Just shy of 20 years’ experience in the digital and new media space, I have never been more amped to see more AMP as I am(p) today. And while I deliver a witty play on words just at the right time, it is with a most sincere sense of excitement that I share with you the nextgen dev by way of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): What, how and why you need to be AMP’d.
Digital consumers demand and reward performance, speed agility relevance and responsiveness which is why Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP for short, has come into play just as the market need has arisen. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open source initiative that enables improved web performance and faster loading speeds without compromising on the visual appeal, aesthetics, UX and flexibility of mobile (only) pages.
By creating mobile optimised content through AMP’s, not only does the content load that much faster, but because it’s a Google initiative, AMP search results (pages that have incorporated AMP tactics) will be displayed by Google in a carousel highlighting content presented on AMP-enabled websites. While this is exciting, what makes this more sensational is that when users then click on AMP enabled search results, content is said to load 4 times faster (according to a study facilitated by SEJ – Search Engine Journal) than non APM coded content. While AMP does not play a direct role as a ranking factor, because it influences impressions, clicks and UX, in a cunning twist of fate, AMP ultimately influences SEO. This coupled with the carousel display (above the fold on mobile), one thing is for sure, AMP’s will soon be a critical SEO success factor which if neglected, you can come to expect a drop in impressions, clicks and not the mention user engagement too, as a result of neglected SEO influences.
AMP’s or Accelerated Mobile Pages is in essence a striped back form of HTML comprising of 3 core elements, namely;
- Restricted AMP HTML that is renowned to work hand in hand with AMP JS (JavaScript)
- AMP JS is a JavaScript’s library comprising of AMP best practice and applications
- AMP Cache/ CDN responsible for validating AMP pages allowing for speedy loading and responsiveness
AMP’s are known as a turnkey solution to addressing typical UX (usability) pitfalls, diminishing abandonment / bounce rates, slow to load mobi sites, unresponsive pages and displaced content as a result of paid for ads (through the monetisation of mobile pages). What’s more exciting about Accelerated Mobile Pages is that it does not necessitate elaborate technical teams in order to initiate but is accessible to most developers to simply add to their pre-existing skillsets and basic coding knowledge.
So what makes AMPs so fast?
- Limited use of Tags
- Super lightweight HTML
- Streamlined CSS
- The use of off the shelf JavaScript library’s that results in lazy loading and ensures the fast rendering of AMP HTML pages
- The Sandboxing of all iframes
- Techniques employed to Pre-calculate the layout of every element on the page before resources are loaded
- Disabling of slow CSS selectors
- All pages are all heavily Cached (AMP Cached)
Because the platform is designed literally only with speed (and a simplified usability) in mind, making pages as easy to read as possible is the order of the day while further leveraging off compelling UX, smooth scrolling and instant loading of pages (and images) that only come into view once they have actually been scrolled into view.
What AMP can do for you?
- AMP drives mobile conversion
- Increased revenue through AMP advertising
- Improved UX and user engagement
- Improved efficiencies
Described by the Condé Nast Technology blog as a set of performance focused restrictions and limitations on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, AMP’s maximize performance and allow Google to distribute optimised content using their CDN (Content Delivery Network). Delivering a number of benefits including, improved performance and a consistent UX, making use of Accelerated Mobile Pages means that users enjoy an uninterrupted flow from search to content consumption. When using AMP HTML, performance guidelines are enforced and an improved reading experience is imposed.
As if these details aren’t enough to get you amped, because Accelerated Mobile Pages are an open source initiative, an ecosystem of more than 850,000 domains, leading platforms, and 100+ technology providers currently make use of AMP and true to the open source community are itching to get you amped! For more check out https://www.ampproject.org/ and other sources include Moz.com
Have any burning questions? Drop them here and we’ll see how we can help you rank!
