Speed is everything when it comes to engaging customers in the digital world. It’s also critical to getting found online: How quickly your website loads on mobile devices is factored into search engine algorithms and, in turn, how high your website lands in search results.

 

To make mobile website design easier, in 2015 Google launched an open-sourced project called the accelerated mobile page (AMP) to help businesses create fast and mobile-friendly versions of webpages.

 

How much of a benefit does an AMP page provide? According to Google, AMP pages load 85% faster than standard mobile pages and a 1-second delay in page loading can reduce mobile conversion rates by up to 20%. (Google offers the Test My Site tool to help optimize mobile websites.)

 

“AMP HTML allows businesses to focus on creating a fast and responsive user experience without having to worry about the design and layout of their website,” says David Wurst, owner of WebCitz, a Menasha, Wisconsin-based web design and digital marketing agency.

 

How accelerated mobile pages work

AMPs are basically stripped-down versions of standard HTML websites that include just the basic information—without some of the sophisticated design and user-interface elements that you might find on a typical website. By sticking to the basics, pages load faster and are easier to navigate, Wurst says.

 

AMP places tight restrictions on developers, such as not allowing JavaScript programming language and putting limitations on use of HTML and CSS. Businesses with employees with web development experience can probably convert their web pages to AMP themselves, but a web developer can easily do it as well. This online tutorial walks you through the process of converting an HTML page to an AMP.

 

Google says that AMP itself isn’t a page ranking factor, but speed is. In 2021, Google introduced its new Page Experience ranking factor, and load speed is a top criteria.

 

The benefits of AMP to small businesses

While not every small business will want to adopt AMP due to the limitations it sets on mobile page design, it can be a smart move for businesses that have a lot of online content. It features content in an easily digestible way, says Kevin Miller, co-founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency GR0. “AMP is designed to not only create a faster mobile web experience for users, but also to improve the visibility of content,” he says.

 

“People have short attention spans and expect instant gratification when using their phones to browse and make purchases.”

 

Here are some key potential benefits of adopting AMP:

 

  • Providing a faster, more streamlined mobile experience to your site visors. Data shows that more than 60% of online searches today are done via mobile device—a percentage that is expected to keep rising. It’s critical for businesses to invest in their mobile experience.
  • Better search rankings due to faster page-load speeds. This can potentially lead to more traffic to your site.
  • More conversions. A faster, streamlined user experience may lead to more conversions, as people are less likely to “bounce” a way from your site if pages load quickly and are easy to navigate.

 

“People have short attention spans and expect instant gratification when using their phones to browse and make purchases,” says Eric McGee, senior network engineer for TRG Datacenters, a data center colocation provider based in Spring, Texas. “If these conditions are not met, they are likely to abandon the site.”

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