What is AMP in SEO? A Beginner’s Guide to Accelerated Mobile Pages

Mobile users now make up for about 63% of searches on mobile devices. This shift highlights the need for websites that load quickly and efficiently. 

One effective way is AMP, a significant factor that leads to faster loading pages and indirectly contributing to more mobile user traffic. 

AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open-source framework that strips down your existing web pages so they can load faster on mobile devices. With reduced page load times, AMP has helped many websites retain user engagement and lower bounce rates. 

What is AMP?

Think of AMP as a lighter version of your web pages that load faster and are specifically optimised for mobile devices. While the content is the same, it’s a simplified version of your usual pages containing HTML and JavaScript, along with caching by Google’s AMP Cache. So, it is clear that AMPs have lesser elements in them, making them lighter and easy to load. In fact, AMP pages can load up to 88% faster than ordinary mobile pages, which favours your user engagement.

How AMP Works

AMP is similar to a simplified version of HTML. Certain HTML tags, like forms, are not permitted. You also have to use a more basic version of CSS; while most CSS can be utilised, some elements that are considered best practices are prohibited. AMP’s entire goal is to optimise your website for optimal readability and speed, but it does come at some costs. For instance, images only load when they come into view. Additionally, everything is designed to be heavily cached, allowing Google to host these pages and your content directly, so they won’t need to retrieve it from you anymore.

How AMP Helps Your SEO Efforts

Here’s why Accelerated Mobile Pages are worth considering for your SEO strategy:

1. Faster Loading Pages

Although it hasn’t been proven that AMP can directly increase your website visits, it does satisfy core web vitals factors due to its speed. According to Google, the average load time for an AMP page is under one second, which fits well with core web vital standards. Additionally, faster loading times lead to lower bounce rate, longer user session durations and up to 27% increase in conversion rates, enhancing the overall user experience.

2. Increased User Engagement with Your Website

Given how quick-loading websites are the staple for SEO, AMP-enabled sites are likely to attract more mobile web traffic relevant to their keywords. AMP’s consistent and streamlined presentation of web content, along with faster loading times, creates a smoother browsing experience for mobile users (a win-win!)

3. Enhanced Security

Since AMP pages operate solely on designated online servers, they’re capable of providing better security than traditional mobile pages. This is because Cloudflare (an internet security organisation) maintains AMP caches, indicating amped up security of these pages. As a result, many firms rely on AMP pages to protect their content and data from external threats and unauthorised access. 

 4. Easier Implementation

Since AMP uses HTML, one of the most accessible programming languages, it is easy to implement and check. An AMP website’s framework clearly outlines sections in the page code where users can easily add AMP snippets to achieve their goals. Even if coding isn’t your strongest suit, you can still install various plugins and extensions to implement AMP to your website or partner with a professional digital marketing agency in New Zealand.

How to Implement AMP 

To effectively implement your AMP content for Google Search, it’s important to focus on some crucial elements, such as creating a basic AMP page, incorporating structured data, and monitoring your pages. Start by making a basic AMP page that complies with Google Search guidelines. 

To enhance your website’s discoverability, you’ll need to see if your AMP pages are interlinked properly. It is important to note that for effective crawling and indexing, an AMP page should link back to its corresponding canonical page, which can be either an AMP or non-AMP version. 

The aim is to provide users with a consistent experience on both AMP and canonical pages, ensuring they can access the same content and perform the same actions regardless of the page version. With tools such as AMP Test Tool, you can check your AMP pages against Google Search standards, and maintain consistency in structured data markup across both types of pages. 

For adopting SEO-friendly AMP URLs, you can indicate an AMP URL in various ways, including:

• Adding “?amp” as a query parameter
• Implementing a front-end language structure like domain/folder/article.amp.html 
• Using a subdomain such as amp.domain.tld
• Alternatively, using a subfolder format like domain/folder/article/amp 

Note: When AMP is implemented on your website, it may show up in two ways: either with the TLD google.com, or with a signed exchange that treats the browser like a document. 

Get Started with AMP for Your Website

AMP is a lesser-known, albeit valuable gem that many websites can use for enhancing mobile user experience and indirectly supporting SEO efforts. AMP can add to your site visits with increased page speed and user interaction. 

If you need help with incorporating AMP, our trusted SEO Agency Auckland can help you. Get your free quote for website consultation and we’ll guide you how to make your website more user-accessible with AMP and other tactics.