Since November 2016, more internet users around the world are accessing internet using mobile devices than from desktops and laptops. According to internet monitoring agency StatCounter, the combined traffic from mobile and tablet devices is 54.45% while it is 45.55% for desktop, in the period of June 2017 to June 2018.
Users around the globe have started using their smartphones to access the internet, which is convenient and can be used on the go. With its popularity, these smartphones have necessitated that the websites be optimised for smaller screens and load fast enough on lower internet speeds.
What is AMP ?
AMP is an open-source initiative aimed at the creation of websites and ads that are consistently fast, beautiful and high-performing across devices and distribution platforms. Ever since google announced that from July 2018, page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile searches, AMP has gained lots of significance.
AMP has come a long way since its inception in 2015. Initially it was laser-focused on media sites only. Google was incentivising websites to use AMP by offering exposure in google search through the “Top Stories” carousel. Only pages which were AMP optimised could get featured in “Top Stories”. Today, all sorts of websites and pages are being AMP optimised so that the businesses stay ahead of the curve.
Why is AMP important ?
A recent research by Kissmetrics shows that the load time of a web page directly affects the sales and conversion ratio. Following is an infographic from kissmetrics which shows how loading time affects bottom line of your business.In order to show magnitude of the impact of loading time, lets run you through an example, if an online store is making hundred thousand dollars in a day, a one-second delay in page load time could potentially cost $2.5 million in lost sales every year.
AMP helps in loading website faster. It’s like stripping down a page to its bare minimum and making it mobile friendly at the same time, which results in higher click through rate and better conversions.
How to implement AMP?
Here is a quick start guide to getting started with AMP. Getting started with AMP is a three step process, as mentioned in the official documentation.
You have three options in order to AMP optimize your web pages. There are extensive documentation available in order to go ahead with each of these approaches.
In case you are making your AMP pages from scratch, you can use one of the pre-built templates, available here.
Summary
AMP offers powerful advantages over traditional mobile optimised pages – improved page speed, better experience for users and better revenues. AMP needs right implementation to be effective. Ability to track and analyse traffic on AMP pages can lead to optimising the conversion funnel. In a nutshell, web pages that are optimised for AMP have better page rangs and load faster, which in turn converts more mobile page visitors into customers.