Google is increasingly focusing on mobile search, as is evidenced by their move in early 2018 to switch to “mobile-first” indexing. This means that if your website is either not yet mobile-friendly, or doesn’t have mobile-oriented features such as AMP, then your website will struggle to compete for new traffic.
What is AMP?
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. AMP is a Google-supported open-source project that aims to increase the delivery speed of mobile search content. The increased display speed is achieved by means of a stripped-down version of a static webpage using code known as AMP HTML, which loads much faster than your website’s usual HTML.
Google uses AMP to display and render content in the search results which means users will no longer have to click through the website to see the content. Pages that have valid AMP versions will often display at the top of mobile search results in a carousel that fills most of the screen on your mobile device.
Browsers will be able to tell when a search result is AMP-enabled, as it will be denoted by a lightning bolt underneath the title, signifying its lightning-fast load speed.
Why You Need to Implement It Now
If you regularly post news items and blog posts, then you will want to implement AMP as soon as possible. AMP-enabled sites will enjoy increased visibility in Google’s mobile search results, allowing your site to outrank your competition who have been slow on the uptake.
By appearing higher up in mobile search results, you will see large increases in your website’s traffic from mobile devices, which could create more leads, conversions, and revenue.
If there are three tutorial articles on the exact same topic and only one is AMP-enabled, then (all else being equal) the AMP content will rank first. This basic example clearly demonstrates just how important it is for webmasters to implement this code sooner rather than later.
This kind of enhanced user experience will almost surely have the benefit of increasing retention rates. If you’re providing the best solution to the browser for a specific search term, then they are much more likely to return to your website for queries related to the same topic.
How to Implement AMP on Your Website
If you are running your website on the WordPress platform, then there is an easy plugin that you can find here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/amp/. This will strip down existing and future articles and blog posts using AMP HTML. It may take a bit of playing around to find a page that you feel renders correctly, but it won’t take you long to find the sweet spot.
If you use another platform, talk to us. We will help you get your site AMP ready. It is likely that we can retroactively add AMP functionality to your website.
You can call at 844-210-APPS (2777) or Live chat with us
Conclusion
With browsers able to view the content they need from search results within milliseconds, AMP is set to become the future of mobile search and ranking. If you don’t currently have AMP you are missing out on improved Google search rankings. By appearing at the top of the search results you will witness large increases in traffic, leads and ultimately sales.