The world has gone mobile.
But, as a marketer, simply investing in mobile optimization for your website isn’t going to be enough to stay on top of the trend.
Mobile device users spend hours a day on their phones, and they certainly won’t navigate your content if your interface is slow-loading, clunky, and not finger-friendly.
Enter Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), a new project that taps into open-sourced technical components that promote speed and ease of use for online content readers, while allowing you to retain the integrity of the content you want to feature.
Meaning, rather than requiring your team to build out the technical functions of your page, AMP feeds your content through an existing page network that is meant to increase speed and reduce loading time on mobile devices.
Basically, every article will be viewed through a stripped-down HTML standard page, immediately available to users in a “carousel”-like format, prominently featured at the top of most mobile search pages.
That being said, AMP isn’t suitable for every page. Rather, as it is now, it is meant for article publishers who want to deliver their content to readers quickly. Because of this, technical specifications are set by the AMP system, so you’ll have limited use of other features, such as Javascript – an essential component for page elements like web forms.
SEO Benefits of AMP: Accelerated Mobile Pages
While AMP pages will enrich the mobile user experience, it can also be a huge benefit to your marketing and SEO. Below are the reasons:
1. The biggest reason AMP content will get an SEO boost is because these pages show up on the Google News carousel – which is given priority above-the-fold placement on mobile searches.
Therefore, being featured as an AMP page means more attention; you can be sure that as more and more companies sign up to publish their content, the more important it will be for you to be on the AMP network.
2. Loading time is a major factor in your SERP ranking; not to mention, your average mobile user won’t wait for more than six seconds for a page to load. Therefore, the faster your page, the higher you rank and the more your content gets seen.
It goes without saying that AMP pages will give articles a boost in results, and with Mobilegeddon still hanging over the head of marketers, the chances are that Google’s future updates will prioritize mobile-friendly media even more.
3. Bounce rate: Not only will speed have your readers staying on your page for longer, but it will also help reduce your bounce rate. While it may not be the most important SEO ranking factor, a low bounce rate helps validate to search engines that your pages offer what they say they say offer and that your audience finds them helpful.
Focus on AMP for your articles and blog content, and you’ll start to see your reader retention rates soar.
Pages that are Using AMP Today to Rank High on Search Engines
Major publishers have now been using AMP for several months, and their success can easily become yours.
We’ve checked out the results for some of the today’s top searches to see how helpful AMP can be:
Search term: Election 2016
Everyone is talking about it, so how can you get your topical content seen? AMP’s top stories feature pieces from The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, and more.
Search term: Google AMP
Whether niche topics or general, Google’s AMP lets you join the discussion with maximum visibility; just ask Search Engine Land.
Search term: 2016 Olympics
International event coverage is poised to get a huge boost from mobile searchers with AMP, and USA Today, People, The Guardian, and more are ready to take advantage.
Search term: Kim Kardashian
Mic, Cosmopolitan, USA Today, and POPSUGAR are ranking at the top of the search results for Kim Kardashian – even before her biography page.
How to Get Started with AMP in WordPress
If you want to give your mobile users immediate access to your valuable content and boost your SEO at the same time, getting started with AMP is easy.
The first thing to keep in mind is that you will actually have two versions of your page – one that is the original from your page, and the other that is hosted on the AMP network.
But don’t worry, WordPress has already made it easy for you to install AMP on your site with a simple plugin that you can download from here.
Once you download and install the plugin, converting your pages to AMP is surprisingly easily – simply add /amp/ to the end of the page (e.g. sevenatoms.com/blog/amp/).
Validate the AMP version by pasting the URL within the Omnibus and adding “#development=1” at the end of the URL. If the AMP plugin is installed, you will get the message – AMP Validation is successful.
This should get your content up and running as AMP, although since the plugin is still being developed, keep in mind that there may be a delay between implementing or changing pages and the time that they show up on the AMP network.
Also check: Google AMP: What Bloggers Need to Know
There is also a popular & alternate plugin developed by the Magazine3 team & it’s called Accelerated Mobile Pages
So, what are you waiting for? Install AMP on your WordPress blog and give your readers one more reason to love your blog.
If you have already installed it, how is it working for you? Let us know in the comments below.
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SEO Benefits Of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) And How To Get Started is a post from ShoutMeLoud - Shouters Who Inspires