What Is AMP And What Does It Mean For Me
Webmasters and SEO agencies have been aware of Google’s goal to provide the speediest possible search and browsing experience for some time. Now it looks like G has introduced their latest initiative, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP for short). News is emerging that the first people are seeing the presence of AMP on mobile search results and this will likely increase rapidly if the introduction remains relatively trouble free.
The purpose of AMP is to speed up access to mobile information through the use of an open-source HTML framework geared at delivering content faster to mobile users. You can also bet that the use of AMP compliant posts on your site will pretty soon play into the ranking algorithm Google runs for mobile searches.
So just what does an amp post look like. Well, the use of AMP compliant code can be seen on this blog post here on the site
You’ll notice that you have a pretty standard looking URL but with the addition of the additional parameter ‘/amp/’. This extension is the trigger that allows Google search algorithm to identify AMP compliant posts aad serve it up.
If you take a look at the images below you’ll see a ‘before’ and ‘after’ example when viewed on a non-mobile device (remember, these posts are aimed at mobile device users). Mobile users will see the giveaway identifier for AMP which is the blue bar (but with an added icon not seen here).
Non-AMP post example
AMP-compliant Example of the same post
What This Means For Search
Well, firstly as noted above the time will certainly come when AMP wil be a ranking factor for Google. They make no secret of the fact that rapid accessibility will influence a site’s rankings in their search engine. The testing of AMP is another step on that journey so webmasters and site owners should begin to plan for AMP on their sites in the near future.
Another impact will be that post contents are pushed still further down the post as the blue AMP bar will show at the top of all AMP-enabled posts.
Although the roll-out of Accelerated Mobile Pages has been expected for some months, it looks like the ball is finally rolling. Watch out for further information on this development which looks to potentially have huge significance for future site design and optimisation….even though we’re in the opening stages at the moment.
If you’d line to hear more about how AMP is going to be important to your business then contact us here.