AMPs (Accelerated Mobile Pages) and its impact on mobile SEO
Accelerated mobile pages have become an integral part of mobile SEO. A lot of business owners are looking for mobile solutions that offer complex user experiences and boost SEO performance because of the increase in smartphone users year on year.
That’s where AMPs come in.
If you’re looking to build your brand, increase traffic, and drive conversions, you shouldn’t be overlooking the power of mobile SEO. Here at Embryo, our team has extensive experience in creating and building mobile SEO strategies that work from the ground up.
In this blog, we will talk you through AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) and their impact on mobile SEO.
Keep reading to find out more.
What are AMPs?
AMPs, or accelerated mobile pages, are an open-source project created by Google to help mobile websites achieve a faster loading time.
AMPs store a cached version of the mobile site on Google servers. This way, content is delivered almost immediately. However, the AMPs are removing features such as videos, animations, and ads, and keeping only content and images that are relevant to the page. This increases the user experience because the load time for complex elements is eliminated.
AMP is not a direct ranking factor in itself, and having AMP pages on your website won’t necessarily increase its rankings immediately. Google now places higher importance on website speed and mobile friendliness, which makes AMP an indirect ranking factor.
When they were first created, AMPs were recognised on the search engine results page by a lightning bolt symbol. However, recently, Google removed this icon which has raised the question of whether the AMP era is over.
Introduced in October 2015, Google’s AMPs were created due to the recognition of an increase in mobile usage. It made sense to do something about this change, so their approach was to craft faster-loading webpages on mobile devices. Over the years, the technology has made improvements and developments that have accelerated mobile page performance.
It seems like there is a lot to talk about when it comes to AMPs. Let’s have a look at both the pros and cons of these pages.
Some benefits of AMPs include:
- Fast loading speed – because AMP technology is based on stripping down the website code, your site will deliver faster content by getting rid of non-essential elements. Therefore, user experience will be improved.
- Better organic search performance – Google AMP is not a ranking factor, but site speed is. Faster loading times mean better Google rankings.
- Fast and easy implementations on WordPress – if you have a WordPress website, then AMP implementation is a straightforward process. You can do this through a plugin.
The main goal of the AMP framework is to make your website as fast as possible. However, there are many ways to improve your site speed and improve your mobile SEO than using accelerated mobile pages.
Some of the cons of AMPs include:
- They are hard to implement on non-WordPress websites – you might need a team with coding experience to implement AMP pages.
- Limited ad revenue – because AMPs focus on speed, fewer ads will show up on your pages. If your primary source of income is based on ads, then AMP pages aren’t the best option.
- Limited analytics – you can add Google Analytics on your pages, but keep in mind that your site is sitting on Google servers, making it difficult to see how changes impact your website traffic.
AMPs can also give you limited control over your website content and design. AMP technology excludes elements that contribute to slow load times, so things such as branding features or elements that help you drive traffic to other pages from your website could be hindered.
How do AMPs Affect Mobile SEO?
Now that you’ve got to grips with AMPs, let’s have a look at their relevance regarding mobile SEO.
Page speed does have a tight-knit relationship with SEO. As discussed, AMP enhances page speed and mobile user experience, which are key components of good SEO practices. Since page speed is a known ranking factor, AMP can contribute to better performance in these areas.
Faster loading times and a smoother mobile experience can lead to lower bounce rates and higher engagement, which are positive signals to search engines. Therefore, while AMP is not a ranking factor in itself, it can improve load times and user experience, having a positive effect on a website’s search engine rankings.
We can confidently say that the role of accelerated mobile pages in mobile SEO is definitely significant. For business owners focussing on mobile traffic, AMP offers a strategic opportunity to improve their online presence and user experience.
How to optimise AMP pages
If your site still uses AMP pages and you want to get the best out of them, then here’s what we’d recommend:
Test their performance
From reading any of our blogs, you’ll know how much we talk about testing in SEO- but we don’t say it for no reason! It’s so important to stay on top of how well your site is doing (or, how not so well…).
Either way, tracking performance lets you know what works and what doesn’t, giving you an idea of where to go next in your strategy. The AMP test tool lets you see if your page is valid.
Optimise metadata
Any metadata, like meta descriptions and title tags, that are optimised will give your AMPs better chances of appearing in the SERPs. You leverage every bit of data given to you to showcase how relevant you are to a particular search.
Include structured data for rich results
AMPs can appear as rich results at the top of the SERP, so implementing structured data can boost your visibility. You can use the rich results test tool to know if you’ve input the data correctly.
Content consistency
Content and visual features should remain pretty much the same across the pages- this prevents confusion for the user and can cement your brand image across all devices. Consistent content includes updating both pages when changes are made to the other. CMS (content management systems) can help you sync content updates to save you time.
Are AMPs still relevant in 2024?
With the introduction of mobile-first indexing, it’s looking like the use of AMPs is becoming less and less needed.
While there’s no straightforward answer, there are three things you should do in the future:
- A new site: don’t create AMPs
- A site that doesn’t need AMPs: remove them
- A site benefiting from AMPs: keep them
If you’re building a new site, it’s best that you don’t use AMPs. You should optimise for mobile-first indexing, creating a site that offers a positive user experience on a mobile device. This means you’ve got a well-optimised site across devices right from the off.
If AMPs are implemented on your site, but they only serve to worsen your core web vitals and decrease the usability of your website, then they should be removed. It can be hard to maintain two versions of your site, so if this is causing a strain on your metrics, maybe it’s time to ditch the AMPs.
However, AMPs could be beneficial for your site, and this is when you should keep them and work on optimising them. They could be a temporary fix to any mobile issues that contribute to a slow-loading site and difficult usability. It all depends on how well they’re performing and how hard it is to maintain.
Work with the experts
Hopefully, this blog has taught you a little bit more about AMPs – what they are, their benefits (or lack of), and more importantly, how they impact mobile SEO.
Their relevance in 2024 has decreased, but you now know how to optimise them if they’re still implemented on your site, and to avoid them in the future if not right for your site- the priority, as always, is optimising for your users, making sure they have the best experience.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team to find out more about what we can do for your business. Or, have a read of some similar pages down below.
