Can a Progressive Web App improve SEO?

I believe if you have opened up this URL then you are probably looking for the answer. Although, if you are thinking that there would be a direct improvement in SEO, I just hate to break the news but the answer is “NO”. Although does it have any effect on your SEO, well, that is something we are going to discuss today. 

In order to cater to this subject well, we might have to first understand what are the advantages of having a PWA. Also, it is essential that we understand the multiple SEO factors and how getting a PWA will positively affect it. This might take a little bit of reading for you guys so fasten your seatbelt because it’ll be bumpy in terms of paying attention(reading can be a little tedious for some people).

Note: All the factors of SEO has been explained in context to a PWA and improvement.

Advantages of Progressive Web App

• Offline Mode: Websites generally don’t have the liberty of showing up at least some of the basic info once your system goes offline. In fact, the page is completely useless unless it is a static page. On the other hand, a PWA will let you feature some of the basic attributes including a picture. It also enables depending on the development of some advanced features which a regular website can never pull off.
• App Like Navigation: This is the most important advantage of having a PWA. The experience on a PWA is identical to an app. The navigation on a PWA is fluid and also the app like navigation, and scrolling makes PWA a collateral option to be considered seriously.
• Better Performance: Having a PWA sort of combine the experience of a website and a native app. Native app because it feels like you are actually running an app. On the other hand, the page that is developed behaves just like an app but are lightweight like a website. For instance, the Flipkart app is almost 100 times heavier than the PWA while the iOS one is 300 times heavy. The size of the Flipkart PWA is close to 100Kb which gives it a higher advantage in terms of performance.
• Zero Installation: The best feature of a PWA is that the user doesn’t need to install it. In fact, all you have to do is just enter the URL in the address bar and you’re done. In fact, it even asks the user to pin it your browsers for easy access. Most of the times, PWAs are functioning way better than a regular website.
• Hardware Features: One of the most important features that most of the apps have these days with the perspective of marketing is push notifications. There are also many advanced features that can be implemented using a PWA. Although, the major reason to write this is simple if your hardware is capable enough then PWA would let you take the benefit. 
• No App Storage: It is another major advantage of having a PWA. Although, space is not a major issue these days but having a PWA saves the user for accumulating unnecessary cluster of apps. This also keeps the device smooth and fast. Therefore, no storage actually helps increase the experience of your target audience.

Essential Factors in Search Engine Optimisation

• Security and Accessibility: The APIs that are generally used in developing are made keeping the security in mind. It is an essential aspect in terms of improving your SEO ranking, therefore, having a PWA will eventually give you an edge over the factor.
• Page Speed: It is often considered the most crucial aspect. The more the load time of your page and the more will be your chances of getting ranked on the SERP. Although, having a PWA doesn’t necessarily affect it but what it does is get you more features in the size of a website. Therefore, you may not be loading faster in comparison but loading something way better.
• Mobile Friendly: Well, the basic idea behind creating PWA was to create something that can work like an app but is meant for the web platform. All the PWAs that are made are developed keeping the mobile friendliness in mind. 
• Domain Authority: The domain authority of a website depends upon a variety of things. Although, two of the things from it is the mobile friendliness(discussed above) and user experience. A good user experience translates to a better session(in terms of time) and quality of pages. PWA is all that the user experience asks for. Ultimately, the whole experience of the user is more app like, therefore, it means this can affect the domain authority.
• Optimised Content and Technical SEO: Although both of these are two different topics, it is best to keep them together. The data that is generated on a PWA is dynamic. Therefore, the optimisation will surely depend on the web developer who created your PWA. If it has been developed using all the standards and best practices then it is bound to affect the SERP ranking.
• User Experience: User experience has been loosely discussed above. Although, the core mantra behind it would remain the same. Better user experience means more session time, better engagement, better conversion rate, better accessibility etc. Therefore, the user experience is one of the most crucial factors in the line of SEO and PWA together.
• Social Signals: Well, a better website means better social signals. A PWA will allow you to create one touch share which can be leveraged using a regular website but it feels a lot more organic in a PWA. Therefore, having a PWA might positively affect the social signal.
• Real Business Info: Well, if you are looking for some real insight into the analytics then a PWA will get you a full-fledged admin panel that will work fine as per your need. Therefore, having it might help you with better statistics about your overall engagement.

So these were some of the ways how getting a PWA might affect your SEO. In case if you are looking for someone to help you create a PWA then maybe we can help. In order to send us an enquiry mail us at [email protected]. We have also written an article over Best Progressive Web Apps, therefore, to read click on the link provided. If you have a knack for writing then you can display your skills on aclassblogs. They have a couple of categories over which you can write. Some of them are Marketing Write for Us, Business Write for Us, Startup Write for Us, SEO Write for Us etc. We hope this article may have been of some help to you. Also, thank you for reading it until the end.