What You Need to Know About Google’s AMP Project

Nothing turns away potential customers like slow-loading websites. Even today, a page that takes too long to load can cost you customers, sales, and search engine rankings.

The problem got even worse as people started using mobile devices to browse the web. This forced publishers to use a variety of tricks to make their content more mobile-friendly.

But thanks to Google AMP, they don’t have to do that anymore.

AMP stands for “Accelerated Mobile Pages.” The project is an open source initiative from Google that makes it easier to distribute and access mobile content, reducing usability concerns for publishers and creating a more enjoyable user experience.

So how does AMP work, and how will it impact content?

How does AMP impact web browsing?

Some pages take longer to load because they contain elements like forms and ads. These make the page more interactive, but they can also make it hard to scroll if you just want to read content.

While they can create slow load times on traditional devices, they can make the pages virtually impossible to work with on mobile devices.

AMP is an HTML platform that strips away JavaScript and other elements to make the page load faster.

Once you install AMP into your current CMS platform, any web page accessed from a mobile device will go through it and come out cleaner and easier to load. The structure of each page will remain intact — it’ll just be pared down to its most basic elements when viewed from a tablet or smartphone.

AMP plans to add other capabilities over time. A content carousel will display AMP pages in search engine results, making those pages more prominent and more likely to get viewed.

Plus, publishers will be able to add tags to their pages so they can measure the results of AMP pages and optimize accordingly.

What are the benefits of AMP?

AMP will result in faster loading mobile pages — up to 85 percent faster, according to some estimates. That’s a good benefit, but it leads to many other benefits over the long term.

More page views

The research into load times shows an overwhelming preference for speedy load times over slower ones. If a page takes too long to load, the searcher will often give up and go to another site.

Every time that happens, it costs the site another viewer or potential customer.

Higher search engine rankings

Search engines evaluate pages based on a variety of factors — and load time is one of them.

Since AMP shortens load times, those pages are noticed by web crawlers and ranked accordingly. Meanwhile, faster loading pages get more clicks and views, which also boost rankings.

As rankings increase, so does page traffic and so do other metrics such as likes, shares, and purchases.

More effective advertising

If your site relies on ads for revenue, AMP will be particularly valuable.

As mobile traffic increases, so does the potential audience for advertisers. This makes real estate on your site more competitive.

Advertisers get a benefit as well. They can use the tools to make their ads more mobile-friendly and enjoy more clicks and conversions from their mobile ad strategies.

Mobile users want content delivered fast and in an easy-to-view format. Google’s AMP Project will enable you to provide it — if you know how to employ the platform. Start brushing up on AMP today, or turn to a trusted expert to walk you through the transition.