As we finish out 2018, we all start to plan for an exciting and profitable new year. Along with these plans come strategies and ideas to implement, improve and get better. By now you’ve probably heard of AMP, which stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. However, are you aware of the benefits and how much it can impact your bottom-line?
In this article we’ll be going through AMP, why it’s important, what it can do for your website, and the benefits you’ll experience using it.
First off, Accelerated Mobile Pages aren’t new, but only a small segment of websites have fully implemented it. Since its launch in 2015, the technology has continued to improve immensely. AMP is an open-source project with the goal of rendering mobile website content almost instantly. Google has been the biggest sponsor, supporter and recommender, but it’s also been adopted by Bing, Twitter, Pinterest, and other large brand platforms.
We all know that Google has been pushing faster loading web pages for quite some time now. Page load speed on mobile devices has now gain relevance and become an important ranking factor, in addition to lowering bounce rates and improving user engagement. It also improves the overall experience for the visitor, which can lead to more purchases and revenue for your business. We’ve seen strong data that correlates AMP to web pages loading twice as fast, and up to a 20% increase in sales conversions on e-commerce sites when using mobile.
But what exactly is AMP? Put simply, Accelerated Mobile Pages utilize AMP HTML to optimize specifically for mobile devices. This often includes adjusted formatting, design elements being simplified, and select features being removed entirely, which dramatically improves load times. With that said, proper implementation is the key to getting the most out of the technology. While a faster page speed is becoming increasingly important, we still want the visitor to have access to everything they need to make a buying decision and take action.
What’s great about this feature is that AMP isn’t an all or nothing kind of technology. During implementation, you’re able to choose which pages are served as an AMP mobile version, allowing you to strategically target ideal pages or posts. On Google, AMP pages are designated with a gray lightning bolt symbol next to them. In the current mobile-first indexing era, AMP will certainly be getting even more relevant as time goes on.
Another great case study is for the website Trillist. When they converted over 90% of their web pages to an AMP version, they saw a 70% improvement in organic search traffic to their website – 50% of which was attributed to the AMP implementation. When done right, the results can be dramatic.
If you’re currently using paid traffic channels, AMP can also help your budget go that much further, especially for your mobile campaigns. Again, picking the right pages and optimizing them effectively is the recipe for success. This process is done through creating customized landing pages, or by using a plug-in to help optimize individual pages. At MGR, we are strongly encouraging all of our website clients to consider at least a partial implementation of AMP to their existing websites so that they too can take advantage of this powerful technology for their business.
So how about it – will you be using Accelerated Mobile Pages for your website in 2019? Leave us a comment below with your thoughts or feel free to contact MGR if you would like to discuss the implementation of AMP for your website.
