The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source coding standard to improve the performance of web pages, content and ads. It is introduced with the aim of improving the performance of the mobile web.
Google started displaying the AMP pages in mobile search results in February 2016.
At that time links to AMP pages were constrained to the “Top Stories” section of Google’s mobile search results. Then Google started linking to AMP content in mobile search results.
In May 2017, Google reported that 900,000 web domains published AMP pages. More than two billion AMP pages were published globally.
Also Read: Things To Consider Before Hiring An SEO Company
Difference Between AMP and Non-AMP Mobile Browsing
AMP is a stripped-down form of HTML, i.e an HTML page which is designed to be super lightweight and loads faster.
It removes the elements which make the web pages load slower like JavaScript or third-party scripts.
As it is a stripped-down form of HTML, you can’t use all tags here. You can use a streamlined version of CSS but JavaScript isn’t allowed.
The platform is designed for speed and readability.
Why is AMP Important?
The number of Internet users is on the rise. 46.8% of the global population used the Internet in 2017 and the percentage is expected to rise to 53.7%.
More than 50% of search queries come from mobile devices. As more and more people are opting for mobile searches AMP is gaining importance.
We are sure the slow loading speed of any site doesn't make you happy. You would want the site to load in less than a second just like it loads on your desktop.
AMP is important because it makes the web pages load faster and makes the user stay longer on your site and increases user engagement. But AMP isn’t alone responsible for user engagement, your content is.
It also reduces bounce rate and improves mobile rankings. The only way to please Google is to please the users.
Users enjoy pages that don’t make them wait. Then you can expect higher rankings, more traffic flowing in and increase in revenue.
Also Read: 4 Tips on How to Get Local SEO Traffic Near Me in 2021
How AMP helps in SEO?
1.Improved Speed
Speed is of vital importance when you surf the net. Whenever a content is requested it should be delivered to the user as fast as possible because the user has an attention span of less than 5 seconds. AMP pages load 15%-85% quicker than a regular web page.
2.Enhances the Performance
AMP reduces the loading time of the images and ads and improves the user experience.
Google reported that AMP pages in Google search results load in less than one second or we can say they load three times faster than non-AMP pages.
They also use data 10 times lesser than non-AMP pages. AMP pages also loaded
3.Increases Mobile Ranking
Although AMP isn’t an independent ranking factor AMP improves page loading times and mobile friendliness. The faster loading time will have a positive effect on the mobile rankings. It is more likely that a website with AMP will get higher rankings than slower and unresponsive sites.
4.Support for Ads
AMP aims to support a range of technologies, ad networks, and formats. The ads should load faster and look good enough to grab the users attention. AMP will help advertisers to improve ROI on ad spend.
5.AMP Visitor Analytics
AMP takes into account the tracking of visitor behavior. It allows tracking visitor data such as new vs. returning visitors, visitor counts, clicks/conversions, video and link tracking and more.
With that being said, AMP is important but alone it is not sufficient. You should also use mobile marketing strategies to drive customers to your site and grow your business.
