What is an Accelerated mobile page? Why it is important? How does it help Google Search? What more do you need to know about it for SEO?

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Accelerated mobile pages

Nowadays, a major chunk of the internet is consumed by mobile users. A lot of internet content is designed for mobile devices. Earlier, people thought that mobile phones were just a mode of communication. But now, it has become a lifestyle. We are all somewhat dependent on our mobile phones, whether it is a game to play, a thing to research, or to keep ourselves up to date about what is going on around the globe. In the course of this heavy mobile usage, web browsing has also increased significantly on mobile devices.

Therefore, optimizations have been made in order to increase the speed of web browsing and reduce the wait time for people. In order to optimize mobile web browsing, an open-source initiative has been created by Google in collaboration with many big publishing companies and has developed the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project. This project is fundamentally based on a stripped-down form of HTML, streamlined CSS, and optimized JavaScript. With the help of AMP, web pages load almost instantly.

The need for speed

Due to the high production of smartphones and increased coverage of the internet, the consumption of mobile internet has increased drastically. The world has developed a high pace at which people want things almost instantly without worrying about the existing resources they have. In web development, users expect web pages to load quickly and seamlessly. Irrespective of the device they have or the network conditions they are surfing the internet with, they require a fast result. In fact, research shows that people tend to leave the website immediately as soon as they realize that the pages are loading slowly. The slow loading of pages generates frustration, which leads to higher bounce rates. A delay of just a few seconds can significantly impact user engagement and conversion rates. In this situation, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) come to the rescue, offering a solution to improve mobile web performance.

What is AMP?

In order to optimize web content for mobile devices, a framework has been designed known as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), which increases the web browsing speed. It consists of three components, mainly:

The importance of anchor text

HTML programming language is focused on web development entirely. It does have some optimization pre-built, but it can be optimized way further by bringing in some restrictions, eliminating certain elements, and prioritizing speed. AMP HTML is a modified version of HTML that incorporates these kinds of restrictions and custom tags, which makes sure that there is reliable performance and enhanced speed.

Further, in this article, we will also understand how AMP HTML works and how it enhances the performance of web pages.

AMP JavaScript

JavaScript has multiple pre-installed libraries, and if a programmer wants, JavaScript also allows the development of a custom library. With the help of these custom libraries, projects can be developed in order to enhance the performance dedicated to a specific area. Therefore, when the need for improved speed emerged, AMP javascript was formed. 

AMP JavaScript is a library of JavaScript that manages resource loading. AMP JavaScript handles the loading of resources and manages them in such a way that resources are loaded one by one and not together. This avoids the blockage of page rendering and, hence, allows a smoother web experience. 

AMP Cache

The AMP cache is a Google-provided content delivery network that serves cached AMP content from servers close to users, further reducing loading time.

How does AMP work?

AMP works by enforcing multiple restrictions that are focused on improving performance and optimizing the web page.

Static Layouts

AMP requires static layouts to work. In this case, developers have to define the dimensions of all the elements beforehand. The amount of space that each element will occupy remains fixed. And in this way, the browser reserves a certain amount of space for each element, allowing it to load faster and avoid the calculation of space required again and again during rendering. By eliminating the time taken for the calculation of space, the overall time for loading the website is decreased.

Custom elements

In order to integrate the AMP runtime with the basic HTML, special AMP HTML elements are used, which are custom elements in HTML. These elements ensure that there is reliable processing while performing the required integration. These custom elements look like, e.g., “<amp-img>” and “<amp-video>”.

Inline CSS

CSS consists of multiple styles. Inline CSS in AMP means that all the CSS styles are directly embedded within the HTML document, which means that now the browser can render the page without waiting for any external resources to load, and the page gets displayed as quickly as possible. External style sheets require additional HTTP requests. This slows down the page load time. Therefore, in this procedure, no external stylesheet linking is required. This approach is mandatory in AMP, and it makes sure that the web pages load quickly and perform efficiently.

Resource Prioritization

Resource prioritization becomes a quick and smart way to keep the users attention, allowing them to engage even before the resources are fully loaded and, hence, holding the user so that they don’t leave the website. Resource prioritization in AMP means that the framework has a method that determines and loads the most important resources first. This ensures that the most important content becomes available to users as quickly as possible when they enter the website. Resource prioritization improves the performance, and moreover, it makes sure that the user can interact with the page sooner.

It is one of the most important things to understand about how AMP works. Here is how resource prioritization works in AMP:

Above-the-fold content

Above-the-fold content is the portion of the web page that is visible to the user when they first enter the website. This part is visible even without scrolling. AMP prioritizes the loading of resources in this portion in order to make sure that the users see the most important part of the website immediately after accessing the web page.

Asynchronous JavaScript

AMP enforces the loading of JavaScript in an asynchronous manner. In this way, the rendering of the page is prevented from getting blocked. When synchronous loading of JavaScript happens, multiple elements try to load at the same time, which causes rendering issues and sometimes even blocks the page from rendering. This can be disastrous for the web page, and therefore AMP comes to the rescue by loading the JavaScript in an asynchronous manner.

In order to achieve this, AMP has an AMP JS library that loads asynchronously and ensures that the browser can keep rendering the page while the script gets fetched. Other than this, AMP also utilizes custom elements for HTML content in an asynchronous manner, which reduces the loading time.

Lazy loading

Ever wondered what happens to the content that you are not viewing on the screen? Actually, it is a choice! Sometimes it is preferred to load the entire web page at once so that the entire content is visible to the user as soon as they scroll down even further. This comes with the cost of longer loading sessions, which ultimately destroys the first impression of the web page. Hence, AMP prioritizes the resources that are visible on the screen and loads them. Offscreen resources such as images and iframes are loaded when they come into the viewport of the user. In this way, the initial loading speed is reduced, and the first impression gets enhanced in the eyes of the user. 

Preconnect and prefetch

Preconnect and prefetch are the techniques of AMP to speed up the loading time by establishing external connections early and keeping important resources ready to be loaded.

Preconnect is the technique that is utilized by AMP through establishing early connections to the servers, which are important so that when the user enters that website, the latency stays minimized.

Prefetch is a technique used by AMP to fetch important resources ahead of time so that whenever they are needed, they are always available. This technique is often used for resources that are not very important for the initial rendering of the page but might be needed in a short time. These resources include images, scripts, or stylesheets for interactive elements, etc. 

The integration of both techniques enables AMP to greatly enhance web performance in such a way that the necessary resources are loaded immediately when required while the other resources are preloaded and ready for quick access.

Resource containment

AMP enforces restrictions on the portions used by the resources so that the main rendering path cannot be blocked. It makes sure that strict rules are being followed on how resources are contained and managed.

This restriction is carried out in two categories. 

  • First, fixed layouts are followed. The developers are required to define the regions that will be occupied by elements like images and iframes, which allows the browser to reserve some space beforehand so that it does not have to calculate the space required during rendering. 

  • Secondly, document order is followed. In this, AMP makes sure that the resources appear in the document in a fixed order, where the prioritized ones are loaded first and the less important ones are loaded later on.

Why is AMP important?

The credibility of our website often depends on the service and experience it provides. As the time is improving, the need for better performance and optimization is increasing with the increase in the performance of tech. Gradually, websites also need to improve their performance so that they can keep up with the current pace of technology. Therefore AMP becomes an important factor. When we introduce AMP to our web pages, we often restrict ourselves from various customizations but with a minimal compromise, we can obtain multiple benefits which are very important in the web world. Here are some of significant reasons why AMP becomes an important part :

For enhance the user experience

  • Faster load time: As mentioned earlier, AMP comes with a number of restrictions. But those restrictions are done in order to enhance the performance of the web page on mobile devices. AMP tones down the flexibility of HTML and limits the set of allowed CSS and JavaScript because of which AMP pages load faster than before. This leads to a better user experience.

  • Resource efficiency: AMP also tackles the usage of resources and manages them efficiently so that the data consumption can be reduced as much as possible on mobile networks. This feature benefits the region with slower internet connections and hence your website will be able to cater those regions as well.

For better metrics and traffic

  • Better mobile SEO: in seo, google gives a higher priority to AMP pages in mobile search results. This happens because an AMP is especially optimized for mobile phones. Since the internet is majorly used by mobile users, catering them gives you a high visibility and better ranking in the overall internet.

  • Increased ad viewability: If your page loads quickly, that means that its ads will load quickly as well. This is a major advantage for the ad publisher as well as the web page. The web page will be getting more advertisement offers while the advertiser will gain more viewability.  
  • Enhanced analytics: When you integrate AMP in your web pages, you open gates to the above mentioned points. These features help the web page to enhance many important metrics like lower bounce rates, increased average session duration, etc. With the AMP’s built in analytics tool you can track your user interactions and performance metrics.

AMP and SEO

Let us understand the relationship between Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Speed and Performance

  • Page Load Time: with the help of AMP, page loading time can be significantly reduced which becomes a crucial factor for SEO. When your page loads faster, your rankings get improved ( since search engines prioritize user experience) which increases your visibility.

  • Reduced Bounce Rates: Bounce rates depend upon how quickly the user leaves the website. Most of the time, the reason for bounce rates increasing is because of slow loading web pages as it may cause frustration to the user. With the help of AMP pages load faster which minimizes any possibility of causing frustration and hence the user experience improves which ultimately enhances the SEO rankings.

Mobile-First Indexing

  • Google mainly focuses on the mobile versions of the content in order to rank the web pages. This is because a major chunk of internet users are on mobile phones. With the help of an AMP, the mobile users get a fast and optimized experience which can improve the SEO rankings.

Other SEO Factors

  • The top story carousel of google often keeps AMP pages on the top. These are some of the prominent placements where the visibility of the web page can increase through click rates.

  • AMP also supports ad integration which creates a revenue model to the web page, helping the web page financially.

After knowing the relationship between AMP and SEO, here are some of the tips which you can follow in order to enhance your AMP according to SEO.

  • SEO prioritizes structured data over non-structured data on AMP pages.

  • Only AMP compliant pages receive the full benefits of AMP. Therefore, use the AMP validator to ensure that your AMP page is compliant with AMP specifications.

  • Stay up to date. Keep updating your AMP pages in order to stay optimized for SEO.

The benefits of AMP

In the entire course of discussion, as we get to understand what AMP is, we also get a glimpse of the potential benefits of using it. Let us understand all the benefits AMP brings to the table.

Improved performance

With all the restrictions and optimizations, we notice a significant improvement in the performance of web pages. Their loading time reduces significantly, and they load more efficiently on mobile devices. With these parts, the user experience can be enhanced and the bounce rates can be reduced. 

Higher search rankings

With fast-loading pages, the website can be easily preferred by Google, and therefore search rankings can improve. With high visibility, more organic traffic can be generated, which ultimately is very beneficial for the website.

Increased engagement

Pages that load faster provide higher user engagement. If the user engagement is high, the users will most likely stay on the site, interact with the content it provides, and their vision rates will also increase.

Mobile-first indexing

It is important for a website to be optimized for mobile devices first. Most searches and online browsing nowadays are carried out on mobile devices. AMP ensures that the mobile experience is optimized.

Simplified development

Development does not always need to be complicated. When it comes to the usage of AMP, the restrictions and guidelines are there to simplify the development process. By following these rules, a clear framework is created, especially for fast-loading pages. With the help of AMP, a developer can focus on the content and design without worrying much about performance issues.

Potential drawbacks of AMP

It does provide numerous benefits, but it does have its own set of potential drawbacks:

  • Limited customization: Due to the restrictions that AMP enforces, customization gets limited. Those websites that have a highly interactive or complex system can face challenges while using AMPs.

  • Dependency on Google: Even though AMP is an open-source project, it still has a significant reliance on Google. If an organization prefers to keep full control over content delivery, then this can be a challenge for them.

Success and Future of AMP

AMP is an open-source project that keeps developing as time passes. It is a project that has a long scope for a decent number of years. Therefore, the future of AMP looks promising. With Google and the AMP community, new futures and improvements keep bringing the existing limitations to as low as possible.

We are presenting to you three big companies that have implemented AMP and have seen a significant benefit in their metrics.

  • The Washington Post: The Washington Post implemented AMP and observed a 23% increase in mobile search users who returned within seven days.

  • eBay: With the implementation of AMP by eBay for millions of product pages, there was an increase in organic traffic of 15% and a 25% reduction in bounce rates.

  • AliExpress: A global online retail service, AliExpress, implemented AMP and noticed a 10.5% increase in conversion rates, a 27% increase in page views per session, and a 36% reduction in bounce rates.

Based on the success that AMP has brought to various organizations, there can be some future projects that can be involved as AMP evolves. 

For example, AMP for emails can enable users to perform actions while staying in the interface of the email. Similarly, AMP and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can work together where fast loading capabilities can be brought by AMPs while offline functionality and an app-like experience can be brought by PWAs. This integration, if possible, can create a powerful, high-performance mobile experience.

Conclusion

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) provides a viable solution to enhance the performance of mobile web pages. The implementation of AMP can help organizations achieve quicker loads, high engagement levels, and improved searchability. Even after considering the minimal disadvantages, the parks are still very rewarding. With further development, the restrictions may be reduced even more, opening the gates for more customization. Thus, as more and more web evolves, AMP stands as an important asset that lets users gain smooth and speedy mobile experiences.

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