Importance of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) uncountable. Most people use a mobile phone to log on to their favorite eCommerce website or search for something they want. More than half of the world's web traffic comes through mobile phones.
In 2021's first quarter, mobile devices generated 54.8% of the world's traffic. Customer attention span and patience have reduced in the past few years, and 40% of visitors would abandon a page that takes over 3 seconds to load.
Now you know how crucial it is for your site to load faster. When AMP was first introduced in 2015, it was hailed as a game-changer for SEO, mainly because it made the site load quickly. It was not considered a significant ranking factor, but fast-forward to 2021, things have changed drastically.
After Google's new updates on ranking factors in 2021, AMP has gained huge importance because it helps improve your core vitals. Fast-loading and mobile-friendly websites will rank higher than those that are not, and AMP can be your savior.
Now, let's discuss the importance of accelerated mobile pages for your website rankings.
What is AMP?
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It is an open-source HTML framework that enables web developers to create fast-loading pages and deliver an outstanding user experience. AMP makes content more engaging.
The majority of the website just needs a concise version of HTML5 page content that is optimized for mobile viewing. Renowned names like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Bing, Google & WordPress advocate the effectiveness of AMP.
Not surprisingly, the primary contributor and contributor to AMP is none other than Google. This is why most people refer to it as Google AMP. How does AMP enhance the user experience? Please refer to the points below.
- By restricting advertisements and user interface design.
- Limiting CSS to 75kb
- Limiting JavaScript to 150kb
- Eliminate unwanted items to clear the critical rendering path
Apart from the aspects mentioned above, other factors speed up a website. To begin with, AMP pages are hosted on Google's servers, and Google will cache, preload, and prerender AMP content before a visitor clicks on the link in the SRPs.
When the visitors click on the link, it can appear in either of the two ways below.
- Google AMP viewer - The content publisher's source is displayed at the top, but the URL remains a Google domain.
- Signed exchange - The browser considers your domain's page, plus the signed AMP content is delivered along with the regular AMP.
Advantages of AMP pages
What are the most notable advantages of AMP pages? Some of them are outlined below.
- Massive boost for SEO
- Reduced data consumption
- Improved user experience
- Enhanced server performance
- Free CDN
Is your website AMP optimized yet? If not, then you need to do it asap because it will improve your website's core vitals. As stated above, one of Google's vital ranking factors in 2021 are core vitals which should be a strong reason for you to pay attention to AMP optimization.
Now, we will discuss some of AMP's advantages in detail.
Faster loading:
AMP itself cannot be considered the sole ranking factor. It improves your website pages' speed which is a decisive ranking factor. Ensure that your website loads in a second, and Google will rank your website higher.
Why is website speed a critical ranking factor and a core web vital? The reason is because visitors prefer websites that load fast. Speed is one of the main parameters of a delightful user experience, and speed plays a crucial role in it.
Therefore, you need to implement AMP effectively into your website. You need to have a team of dedicated employees who specialize in accelerated mobile pages development. Either that or you can outsource the task to a digital marketing agency.
Faster loading web pages offer the following benefits
- Reduced bounce rate
- Increased visitor browsing time
- Improved conversion rates
Higher CTR:
AMP optimized websites are displayed on Google SEP's top stories and top of all other search results. Ask yourself, would you click on the results on top of the ones in the middle or bottom?
Of course, most people will click on the top results, and users will click on those links that show up on top stories. Ultimately, it will improve the CTR (click-through rate)
Improved user experience:
Aesthetics is a vital aspect of user experience. By implementing the AMP code, your website content will appear sleek & crisp on the website. Any visitor that browses through your website will have a satisfying experience.
AMP optimization will take care of factors like presentation, speed, ease of navigation and functionality, etc.
Lower bounce rate:
Faster loading pages manage to hold a visitor's interest for a longer period. A two-second delay in page speed can increase the bounce rate by a whopping 103%. Implement AMP on your website and enjoy twice the dwell time on your website. More dwell time means more chances of conversions.
More engagement:
Lightweight AMP content is a blessing for mobile users with poor internet connectivity. Even with a slow internet speed or a poor connection, they can enjoy web content with faster loading pages.
Increased ad views:
To amplify the overall functionality of banners and images, AMP code should be implemented in HTML. Once you implement the changes, your ads will get more views, and it gives you more opportunities to monetize your content.
How to Use Accelerated Mobile Pages?
How effectively can you implement AMP on your website or how to use Accelerated Mobile Pages? The answer to this question depends on whether you have a supporting plugin. If you don’t then you need to have technical expertise in working with HTML code.
Guide to building your AMP project
You can get a step-by-step guide on how to build your AMP pages here. If you have prior experience in coding, it would help. If not then you need to first access your website’s file directory. Next, upload the HTML files with the copied content into the body.
Below is a basic template that you can use to build a base and make adjustments later. Follow the next steps in the AMP guide (link above) to add more engaging features. The guide also includes Schema Markup that you may need to modify, depending on your website content.
In the guide, you will find guidelines on how to embed social posts, incorporate images, change the layout and add meta details.
In any case, if you are unable to access your website’s directory or if you lack the confidence to carry out the coding tasks, you can try other ways.
Use a WordPress Plugin
WordPress users can install WordPress plugins. Thanks to the plugin, AMP is instantly integrated into your website, coupled with Google Analytics support, allowing you to enjoy optimal performance. There are other amazing features like proper canonical tags, Google Adsense support, and also the sexy design.
Now, upload to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory and activate it using your plugins menu. Every page/post can now be AMP-optimized. Regarding the success and effectiveness of this plugin, the feedback has been mixed.
Often, errors need to be rectified post-publishing which tells us that the plugin is not as straightforward as it claims to be. On the brighter side, developers release new versions every now and then, users report bugs & issues and the plugin undergoes refinement.
Other Options
Individuals that are not tech-savvy can approach development agencies and IT firms that offer Accelerated Mobile Pages Development like injectable codes.
Final Thoughts
Pay attention to detail while creating an SEO strategy. These small steps will pay rich dividends in the long run. You cannot underestimate the importance of accelerated mobile pages. Directly or indirectly, they will influence your website’s SEO.
Moreover, mobile-first indexing is Google’s topmost priority, plus it's a major ranking factor for websites. So, optimizing your website pages or implementing it with AMP is not an option, it is a necessity. AMP is highly crucial in 2021 and it will surely be relevant in 2022.
Improve your core vitals and enjoy a myriad of benefits with AMP optimization. Need help with AMP optimization and other technical aspects related to SEO? Contact us for accelerated mobile pages development today.
AMP FAQs
- Who can use accelerated mobile pages?
Anyone can use AMPs. This list includes developers, publishers, consumer platforms, advertisers, creators, and others. Companies like eBay, Camphor, Newegg, Carved use AMP and benefit from it immensely.
- What are the results of using accelerated mobile pages?
By AMP-optimizing the website pages, the content in the AMP files can be crawled, indexed, displayed, and cached by third parties.
- What kind of content works best using AMP?
All types of content like news, videos, blogs, eCommerce pages, GIFs, can work effectively by implementing accelerated mobile pages.
- Is AMP only for mobiles?
AMP was created while keeping responsiveness in core focus. It was designed to be compatible with all screen sizes. Nonetheless, certain features for third-party platforms have been developed to ensure the best mobile experience. Inquire with the third-party platform to know how they implement AMP.
- What kind of analytics does the AMP framework support?
The AMP framework works with a broad range of analytics platforms/vendors/solutions. Please find the list here.
Top comments (0)