It’s no laughing matter.
Your SEO strategy is serious business.
The digital age has radically transformed how businesses optimize their online presence and get in front of customers.
More and more online users have turned to smartphones and tablets as their primary browsing devices.
This phenomenon is forcing web administrators to rethink their SEO marketing strategies, especially when it comes to optimizing their websites for mobile.
This is the same reason that led to Google launching the Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) Project.
So what are accelerated mobile pages, or AMPs?
At their core, they are mobile pages built with custom AMP code that improves site load time and usability.
They operate on their own set of protocols, distinguishing them from traditional web pages.
For example, a basic piece of HTML AMP code looks like this:
AMPs load 85% faster than other web pages on mobile.
In an era where even a 1-second delay can cost 7% of your conversions, accelerated mobile pages can be the difference between a loss vs. a boost to your bottom line.
The debate now, however, is just how important is this new Google AMP project?
One thing always stands out from this argument: Accelerated mobile pages are bound to disrupt the global online space in an unprecedented way.
In this article, we will look at 3 compelling reasons why you need to take the benefits of AMP for SEO seriously.
1. Mobile-Friendliness is a Crucial Part of the Google Algorithm That Rules SEO
If you want to be visible online and have your SEO strategy succeed, you cannot ignore the people using mobile devices to browse.
Google has, over the last three years, placed a lot of weight on mobile friendliness.
As such, it is now ranking websites on how mobile-optimized they are.
So what does this mean when it comes to AMP pages for SEO?
Multiple market studies have proved that Google accelerated mobile pages rank higher on mobile than any other type of web page.
Bottom Line: AMPs load in microseconds on mobile browsers.
Essentially, there is no better way of increasing your site’s mobile-friendliness and to start enjoying AMP SEO benefits.
Incorporating Google AMP into your online platform is a sure-fire way of impressing mobile users – and Google for that matter.
2. Google AMP Increase Your Websites’ Conversion Rates
More than 70% of all searches on Google today come from mobile browsers.
Of these, 50% are likely to quit your website if it loads for more than 2 seconds.
Let’s put this again into the terms of AMP SEO benefits.
Google accelerated mobile pages load in less than a second, meaning you stand a chance of retaining all of your mobile visitors.
Dwell time and bounce rate are both factors in SEO rankings.
In one accelerated mobile pages case study of plista, average CTR increased over 220%.
Meanwhile, ConsumerAdvocates.org saw a decrease of 30% in their bounce rate and that same percentage increase in dwell time when they switched their mobile pages over to Google AMPs.
Bottom Line: Remember that the more traffic you get and retain, the higher your chances of making new business leads.
Combining all these increments, it is true to say that AMP SEO benefits extend to boosting your bottom line.
By adding accelerated mobile pages by Google to your web content, it is a guaranteed way of increasing your overall conversion rates.
One case study that proves this is Carved.
Using AMPs first for their acquisition channels, they were able to boost conversion rates 75%
3. The Future of Accelerated Mobile Pages and SEO is Looking Up
It’s always been the case that early tech adopters stand a better chance of positioning themselves within their niche as compared to their direct competitors.
The AMP project has been around for only three years.
However, in that short time, it has shaken the global online space and altered SEO best practices.
If this trend is anything to go by, the future benefits of AMP and SEO will continue to get brighter.
Back in 2016, web admins were skeptical about web pages without the revenue-generating ad pop-ups at the beginning.
It was also too soon to see the connection between an AMP and SEO.
Bottom Line: It is now clear that loading speed has a bigger impact on rankings and online revenue than all other factors combined.
4. Accelerated Mobile Pages Now Feature Stories
Business owners once thought that accelerated mobile pages from Google were only applicable in news-related websites.
The reasoning behind this was that mobile users wanted a platform where they would read the news online and then leave without necessarily interacting further with that platform.
However, this is no longer the case.
The emergence of AMP stories has caught the eye of many businesses.
This format offers immersive, full-screen content that provides more compelling storytelling opportunities.
Brands can use rich, visual content and tappable interactions to keep readers engaged.
For example, Mashable created an AMP Story as a guide to Black Panther.
Their immersive, tappable content features video, text, and audio for an enriching experience.
Businesses such as Ztorie, have gone a step further in offering a tool which helps businesses create stories for their portfolios.
Bottom Line: AMP Stories are the latest and greatest way to capture visitor attention and keep it.
This feature will further emphasize the effectiveness of AMP pages for SEO and brands’ bottom lines.
Wrapping Up: Why Google AMPs Matter for Your SEO Strategy Now and Later
Soon, very few people will ask “What is accelerated mobile pages?”
They will become the standard for web pages, so the knowledge of AMPs will be widespread.
However, the full potential of this project is yet to be realized.
If you don’t explore what AMP can do for your SEO strategy now, you may have a lot of catching up to do when your competitors run away with nearly all of your online prospective customers.
The significance of Google accelerated mobile pages in online business cannot be overemphasized.
It is incumbent upon you to explore the opportunities and AMP SEO benefits that this tool provides.
One way to do so is to employ all the legitimate tools available to create Google AMP stories for your website.
Another is to to follow a few best practices laid out by experts in the field.
For example, there’s this guide to SEO strategies from outreachmama.com.
Overall, be sure to create compelling content for your audience, engage them productively on your site, and work on your SEO strategy.
This way, the traffic that you get from your accelerated mobile pages can convert easily to loyal customers.
