What Exactly is Google AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages?

The world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is perpetually reaching new heights and Google AMP is quickly becoming a requirement if a site is expected to rank on Google. With the internet and search engine titans like Google having changed the way people access information, new methods that have emerged over the past couple of years are further altering our online habits. The most recent revolution in web browsing is due to the popularity of mobile devices.



More people than ever before are browsing the web on their mobile devices. So much so that over half of web searches (approximately 58%) are being conducted on-the-go, rather than through desktop computers. In reaction to this, Google has introduced a new protocol that’s been out for around a year now: Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).



Most people still haven’t learned much about this relatively new service, despite it being released just about a year ago. Let’s run through the basics:



Google AMP, or “Accelerated Mobile Pages”, is an optimization tool/service that better allows websites to load and present their content on mobile device screens. What it essentially does is reconfigure web pages that were originally designed for larger desktop monitors. They can then be presented without much of the JavaScript or multimedia clutter, and it allows the page to look more organized on a tablet or phone. More importantly, the optimization allows the web page to finish loading faster on mobile platforms. This is perhaps the biggest reason why Google AMP ought to be more present in the minds of web developers.

Why Accelerated Mobile Pages so important?

The reason why this new technology is so important in the SEO sphere is because it is helping companies and domain names get over a hurdle that was once reducing web traffic. Mobile users tend to stop browsing the site they’re on if it doesn’t load fast enough, and this is the problem that AMP aims to fix.



The fact is, people have standards that are finely tuned to speed, and their attention spans are becoming increasingly demanding. In other words, every second counts. If a website takes too long to load, any given user will give up and move onto the next website or article. The difference between two and three seconds can actually be a make-or-break scenario when trying to attract mobile users.



This is why AMP is such an attractive solution to so many website owners. With the majority of web searches being conducted via a portable device, it allows developers to have a mobile version of their site that loads faster and looks cleaner. Consequently, the reader remains engaged without the interruptions and digital stuttering of slow and inefficient processing.



This new technique in web design is often considered a reaction to the success of Facebook’s mobile app. If you’ve never used it before, it is essentially its own browser designed for smaller, portable screens. Using the regular desktop browser on a smartphone was generally considered to be clunky and un-intuitive. Constantly having to zoom in on comments and reorient the cropped view made portable social networking too inconvenient. Square peg, round hole, in essence. In response to this, Facebook released the mobile app. It came with smartphone-friendly font sizes and task bars for easy access on small screens.



Many other large sites came out with their own portable-friendly apps, like eBay, WordPress, and even news sites like the Washington Post. More and more companies have been capitalizing on the portable market, and adapting to on-the-go viewing habits.

Will Google AMP be a necessary upgrade for my website?

Possibly. While Google AMP may seem like a perfectly viable solution for many different kinds of web pages, the benefits can only be maximized by certain kinds of websites. As mentioned before, Google AMP works by organizing a page designed for desktop use and converts it into a palatable form for smartphones. To put it simply, performance is everything as far as AMP is concerned. And, more importantly, Google give preference to AMP enabled websites over simple responsive sites and even sites that were developed specifically for mobile viewing.



Google AMP isn’t entirely compatible with multimedia-heavy sites, but it will still increase speed and boost SEO as a professional can work around the challenges of configuring a media intensive website. For anyone looking to maximize their efforts with the portable crowd of web browsing, improving the mobile speed and layout of their website, and obtaining a significant SEO boost on the Google search engine, AMP ought to be seen as a required asset.



For other SEO Tips, check out:

Overlooked On-Page SEO Techniques

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