Many businesses and membership organisations would like to provide their customers or members with a mobile app. The difficulty is that developing a conventional app can be expensive, while publishing and maintaining separate versions for different devices adds further cost and complexity.
A Progressive Web App, usually shortened to PWA, offers another option.
A PWA uses web technology to provide an app-like experience through an existing website. Visitors can access it through their browser and, on compatible devices, add it to their home screen. It can then be opened from its own icon in much the same way as a conventional mobile app.
For organisations that want to make frequently used information easier to access, a PWA can provide a practical and cost-effective alternative to developing a completely separate application.
What Is a Progressive Web App?
A Progressive Web App is a website that has been enhanced to behave more like an application on a mobile phone, tablet or computer.
Depending on how it has been developed and the features supported by the user’s device, a PWA can offer:
- A home-screen icon
- An app-style mobile interface
- Fast access to frequently used pages
- A standalone display with fewer browser distractions
- Automatic access to the latest website content
- Selected offline functionality
- Push notifications, where these are required, configured and supported
Unlike a traditional mobile app, a PWA does not necessarily have to be downloaded from an app store. A user can visit the website normally and then add the PWA to their device.
The application remains connected to the organisation’s website, which means content can often be managed through the same system already used by the business.
How Is a PWA Different from a Mobile-Friendly Website?
Most modern websites are responsive, meaning their layout adjusts to fit different screen sizes. However, being mobile-friendly does not automatically make a website convenient to use like an app.
A standard business website may contain dozens of pages, detailed menus and information intended for several different audiences. Although the pages may display correctly on a phone, visitors can still have to work through the full website navigation whenever they need something.
A well-planned PWA focuses on the actions mobile users complete most often.
This could mean providing large, touch-friendly buttons for tasks such as:
- Viewing fixtures or appointments
- Checking results
- Reading the latest news
- Opening a customer or member portal
- Making a booking
- Viewing a menu or price list
- Accessing important documents
- Contacting the organisation
The result is not simply a smaller version of the desktop website. It is a more focused experience designed around what users are most likely to need while using their phones.
Progressive Web App vs Traditional Mobile App
A PWA and a conventional mobile application can both make it easier for people to access an organisation’s services. However, they are developed and distributed differently.
| Consideration | Progressive Web App | Traditional mobile app |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Visited through a web address | Usually downloaded from an app store |
| Installation | Can be added from a compatible browser | Installed through an app marketplace |
| Development | Can often build upon an existing website | Usually requires separate application development |
| Content updates | Published through the website | May require an updated app release |
| App-store approval | Usually unnecessary | Commonly required |
| Cost | Often more accessible for smaller organisations | Usually involves a larger investment |
| Device features | Some limitations may apply | Greater access to device-specific features |
A PWA will not be the correct solution for every project. Organisations requiring extensive access to device hardware, advanced background processes or highly complex offline functionality may still need a native or cross-platform application.
However, if the main objective is to give people faster and simpler access to existing online information and services, a PWA may provide everything the organisation needs.
The Benefits of a Progressive Web App
A More Convenient Mobile Experience
A PWA can place the most important information directly in front of the user.
Instead of repeatedly searching for the website, opening a browser menu and navigating through several pages, users can open the PWA from an icon on their home screen.
This can be particularly valuable when people return regularly to check changing information.
Lower Development and Maintenance Costs
Traditional app development can involve creating and maintaining separate software for different mobile platforms.
A PWA uses web technology and can often build upon the organisation’s existing website. This can reduce the amount of duplicated development and make the project more achievable for small businesses, clubs and charities.
The final cost will depend on the required functionality, but a PWA can avoid some of the expense associated with developing a completely independent application.
One Source of Content
A major advantage of connecting a PWA to an existing website is that information does not necessarily have to be entered twice.
For example, when a news article, fixture or event is published through WordPress, the same information can be made available through the PWA.
This reduces administration and helps prevent different versions of the same information appearing in different places.
Easier Updates
Because a PWA is web-based, updates can usually be made centrally.
When the organisation changes a page, publishes an announcement or adds a new feature, users can access the updated version without having to visit an app store and manually download a new release.
Direct Access Through the Web
A traditional app usually asks the user to make an immediate decision to download and install it. A PWA can be visited through an ordinary link first.
Users can explore the service in their browser and add it to their home screen if they expect to use it regularly. This removes one of the barriers that can prevent people from trying a new application.
Encouraging Repeat Visits
A home-screen icon gives the organisation a continuing presence on the user’s device.
This can encourage repeat visits, but only if the PWA provides genuine ongoing value. People are unlikely to keep an application that merely reproduces a promotional website.
The strongest PWA projects are therefore designed around useful recurring tasks rather than novelty.
A Progressive Web App for Blackpool Senior Seasiders
Blackpool Senior Seasiders Walking Football Club provides a good example of how a PWA can meet the needs of a membership organisation.
The club has several competitive squads covering different age groups, as well as recreational walking football sessions. Its website contains fixtures, results, squad information, match reports, club news and details of playing sessions.
This creates a large and useful website, but members using a mobile phone do not necessarily need to navigate every section whenever they visit. Most are looking for a small number of frequently updated items.
A dedicated Progressive Web App homepage was therefore created to provide direct access to:
- Fixtures
- Results
- Squads
- Sessions
- Club news
The mobile dashboard uses clear buttons and straightforward navigation, making it easier for members to reach the information they need.
The PWA also uses the club’s identity and its own home-screen icon, creating a recognisable experience when members open it from their phones.
Importantly, the club did not need to create a completely separate publishing system. The PWA connects members with information already managed through the Blackpool Senior Seasiders WordPress website.
The project demonstrates an important principle: an effective PWA does not need to reproduce every page of the main website. It should prioritise the content and functions its users need most often.
Which Organisations Could Benefit from a PWA?
Progressive Web Apps can be useful in many sectors, particularly where people return regularly for information or to complete a familiar task.
Sports Clubs
A club could provide quick access to fixtures, results, team pages, training details, availability forms and club announcements.
Membership Organisations
Members could access news, events, documents, directories and private resources from one mobile dashboard.
Hotels and Holiday Accommodation
A PWA could provide guests with arrival instructions, local recommendations, property information, contact details and booking links.
Restaurants, Cafés and Bars
Customers could access menus, opening hours, special offers, loyalty information, table bookings and ordering services.
Event Organisers
Visitors could view programmes, schedules, venue maps, speaker information and important live updates.
Charities and Community Groups
Supporters and volunteers could find campaigns, events, donation options, resources and the latest organisational news.
Service Businesses
A PWA could give returning customers convenient access to appointment booking, support information, account areas or frequently used documents.
When Might a PWA Not Be Suitable?
Although PWAs are flexible, they are not a universal replacement for traditional apps.
A different approach may be needed if the project requires:
- Extensive integration with mobile hardware
- Advanced background activity
- Highly complex offline processes
- Intensive graphics or gaming functionality
- Particular device-specific features
- Guaranteed placement in major app stores
- Functionality that current web technology cannot reliably support
There can also be differences in how individual browsers and devices support certain PWA features.
The right decision should therefore begin with the organisation’s requirements, audience and budget—not with a preference for a particular technology.
Can an Existing WordPress Website Become a PWA?
Many WordPress websites can provide the foundation for a Progressive Web App. However, installing PWA technology is only one part of the process.
The existing website should first be reviewed for:
- Mobile usability
- Page speed and performance
- HTTPS and website security
- Theme and plugin compatibility
- Navigation structure
- Login requirements
- Required offline behaviour
- The actions users need to complete
- Compatibility across relevant devices and browsers
It is possible to make a website installable without substantially improving the user experience. That may technically create a PWA, but it will not necessarily produce an application people find useful.
The interface should be planned around the intended audience. Buttons, labels, text sizes and navigation should all make sense to the people who will actually use it.
Is a Progressive Web App Right for Your Organisation?
A PWA may be worth considering if:
- Customers or members return to your website regularly
- Visitors repeatedly use the same group of pages or features
- A significant proportion of your audience uses mobile phones
- You already manage valuable information through your website
- Developing a conventional app would be difficult to justify
- Faster access would improve the customer or member experience
- You want to avoid maintaining separate website and app content
If your website is mainly a brochure that people visit once or twice, a PWA may add limited value. Improving the standard mobile website could be the better investment.
If users frequently return to check information, manage an account or complete regular tasks, the case for a PWA becomes much stronger.
A Practical Step Between a Website and an App
A Progressive Web App can bridge the gap between a conventional mobile website and a fully developed native application.
It can give customers or members faster access to important content, provide a more focused mobile interface and build upon the website and content-management system an organisation already uses.
The Blackpool Senior Seasiders project shows how this can work in practice. By concentrating on fixtures, results, squads, sessions and news, the club can provide members with an app-like experience without maintaining a completely separate platform.
The technology is only part of the solution. The real value comes from identifying what users need most and making those actions as simple as possible.
If your customers or members regularly access your website from their phones, Augmun can assess whether a Progressive Web App would improve their experience. We can review your existing website, identify the most useful features and recommend an approach suited to your organisation, audience and budget.
Chris Giles Snr built his first client website in 1995 and has remained at the leading edge of web development and SEO ever since. He is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM).
