Last year was all about Mobile addon and SEO experts were busy making web pages mobile friendly to retain the ranks of their client websites on SERP. This year, the SEO industry is buzzing about AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages by Google. In this article, I will explain what is AMP, what types of businesses need to implement it and most importantly the SEO impact of Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages.
Google AMP: What Is It?
Accelerated Mobile Pages is basically an open source project that helps web publishers create mobile optimized content. But isn’t that what responsive websites do? No. AMP lets you create content that loads exceptionally fast across all types of mobiles and tablets. The code works across all platforms and devices, no matter what processing power or OS your device may have. Google said “We want web pages with rich content like video, animations, and graphics to work alongside smart ads, and to load instantaneously,” So, how fast is AMP when compared to traditional responsive websites? The average loading time of non-Accelerated Mobile Pages is 22 seconds whereas an Accelerated Mobile Page loads in just 0.7 seconds. Now, that is super fast! Google displayed the first AMP powered pages on its mobile search results this year on 23rd February. The AMP pages feature a thunderbolt sign and “AMP” acronym in the mobile search results.
Learn More About Google AMP
We have compiled a playlist of YouTube tutorials explaining Google AMP technology in detail.
What Types Of Businesses Should Use AMP?
At the beginning, AMP pages were mainly created by online news publishers as people love to read news as quickly as possible. However, that does not mean only news publishers should use AMP. Ecommerce industry can benefit a lot by taking help of Accelerated Mobile Pages. In fact, last month eBay launched AMP powered pages and mentioned that they are producing 8 million AMP-based “browse nodes” to offer a super fast shopping experience to the buyers.
What Is the Impact Of AMP On SEO?
So, here comes the million dollar question. If the market leaders in e-commerce and news have already started to build web pages using the AMP platform, then what are the benefits they are expecting in terms of SEO? Google clearly mentioned that AMP is not a mobile search ranking factor, but they also mentioned that it affects the ranking of a website indirectly. Page loading speed is a key ranking factor and as I have mentioned earlier, Accelerated Mobile Pages load a lot faster than normal web pages. So, suppose people are searching for a product which is sold by 2 e-commerce sites, having the same domain authority, but one is powered by AMP and the other is not. In that case, AMP enabled page will rank higher on SERP. Besides, since the Accelerated Mobile Pages load faster across all devices and browsers, it is safe to say that bounce rate will be low and thus Google will also favor such pages in terms of enhanced user experience.
Conclusion
Accelerated Mobile Pages is a very fresh and innovative concept by Google and all factors indicate that it will change the search engine optimization field in the coming years. If you want to serve quick information to readers or let the users see their desired product on your e-commerce site instantaneously, then it’s time to embrace Accelerated Mobile Pages.
Kim Johanson has a Masters degree in Business Administration (Marketing). He founded a Chicago SEO Company to help brands leverage opportunities online. Kim is an avid writer on industry issues. Visit this website for more information.