What are AMP pages and how can you benefit from them?

In the past couple of years, you may have come across a ripple in the proverbial online marketing pond caused by AMP pages. Working around a similar principle to that of Facebook’s Instant Articles, this innovative project pioneered by giants Google and Twitter cottons on to the power of mobile internet browsing. Since October of 2016, mobile and tablet browsing traffic has been greater than that of its traditional desktop sibling.

So with that, what exactly are AMP pages?

Here, we’ll take you through a brief description, and how it can benefit online businesses.

Summary of AMP

You’re probably worrying about trying to remember another web-based acronym, but AMP is an abbreviation of Accelerated Mobile Page – if ever something ‘does what it says on the tin’, then this is it.

By stripping the nitty gritty components down to a slimmer, ‘diet’ version, super fast loading becomes the page’s ultimate weapon. They acquire their speed by placing restrictions on the use of certain HTML tags (such as forms). These pages also stipulate that only a streamlined version of CSS is used, while JavaScript is frowned upon almost completely.

AMP provides the JavaScript library for you, which allows elements of the page – such as images – to load only when they scroll into view. Roll these features in a heavily cached Google blanket and you don’t even need to fetch data from the hosting. This culminates in a page that is destined for raw speed and readability.

That’s enough internet jargon – how will it affect you?

How you can benefit from AMP pages

Mobile users today are a demanding bunch, to say the least. In a mobile first world, speed is increasingly important, where pages need to be fast to effectively reach and engage users. This pair of statistics highlight that point perfectly:

• 53% of mobile users leave just 3 seconds after the site has loaded
• 75% of mobile sites take 10+ seconds to load

Users thirsty for quick-fire internet browsing aren’t hanging around on bloated sites crammed with ads. With Google AdWords now embarking on integration into a AMP pages, this particular stat has some mileage:

• Pages that load in 5 seconds accumulate TWICE  the ad revenue compared with those that take 19+ seconds

Blogging outlets and media juggernauts such as The Washington Post have increased their page loading times by an impressive 88%. Their streamlined pages are are boosting customer retention too, with 51% of mobile search users returning to the site within 7 days.

When it comes to e-commerce, AMP pages are also proving to have a big impact. French organic retailer Greenwez improved their mobile conversion rates by 80%, with their CPA (cost per acquisition) decreasing by 66% in the months between January and March of 2017.

Whatever the aim of the page being created, AMP is proving a success. It’s increasing traffic, the traffic is engaging more with the content and with that, naturally bringing more money into the business.

These benefits are catching the eyes of those in the business of online marketing. After its early success, AMP’s popularity, support and growth is only going to head one way.