Is Your Website AMPed up?

Source: PeteLinforth at pixabay.com

Google is serious about mobile browsing and webpage load times. Why? Because according to SimilarWeb’s 2015 report, 56 percent of consumer Internet traffic in the United States comes from mobile devices. This shift in consumer behavior has led Google to prioritize webpage load times on mobile devices so mobile users may have a better search experience with its service.

However, how do you make your pages load faster for mobile? One way is with the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) library. It’s an open-source project that is used by major sites such as BuzzFeed, BBC, and The Economist. Its goal is to increase mobile load times to improve webpage monetization. It does this by enhancing the HTML and Javascript on your webpages so they render faster and desynchronize HTTP calls.

AMP makes your website friendlier to mobile users. It decreases your website’s bounce rate because mobile users no longer need to wait as long for your page to load. More users on your site means more eyeballs, which, depending on whether or not you display ads on your website, can translate into increased ad revenue. Furthermore, your webpages will have a ranking edge over competitors who do not adopt this technology because of its newfound technical superiority. Finally, AMP is free to use.

John Lincoln at Inc.com goes into more detail about the advantages of AMP and how to integrate it into your website. Alternatively, if you’d rather explore the technical details yourself, the AMP Project webpage is a great place to start.