What is Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and do you need it?
What is Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and do you need it?
On a recent trip to Seattle to attend SMX Advanced 2016, AMP was certainly discussed in depth and was enforced by Gary Illyes the Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google who when asked what would be big for the rest of 2016 and 2017. Gary's answer
Along with assistance and chatbot development, pay attention to AMP, because it's going to be big!
So what is AMP?
AMP is a project backed by Google. AMPproject.org Its primary goal is to reduce slow rendering pages and avoid a frustrating experience for mobile device users. The full amp html source code can be found on GitHub amp html page.
The short answer for those looking whether time and effort should be placed upon your developers is whether it is worth it, yes and do it sooner rather than later! It’s considered by many SEO experts that early implementation will certainly put a jump on the competition.
The non-technical explanation is that the content is delivered via a stripped down code known as AMP HTML that does not need access dynamically to the Central Management Server (CMS) for the user authorisation process. This means that pages load and pre render in Google search far faster than regular HTML.
How will AMP best be used?
For example, sites that have adopted the AMP features will clearly hold an advantage over those slow to adopt AMP in the search rankings.
Google search will strip out AMP content that will display via a search carousel above all the search results. Pages with AMP will have an advantage over what and who will be displayed.
What is required and the limitations of AMP?
As AMP is a stripped down HTML code there are some limitations that need to be considered, only AMP approved java script can be used.
Images will only lad once you scroll down to them and a streamlined CSS version will be required.
Some CMS platforms such as WordPress already have a AMP plugin. So check whether your CMS has a plugin or consider a CMS that does. If you plan to develop your own CMS then seriously consider implementing AMP into your new platform.
Who will AMP immediately effect?
If you are a regular blogger or deliver News content, then this is a clear opportunity to get a head start on your competition.
I have spoken to a number of New Zealand web developers who have yet to develop any meaningful strategy however 3LD web design has begun exploring this in new developments
AMP Resources
Search Engine Land AMP Begins rollout
