Why You Should Think About AMP-lifying Your Website

A Google-backed project known as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) has recently started to gain traction among certain brands and websites. The main objective for the project is to improve the mobile experience.

Pages optimized with AMP HTML will load instantly for mobile devices. So far it has mainly been used by news publishing sites, but in the past several months, organizations like eBay and others, beyond the publishing world, have started to implement AMP. As the technology spreads, it will create more competition for other websites that need to be optimized to stay relevant in the advancing mobile market. The benefits of this optimization are not only efficiency and speed, but also more exposure for your website as viewers will be more inclined to spend more time exploring pages for information they seek.

So how does it work? AMP mobile pages work just like a standard HTML page, the difference is that AMP takes advantage of certain technical and architectural properties to prioritize speed to improve the mobile experience. AMP users are still able to leverage media options such as images and videos, advertising, and collecting data. Cloud technology is also available to cache AMP files so that download time is reduced.

The goal of this project is to improve the mobile experience in any way. AMP was designed to be open source to accommodate multiple platforms and reach a wide variety of audiences. Developers and companies have been encouraged to get involved with AMP as the project continues to grow.

Mobile Optimization

A comScore report says smartphones and tablets combined now account for 60% of all online traffic up from 50 % a year ago –  with these kind of numbers it is paramount for your website to have the ability to reach as many potential consumers as possible. Salesforce states that 68% of companies have integrated mobile marketing into their overall strategy. Mobile optimization is a key factor to stay relevant in mobile marketing. The technology of AMP is designed to do just that. Currently, publishers and Content Management System (CMS) providers are developing AMP integrations for CMSs. Automattic has already provided users with a WordPress AMP plugin.

The Technology

For developers, getting familiar with AMP is simple and won’t take more time than it normally would to develop a site. AMP HTML is already built using existing web technologies so that the development process is the same as what publishers are currently using. Anyone new to the technology can pick it up and be able to use it effectively. Sign up to Github to stay up to date on any new developments or information.

Design is Key

When optimizing your site (whether it is using AMP or not) be sure to make it pleasing to the viewer. It needs to be easily accessible on the desktop and mobile devices. Keep in mind that different screens may make it harder to scroll and keep up with heavy content. CMS Report claims that 57% of users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. Media like videos and pictures will not only look better, but also can be used to give the user important information. Picture and video downloading is what accounts for most of the data usage on the average cell phone. An effective call-to-action is also a game changing aspect for a mobile site. A simple and enticing CTA button is perfect for mobile users and good for conversion rates.

In the end, all of the strategy and planning in the world can go into your site but it won’t matter if your videos won’t load or your links take too long to open a page. That is why AMP is so important in creating a powerful site. AMP is like the air in the tires of a Ferrari. If the tires are flat you may have a nice looking car, but you can’t maximize its full potential.

For more information about AMP and your website please contact info@sproutcommunications.ca