed to the service. Please note that if a site visitor cancels his subscription via Chrome we do not retrieve this info and it would not affect the number of subscriptions. In addition, a subscription is per device, so in case a site visitor subscribes from his desktop AND mobile devices he would be counted twice.
- Sent : How many notifications were sent (the number of active subscribers at the time of sending).
- Views : How many notifications were viewed.
- Clicks : How many notifications were clicked.
Please note that notifications stats are updated with a 24 hour delay. The notifications are sorted newest to oldest. We currently present the 100 latest notifications.
Best Practices for Notifications
Here are some guidelines to consider when sending notifications. In short, keep your messages simple and relevant to your visitors, and don't SPAM your users by sending too often.
- Keep it short and simple
- Don't send too frequently
- Make sure you link to a relevant page on your site
- Use your site logo / favicon as the icon in the notification
- Keep the message less than 25 words
Viewing Push Notifications
- The site visitor visits the site.
- The site visitor clicks on the subscribe button on the site.
- The site visitor allows showing notifications (this is a Chrome notification pop-up).
- Every time the site owner sends a notification, the site visitor will receive a notification to his Chrome browser / mobile device.
Subscribe / Unsubscribe
A site which supports push notifications must have the subscribe/unsubscribe toggle-button. Once the site visitor clicks on Subscribe (the exact text can be edited by the site owner), a subscription popup is opened in which the visitor needs to approve his subscription. Once complete, the button is changed to Unsubscribe. In case Push notifications are not supported in the browser (any browser except Chrome v43 and up), the button would be hidden / disabled based to the widget’s specific design.
Before subscription
Subscription approval popup
After subscription
Receiving notifications
On desktop the notifications can be displayed on the browser or even over the desktop homescreen. In mobile, notifications are added to the notifications center.
Requirements & Limitations
Push notifications are only supported in Chrome v43 and up, and will only work in the following browsers.
- Chrome Desktop (Mac / Linux / Windows) version 43+
- Chrome Android Mobile: 43+
Notifications will not display with the following browsers:
- Chrome iOS: not supported
- Firefox: not supported
- Internet Explorer: Not supported
- Safari: Not supported
- Not supported in Chrome incognito mode
Custom Domain Requirement
- Push notifications are only available for sites with custom domains
Subscriber Count Considerations
- If visitors cancel their subscription via Chrome (and not via the site) it would not affect the subscribers counter.
- When pushing notifications, there is no way to know in advance exactly how many visitors will receive it. The delivery might be affected by the following factors:
- Mobile : Is the device working? Is there an internet connection.
- Desktop : Is the device working? Is Chrome working? In case Chrome is not working, did the user enable notifications on desktop?
- Changing your custom domain may reduce the number of subscribers, as users agreed to receive notifications from the previous domain, they will need to resubscribe to the new domain.