Creating Effective Push Notifications for Your Web App: Overcoming Spam Filters and Improving Engagement

Building a reliable push notification system for your web application can significantly enhance user engagement. However, even when correctly implemented, notifications sometimes end up in users’ spam folders or are ignored, diminishing their effectiveness. If you’re facing this challenge, here are insights and best practices to ensure your notifications are seen and interacted with positively.

Understanding the Challenge

In developing a social media platform using Next.js, I faced unique obstacles. Since Next.js primarily operates on server-side rendering and does not support WebSockets natively, I chose Ably’s Push Notification service for real-time messaging. After successfully integrating and testing the implementation, I observed that my notifications, despite including detailed configuration like icons, badges, TTL, tags, collapse keys, renotify options, and silent modes, were being flagged as spam by browsers.

Goals for Effective Notifications

To ensure your notifications serve their purpose, aim for the following outcomes:

• Device Wake-up: Notifications should activate your device to alert the user, even if the device is idle.
• Visible in Notification Center: Notifications must appear prominently in the user’s notification bar.
• Brand Consistency: Your app’s logo or icon should be displayed, providing brand recognition.
• Smart Grouping: Notifications with the same context or purpose should be grouped together, avoiding clutter.

Tips and Recommendations

1. Optimize Notification Content and Format

Ensure your notification payload is concise, relevant, and personalized. Avoid spam-like wording and excessive use of capital letters or excessive emojis, which can trigger spam filters.

1. Use Appropriate Iconography and Branding

Including a recognizable icon that matches your brand helps users quickly identify your notifications. Make sure the icon URL is correct and accessible.

1. Configure Proper Delivery Settings

2. Set the TTL (Time-to-Live) appropriately.

3. Use collapse_key or tag to group similar notifications.

4. Enable renotify to notify users again if multiple messages arrive within a short period.

5. Avoid Spam Filters

Communication patterns that seem suspicious or overly promotional can be flagged. Maintain a respectful frequency of notifications and allow users to opt-in and configure their preferences.

1. Implement Interactive Actions

Yes, web push notifications can include actions such as ‘Like’ or ‘Reply’. To implement this, include actions in your notification payload, specifying action