Website performance and speed have become extremely crucial nowadays. People are in the habit of getting all the information they want at their fingertips in absolute seconds. So it is obvious that whether you are trying to provide information to your clients through your website or you are selling a product or service, your website performance should be as good as all your competitors, if not better. This is where AMP comes in. AMP, also known as Accelerated Mobile Pages, is one technological attempt at speeding up the usability of mobile web browsing.
Let’s understand in depth what is AMP and how it benefits businesses trying to build an online presence.
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What Is AMP?
AMP is an open-source project created by Google to improve mobile web browsing and make it more user-friendly. The entire mechanism works by using simplified HTML, streamlined CSS, and code-optimized JavaScript. It aims to enable web pages to load almost instantly on mobile devices. So even when users land on your page with a slower internet connection, if your page has Accelerated Mobile Pages, they shouldn’t have a problem browsing through your site.
While AMP is essential for businesses to reach their customers, publishers, and content producers can also benefit from AMP. If you are aiming to rank your content and website on the search engine AMP is the way to go.
What Are The Benefits Of AMP?
Of course, there is the obvious factor of your pages loading faster, but that’s not all. There are many other ways in which the Accelerated Mobile Pages feature helps improve the user experience. Here are all the benefits you must consider when building your website.
Improved Page Speed
Improved page performance and shorter load times are two essential features of AMP. Even with weaker internet connections, these pages are made to load almost instantly on mobile devices. This ensures the bounce rate of your page to keep to a minimum. It also increases your chances of engagement and keeps the user hooked to your page.
Increased User Engagement
As we mentioned before, a smoother browsing experience can boost user engagement. When a user lands on your page, you only have 4-5 seconds to hook them to your content and keep them engaged. So when your content loads faster, you have already caught their attention. The longer the user stays on your page, the better the message is sent to Google about your website having information relevant to what the user is searching for. This eventually leads to Google ranking your website higher for the keywords and, in turn, bringing you more engagement.
Improved Mobile SEO
AMP can help with mobile SEO by delivering quicker, more streamlined pages that are simpler for Google to scan and index. Google has said that mobile page speed is a major ranking criterion. So when you improve the loading speed, your SEO is improved. So even if your website is only doing average and bringing just enough traffic from the web, you can marvel at Mobile SEO and bring in traffic from there.
Reduced Server Load
Due to their lightweight and efficient design, AMP pages can lessen server stress and bandwidth utilization. While this might not be a concern to you when you are just starting out and only getting a handful of viewers, when your content improves and SEO improves, you will start getting a load of traffic on your website. This is good for your business, but it might not always be good for the server. Opting for Accelerated Mobile Pages will ensure that your server load will remain intact no matter how much audience you start getting.
Greater Accessibility
AMP pages are designed to be accessible and easy to use for people with disabilities. So, visually impaired viewers or those with limited mobility can access your website easily. There are a number of functions and design decisions that are made by those creating AMP that put usability and accessibility first. For instance, AMP pages are created with a straightforward style that helps individuals with visual impairments access and comprehends everything going on on the page.
Improved Ad Performance
Another benefit of AMP is basically that the loading time is getting better user engagement resulting in higher click-through rates leading to you getting paid through ads on your website. It also helps that AMP supports a variety of ad networks, formats, and technologies. The goal is to deliver ads that are fast while allowing the content to look good and grab the viewer’s attention. As a result, advertisers should be able to exert more influence and boost return on investment.
Should You Implement AMP?
The needs of your particular website and business will determine whether or not to get AMP. While AMP can offer many benefits, it’s important to consider the potential drawbacks. After all, if the cons outweigh the pros, there is no point in getting AMP for your website.
Some things to think about are:
- Your website objectives and how getting AMP will help your business. For instance, if your website receives very little mobile traffic, implementing AMP would not make sense. Similarly, AMP might not be the best choice if your website’s main objective is to offer just content with no actual sales conversion happening.
- The kind of content you offer to the internet. AMP is intended to be a streamlined, simplified version of your website, and if it is not going to be targeted to users on their phones, it might not be the best option for you.
- The expenses and resources needed to deploy AMP include developer time, testing, and ongoing maintenance. So if you aren’t making sales, you won’t be able to recover the costs effectively. So weighing the expenses you will have to deal with regarding AMP implementation versus the possible rewards is crucial.
Conclusion
Now you know what is AMP and the benefits it provides. Overall, implementing AMP may be worthwhile to consider if your website heavily relies on mobile traffic. Before making a choice, it’s crucial to carefully consider the objectives of your website, the type of content, and the implementation costs. To help you make that decision and even help implement AMP, you can work with a digital marketing agency like us.
