How often should you send push notifications?
Send too rarely and people forget who you are; send too often and they block you with one tap. The right frequency is the one you promised when they subscribed.
- Promise a frequency in your opt-in prompt and keep it.
- Most stores and blogs do well with 1–3 notifications a week; news sites can send more if readers expect it.
- Watch for rising unsubscribes and falling click-through — the two signs you’re over-sending.
- Segments let you send more to engaged readers and less to everyone else.
Start with a promise
The single best frequency tactic is a sentence in your prompt: “We send 1–2 alerts a week.” It sets expectations, raises opt-in from people who fear spam, and gives you a rule to hold yourself to. Pusharoo’s prompt text is fully editable for exactly this reason (opt-in guide).
Guidelines by site type
| Site | Typical comfortable range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Online store | 1–3 per week | More around launches and holidays, then back off |
| Blog or niche publisher | 2–5 per week | Only your best posts, not every post |
| News site | Several per day for breaking news | Let readers choose topics if you can |
| SaaS | A few per month | Feature launches, status, account events |
| Local business | 1–4 per month | Specials, schedule changes, events |
These are common-sense starting points, not industry statistics. Your own unsubscribe and click data decide.
Warning signs you’re over-sending
- Click-through rate falls steadily over several weeks.
- Expired/unsubscribed counts jump after campaigns.
- Replies or social comments mention “too many notifications”.
- You struggle to find something genuinely worth saying.
Pusharoo shows sent, expired and clicked on every campaign. Compare the last month with the one before; a rising expired count after heavy weeks is your cue to slow down.
Send more to the people who want more
Frequency doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all. Recently active subscribers (“seen in the last 7 days”) usually tolerate more messages than people who haven’t visited in a month. Send your routine updates to the active segment and save the inactive one for your best offers. Details in segmentation.
Plan a calendar, not a feeling
Frequency drifts upward when sends are reactive. Write a simple monthly calendar — which campaigns, which segments, which days — and leave one slot open for genuine news. With scheduling, you can queue a month of campaigns in one sitting (campaigns), and anything that doesn’t fit the calendar has to justify itself.
Don’t forget automated messages
Welcome series count toward frequency. If a new subscriber gets a welcome, a day-one tip and your weekly campaign in the same 24 hours, that’s three notifications on day one. Space automation steps out (see automations) and consider excluding brand-new subscribers from campaigns for a day or two.
Questions
How many push notifications is too many?
When click-through drops and unsubscribes rise. For most stores and blogs that threshold is somewhere above a few per week, but your own data is the real answer.
Is one push notification a day too much?
For news readers who asked for updates, often not. For a store, usually yes. Match frequency to what you promised at opt-in.
Does sending more always mean more traffic?
Short-term, maybe. Long-term, over-sending shrinks your list as people block notifications, which costs more traffic than it gains.
Keep reading
The best time to send push notifications
How time zones, quiet hours and content type affect timing — and a simple method to find your own best hour.
Web push notification best practices (2026 checklist)
A one-page checklist covering opt-in, iPhone, copy, timing, frequency, segments, deliverability and privacy.
Push notification segmentation that actually helps
Filter by site, device, language, recency and inactivity. Six recipes you can copy.
Push automations: welcome series and follow-ups
Welcome message, timed follow-ups and drip sequences triggered when someone subscribes.
More in Writing & timing: 30 web push notification examples (and why they work) · Push notification character limits, in practice · Push notification copywriting: 12 rules that earn the tap · All guides
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