Progressive web applications rank no better than regular sites

Google’s John Mueller said that progressive web applications (PWAs) do not rank better in search results than traditional websites by default.

This topic was discussed in the Google Search Center SEO office hours hangout recorded on November 12, 2021.

During the whole live broadcast, there were a number of PWA-related issues, and whether they are more advantageous than HTML sites in search results.

Mueller said that PWA has no priority, but converting an old website to PWA may result in a higher ranking due to other reasons.

Read his full response in the following section.

What is a progressive web application?

First, let us briefly introduce what PWA is, because it is a relatively new framework and you may not be familiar with it.

Simply put, PWA is like a mobile application that can be used in a mobile web browser.

The appearance and function of PWA are similar to mobile apps, but you don’t need to install anything on your phone. You can access it via URL just like any other website.

Many top brands have adopted the PWA framework for the mobile version of their websites. Starbucks and Sephora are good examples of PWA retail websites.

News sites such as the Financial Times have adopted the PWA route, while downloadable mobile applications such as Spotify and Pinterest have adopted web-based PWA.

Almost any website can be turned into a PWA, but the question is whether it is worth it.

Compared with HTML sites, the development cost of PWA built with JavaScript is higher.

Improved SEO may be a reason for converting an existing site into a PWA. However, as Mueller said, PWA has no inherent benefits in terms of SEO.

Google’s John Mueller on Progressive Web Applications

Mueller answered some people’s questions at a recent gathering, and they saw competitors’ websites rise in rankings after being converted to PWAs.

They asked Mueller whether their website could see a similar ranking increase through PWA.

In response, he said that Google will not treat PWAs differently from HTML sites:

“These are essentially different ways of making websites. You can make websites with many different frames and formats. And, in most cases, we treat these as ordinary HTML pages.

Therefore, if it is a JavaScript-based website, we will render it and then treat it like a normal HTML page. If it is already HTML at the beginning, we can do this.

Different frameworks and CMS behind-usually we basically ignore this, just say that this is an HTML page, we can deal with it.

Therefore, just because one of your competitors has moved from one framework to another and sees improvements in search, from my point of view, the changes in the framework will not be responsible for this. “

Mueller then put forward other reasons for the ranking of competitors’ websites.

If the new website is significantly better than the old website, launching the new website may improve rankings.

It does not necessarily have any relationship with the site being a PWA.

“But, maybe, with the changes in the framework, they now have an updated website. Maybe the newer website has different internal links, different internal content, is significantly faster or significantly slower, or the user really likes it It, or they were carried out at the same time as the website was released, I don’t know, marketing activities.

All of these come into play there, and these are not limited to the framework you use. “

Very old website Can Use PWA to improve their SEO

This topic was resolved for the second time during the hangout, and Mueller said there is a way to be sure that PWA will improve rankings.

“I don’t think there is an absolute answer there. I think, on the one hand, for PWA, if it is a purely JavaScript-based website, then you will encounter some challenges there, and these challenges are only on top of ordinary websites.

That’s all about JavaScript-based websites and make sure they are presented to search well. This can require a lot of work and can cause a lot of problems.

So, by default, saying that going to PWA will make your ranking better-I don’t think this is the case. If you make a better website, it can improve your ranking, but you have many other things to consider.

So from my point of view, it is essentially more: Well, will going to a new website improve my ranking?

My guess is that if your website is really 10 to 15 years old and has grown organically since then, it might be. Just like migrating to any newer framework and a cleaner website, a faster website, and a website that is more suitable for users, you may see a ranking change in 10-15 years. This is not necessarily PWA. “

Again, Mueller suggests that developing a PWA requires a lot of work, so you must consider whether it makes sense financially.

Mueller added that PWA has some tangible benefits, such as the ability to implement mobile application functions that cannot be used on HTML sites.

“Maybe even going to PWA will add too much extra work, which is not worth it for you. Maybe it is worth it. I think one of the advantages of PWA is that you have some elements that are almost similar to mobile applications. These elements are available by default.

This may be installed on the main screen, or it may be some offline feature, depending on your market, this may be really valuable. So it might be said this: getting JavaScript-based websites to work in search is extra work, but we don’t have to create a separate application, or we also have all these extra features, it’s worth the financial point of view. Make it happen.

But it’s almost as if the SEO aspect is secondary. Especially if you have a large old site that is 10 to 15 years old and you move to a new site, I am almost certain that you will see major changes because it will be cleaner. It will be much faster, the structure will be much better, it will be better for users, and search engines will be easier to understand. All HTML improvements that have occurred since then are in your favor. “

Hear Mueller’s full response in the two videos below:

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