PWA or Mobile Responsive Site? 10 Reasons to Choose PWA

Mobile phones account for over half of all global internet searches in 2021, and it’s leaned this way since 2017, with the numbers growing incrementally year-on-year. Google’s search engine runs much of the internet, and so it was no surprise when on July 1, 2019, the behemoth browser company implemented its ‘mobile first indexing’ policy when ranking websites online. With this new era comes a new technological solution – the PWA or ‘Progressive Web Application’.

What is a Progressive Web Application?

Undoubtedly you already know what a website, native APP, and mobile-responsive website are. PWAs are web-based APPs built using progressive website development technologies, but with the addition of advanced coding features, which allow them to act as a bridge between mobile-responsive websites and mobile APPs.

PWAs can be saved directly to your mobile or tablet’s home screen just like a native Apple iOS or Google Android APP, but from your browser, so there’s no need to visit the APP Store. Google measures page loading times, and PWAs deliver incredibly fast speeds, providing a better user experience and subsequently, improved user engagement. For businesses, all of this leads to better page rankings in Google, and higher conversion rates on-site.

10 Incentives for Transforming Your Business’s Website to a PWA:

1.  Conversion Rates and Time On-Site: As users stay on-site longer and engage with your brand more, it inevitably leads to higher retention and conversion rates.
2. Load Times: PWAs load up 2 to 3 times more quickly when compared to mobile-responsive websites and eCommerce stores. Its performance is smooth, seamless, and means you can reach new customers in locations with poor internet.
3. Lower Costs: Websites built using a PWA save up to three quarters of what a native mobile APP normally costs to build, and ongoing maintenance is much less complex.
4. All-in-One Website and Native APP Features: You no longer need to build a separate website, iOS APP, and Android APP.
5. Combined and Improved UX: eCommerce stores receive the awesome User Experience of a native APP, but with the advantages of a mobile website. A site running a PWA is smooth as an APP, or as a web page.
6. Meets Mobile-First Criteria: Websites and online stores can function on all devices and browsers with ease. Google likes this and ranks it higher!
7. Off-line Engagement: New users and your devoted customer-base can browse your website even when they don’t have an internet connection. How cool is that?
8. Less Disk Space: The reason a PWA is so fast because it’s ultra-lightweight. The APP itself only takes up 10% to 20% as much disk space as traditional native APPs.
9. Reduced Server Load: As a PWA loads so quickly, if your website suddenly has a period of intense traffic, the chance of a crash or slower load time is greatly decreased.
10. eCommerce Compatible: The front-end of the website is separate to the backend, which means you can easily add it to any eCommerce platform via an API. This includes Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento 1, and Magento 2.