Mastering SEO for PWA: Mechanism & How to Optimize It

A Progressive Web App (PWA) is an application that combines web and cellular functionality. With the right SEO strategy, PWAs can be easily found.

SEO for PWA is a game-changer. It helps businesses improve Progressive Web App rankings on search engines.

To make PWA easier to find, many people apply SEO for PWA knowledge to maximize organic website traffic. Learn more about SEO for PWA below! 

What Is Progressive Web App?

Progressive Web App (PWA) is a new type of web application by Google with advanced features, like push notifications, fast-loading pages, and the ability to create shortcuts on the home screen. 

PWAs are all about giving a great user experience that feels like they're using a new app on their phone.

You can use a Progressive Web App without having to download it from an app store. All you have to do is open your browser and visit the PWA’s website.

In addition, you can use PWAs in both online and offline modes (for repeat visits), which isn't available in other mobile web or regular apps.

There are four main parts of a PWA website, including:

• Web App Manifest. This component is a JSON file that provides key metadata related to the Progressive Web App. It includes the app name, starting URL, colours, icons, and how the app looks when installed on the home screen.
• Service Worker. The JavaScript file that can make PWA online works. The service worker runs in the background, separate from the browser and web page. It handles network requests, caches data, and sends push notifications. This means the PWA can show cached data when the user is offline.
• Transport Layer Security (TLS). It is a protocol that makes sure your communication between the server that's hosting the PWA and your device is secure. TLS also makes sure that the data is safe, secure, and that nobody can access it without permission.
• Application Shell Architecture. This component is what makes PWA pages load quickly. On top of that, this component also creates an app shell (which is part of the minimum CSS, HTML, and JavaScript needed to render the user interface of the PWA).

SEO Benefit for PWA

SEO is really important for businesses that want to improve their online visibility and attract more visitors to their websites. That's why SEO is often used for PWAs. Here are some of the ways SEO can help PWAs:

1. Increase Conversion Rate

More faster loading page performance on PWAs will improve the user experience, so the conversion rate rises. 

SEO for PWAs also helps you reduce the bounce rate and meet Google's top result criteria. If your site is easy to use, PWAs can turn visitors into active users or customers.

2. Increase Engagement Rate

PWA's push notifications feature allows you to interact with users even when they're not actively using the web app. This is a great way to build user loyalty, which means more repeat visits.

Engaging users with relevant and on-time notifications can also attract them to the app's services and content. That’s how you can improve your engagement rate.

3. Making Website Mobile-Friendly

Another way PWA can help with SEO is by making the website mobile-friendly. The design of the Progressive Web App, which separates desktop and mobile devices, can make it more mobile-friendly.

This means the website will rank higher because it meets Google's standards for good search results. 

A mobile-friendly website will also give users a great experience, which will affect the conversion rate.

4. Reach Wider Audience

PWAs are web apps you can access from any browser and share easily via URL. This makes it easy for users to access PWAs without downloading them through the app store. 

Users can also easily share content with each other, which makes it easier for them to reach a wider audience.

SEO Mechanism for PWA

SEO for PWA is essential to implement. This is because PWA is a compatible web application. With SEO, PWA can be more easily found. 

There are some basic requirements you need to understand in implementing SEO for PWA, such as:

• Allow each page to have the capacity to crawl independently with the help of the specified URL, i.e., its identity is not broken.
• The content displayed must be indexable.
• PWA websites require responsive web design with viewpoint tags configured appropriately to pass Google's mobile-friendly test.
• Ensure that web pages load quickly.

PWAs are very likely to be indexed by search engines. However, there is a challenge to consider, which is that the service worker relies heavily on JavaScript. Therefore, Google uses a two-stage indexing process in SEO for PWAs.

First, Google grabs the server-side content. Then Google will index the visible non-JavaScript content. This is because JavaScript website content is usually not visible in the source code, which makes it tricky for search engines to index the page correctly.

The second stage is called the rendering stage. It ensures that JavaScript-based website content is correctly indexed and shown in search engine results. This process can take a few days, but it definitely improves SEO practices' efficiency.

As a solution, developers usually go for server-side rendering (SSR), client-side rendering (CSR), or dynamic rendering. All three of them can make the indexing process more efficient.

Tips for PWA Optimization with SEO

PWA is a solution to improve user experience, SEO score, and business sales. After knowing the benefits of SEO for PWA, you must understand that optimizing PWA with SEO is very important. 

Here are the guidelines for making an SEO-friendly PWA:

1. Using Analysis Tools

As a business owner, you need to identify the weakest part of your PWA. This is because SEO scores can be determined by various aspects and this step is useful for finding solutions and taking the right steps. 

You can integrate PWA with several analytics tools, such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Ubersuggest, etc. These tools will help provide a detailed analysis of the PWA website and point out the problems that are happening.

2. Optimize Content

It is very important to focus on creating quality content that meets consumers' needs. This step aims to improve SEO scores because PWA alone cannot guarantee big business profits.

You can update information regularly and plan interesting campaigns to maintain consumer engagement and interest. In addition, testing your website using the Fetch as Google feature in Google Search Console can also help you understand how Google bots view websites.

It can also help identify potential issues that must be resolved and ensure optimal visibility on search engines.

3. Creating a Special URL

Optimized and professional website links are important to attract consumers because a website's credibility is also judged by its URL. 

This certainly affects the consumer's decision to click on a search result, regardless of the page's ranking.

To improve user experience and avoid the risk of content infringement, it is better to switch desktop users from PWA URLs to canonical URLs.

Canonical URLs represent versions of web pages that can help search engines merge duplicate content.

Also, shorten the URL by including the brand name and relevant keywords for the PWA. This will help attract your target audience and increase your search rankings.

4. Testing PWA Performance

Check your PWA regularly to see if its performance meets web application standards. The Lighthouse PWA Analysis Tool can help you check the quality and performance of your PWA.

Conclusion

That explains in detail what Progressive Web App and how SEO practices can be applied to PWA. Building a PWA website can provide many benefits, including increased customer engagement and conversion rates.

Even so, you still need the right SEO optimization guide for PWA. To maximize your effort, you can rely on SEO Services by cmlabs. cmlabs can help your company increase organic traffic and search results on SERPs.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact our marketing team and improve your website SEO level with us right now!