If you’re interested in improving your website’s mobile experience, then Google AMP is definitely something to look into. Accelerated Mobile Pages, or Google AMP, is a free and open-source initiative introduced in 2015.
The project aims to enhance mobile users’ experiences by giving them access to quick-loading, lightweight web pages. Google AMP pages are also made simple to read and be accessed on mobile devices.
We’ve updated this guide by covering everything you need to know about Google AMP – from what Google AMP is, how it works to, its advantages and disadvantages, and whether it is worth it to use Google AMP today.
What is Google AMP
The short answer is that AMP is designed by Google to help your website rank higher when people are searching on mobile devices. The more complex of this definition is that it was created as an open-source HTML standard by the AMP-OSP. It competes directly with Facebook’s Instant Articles.
The key to AMP is in increasing the speed at which a webpage load. The average user spends just 15 seconds on a page if your site takes more than 5 seconds to load, they are likely to move on without ever having seen what you have to offer.
The Harry Potter styled lighting bolt = AMP
Why was it created?
Originally developed as an open-source coding project for publishers, it was intended to improve user experience by stripping down any HTML page to make it lightweight, the lighter it is, the faster it loads and the easier it is to read on your device.
If you’ve ever done a mobile search and noted a lightning bolt next to the result, then you’ve located an AMP webpage. The next time you search on Google, take a look at the carousel, where you can scroll through webpage options by sliding the small images to the left. These are AMP pages.
See also: Google My Business Verification
Of course, while publishers still dominate the use of AMP, Google has now waded into the scene, appreciating the benefit of speedy loading to businesses and consumers. This has led to some strict rules regarding the level of advertising on a webpage. Less is better for loading speed.
How exactly does it work?
You must now be wondering how AMP works. To begin with, AMP reduces pages to just the necessary elements. To do this, the animations, advertisements, videos, and other relevant media are removed. When you, as a user, click on the AMP links, you don’t get the content delivered from their website but instead quickly access the cached version of the page because AMP also maintains a version of the page on Google’s servers.
Understanding Google AMP Cache
Google AMP cache is simply a vault of web documents already validated and approved, anyone can use these documents to facilitate loading speed.
In effect, the cache is a gateway to mobile internet search engines. If you want to offer AMP pages, then you need to go through this cache. While the cache can adjust your model of a webpage or even cause analytic attribution to be shared, there are several positives from using this approach:
• All pages are approved to the same standard
• Standardization allows pages to be preloaded, dramatically reducing final load times when users search and request them.
• Provide an array of performance benefits for users.
• AMP accreditation means the user knows it is what it says it is. Fast loading and user-friendly.
In short, the Google AMP cache preloads or pre-renders a webpage. When a search is completed and the user clicks on a page, the content is already on Google and can be loaded instantly, it doesn’t need to connect to or through a myriad of other servers.
Relation Of Accelerated Mobile Pages To SEO
Speed, that’s it. If your website ranks equally with someone else’s for SEO, but the other site loads faster, it will outrank you. That means it will appear above yours in the search results and potentially steal customers!
Courtesy of Kinsta.com – TLDR: The longer you make visitors wait – the lesser they will convert
To ensure you’re performing well in search results, you need to create two versions of your web pages:
1. The original desktop-orientated version
2. The stripped-down, AMP-coded, AMP version
SEO relies on keywords and is still essential. By creating a lightweight version of your webpage, you’ll be covering all search options, effectively improving your ranking and number of viewers.
What are the different types of Google AMP?
By using Google AMP, you can essentially create four types of pages.
Google AMP websites and webpages
The AMP websites and web pages are the first Google AMP type. Google AMP is a mobile-friendly HTML version of the website that is more simplified and loads quickly.
However, how will your site visitors be able to tell if the pages you’ve made are Google AMP sites? The Google search engine’s lightning symbol will let them know. Moreover, Google provides dots on either side of the search bar, allowing users to transition between AMP and regular pages.
Google AMP Stories
These days, stories are popular on social networking sites like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. Google AMP stories are just that! You may share your graphic narratives with visitors so they can instantly connect with them with the help of Google AMP stories.
You may have come across blogs that allow you to swipe forward to view images or content. That is what AMP stories are. Using this keeps the viewers engaged in the content you offer. A further benefit of AMP is that it is open source, so anybody can build and include AMP stories on their website for increased traffic rather than being restricted to just one or two platforms.
Google AMP Emails
While you might believe that email marketing is stagnant, offers out-of-date content, and becomes irrelevant over time, you might be thinking correctly! But, you may provide better emails and a more simplified user experience by integrating Google AMP into your emails. AMP emails can include interactive features and content that users can engage with right within the email.
This type of email is used by Pinterest so that visitors can interact with the pins without visiting the website. It provides a better user experience since they are not forwarded to another website or application.
Google AMP Ads
Advertisements are one of the most important marketing strategies of a business. You could not have a competitive advantage over your competitors if your advertisement takes time to load. Here is where Google AMP advertising shine because they load five seconds quicker than regular ones.
Visitors tend to leave the website whenever there is any delay, and AMP ads immediately fill the gap to give them the best experience while they are on the page, increasing the click-through rate and visibility of your brand.
There are several platforms and ad networks that support this advertising, and also, they are very easy to develop.
SEO Advantages of implementing Google AMP
There are several advantages of AMP to SEO.
• Positioning
You need the right keyword to ensure your webpage is found when a search is performed. But the very top results on any page are now the AMP results on the carousel. That means the right keyword with an AMP page can get you to the top of a search, bypassing the standard protocols. This is possible now because AMP is still in its infancy; the greater the take-up, the harder it will be to jump to the top. But if your team acts now, you’ll already be there.
• Load Time
Desktop users may wait up to 15 seconds for a webpage to load, while mobile users generally only wait for 6. You need AMP to ensure your page loads in less time than this, providing the opportunity for users to actually read your content. Don’t forget, the faster your load time the higher you’ll rank in search results. Load times should be factored into your website quality audit because it’s an easy win for a lot of sites that haven’t optimized their speed.
• Bounce Rate
The bounce rate increases with the number of people that leave your site quickly. The lower the bounce rate, the greater the quality of your page content, at least according to Google. Faster loading times tied to relevant SEO reduce bounce rates, improving your reputation with Google and readers!
• Increased Sales
AMP is going to bring more visitors to your site and help you retain them, which means more opportunities to sell your products or services. More sales equal more profit, a greater market share, and potentially an improved awareness of your service by the public.
What Are the Downsides to Google AMP?
Google AMP may be very beneficial for creating fast mobile websites, but it has its downsides as well. Listed below are some common ones:
• Implementation of AMP pages is tough
The process of creating AMP pages can be difficult, especially for websites with a lot of pages or sophisticated features. To create this, much effort and money may be needed. Specifically, coding skills are needed for building AMP pages. So, things can be a little difficult for you if you don’t have access to WordPress.
• Tracking data is difficult
Although AMP does interact with Google Analytics and tracking options are expanding, tracking data from AMP pages can only be collected to a certain extent. Due to this, it is difficult to determine how changes affect traffic and lower visits to your site.
• It restricts the creative elements
Although Google AMP might give users a more simplified experience, employing it can mean giving up many of the aspects of your websites. The focus of Google AMP is on effectiveness and speed. Creative aspects are therefore constrained.
• Restriction on social sharing
Most of the Google AMP pages are created using JavaScript, so you are limited to sharing pages on social media platforms. It can also happen that the social share buttons are not even obvious to be used.
• No benefit from ads
Since Google AMP is all about speed, lesser ads might show. While this may be good for the users, you, as a business owner, won’t be able to benefit from it because fewer ads mean lesser revenue you’ll get.
Implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages on your websites
Implementing AMP on a non-service/product website that solely depends on search traffic – like a news site – is a no-brainer. If you are selling products or services, it makes more sense to work on the mobile responsiveness of your overall website. In fact, AMP is not even a part of Google Search Console anymore. Speed is a ranking factor, AMP helps you obtain rich snippet spots. But expecting it to do wonders is not a great idea.
Where thou art AMP?
If you’re using WordPress, you can actually install a plugin ( download link | Installation and configuration Video ) that handles the conversion to AMP for you! You’ll then need to validate it with Google AMP cache by following the simple instructions in the control panel. The alternative is to redesign each webpage of your site, reducing images, adverts, and other add-ons. Effectively the fewer tags you have, the faster the webpage will load. This is a more time-consuming approach but potentially leaves you with more control over what is left in and what is removed from each page. The key to deciding whether you should be instigating AMP now is to complete searches on your current keywords. If the AMP carousel appears, you need to be on it!
Easily the best plugin out there for implementing AMP on WP nice and easy!
Verifying AMP on your website
Easy. The Google AMP verification tool does just that. You will just have to punch in your URL.
What you see when everything is good to go!
If you only got HTML / code – check out the AMP project.
Is Google AMP relevant today?
After going through all the previous points related to Google AMP, you must be wondering whether you should still use AMP pages. Many arguments have already been flying out there regarding its relevance in today’s world. AMP pages indeed made websites much faster but also made them too basic. Not long ago, Google secretly deleted the AMP sign in 2021 from the search result so nobody would notice.
Is it still being used? Yes! But should you use it? We cannot avoid stating the most cliché answer: “it depends.” If you run a news website, you’ll need an AMP page to display the most recent story headlines that people can reach quickly on their mobile. But you generally won’t require it if your website is already responsive to mobile devices.
One of the most valuable points of using AMP pages is its speed, which is all because of Google cache and radical optimization. Yet, there are reports that Google will also expand its caching feature to non-AMP websites. But, AMP pages can now be used to build advanced pages if additional features are added. Also, it’s a great choice if you want to create a mobile website that users can navigate quickly and easily. But well, it all comes down to it depends on how you want to use it!
Conclusion
Google AMP gives website owners a means to enhance the mobile user experience. AMP pages ensure that the pages load quickly and appear properly on mobile devices by using a special version of HTML. Moreover, AMP pages can help in SEO because Google prefers mobile-friendly pages. You should think about Google AMP if you’re searching for a solution to boost your website’s mobile experience. It is simple to use and can help your website in many different ways.
FAQ
Why is AMP important?
Although AMP indirectly impacts your website’s organic traffic, it can greatly contribute to achieving noticeable success. Your visitors will stay on your website longer thanks to AMP’s support in serving them more promptly. The greater the speed of your web pages, the more likely people will stay and interact with your content.
Is Google AMP beneficial for SEO?
While AMP might be useful in certain scenarios, it should not be deemed as a must-have for search engine optimization. Rather, focus on enhancing page speed and providing a superior mobile experience – there are multiple strategies to do this – and AMP may be one of them.
