What is AMP and how does it work with SEO?

February 23, 2023

SEO

What are Accelerated Mobile Pages?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source project by Google aimed at improving the loading speed of mobile web pages. It’s a stripped-down version of HTML that allows web developers to create fast-loading pages specifically for mobile devices. The goal of AMP is to provide a smooth and fast user experience on mobile devices, reducing the wait time for pages to load and improving overall engagement.

AMP works by reducing the complexity of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript used on a page and limiting the use of certain web technologies that can slow down page load times. Additionally, it uses a specialised cache to pre-render pages, which allows for near-instant load times. This can be especially beneficial for content-rich pages, such as news articles or product pages.

In terms of SEO, AMP can improve a website’s visibility in mobile search results by allowing pages to load quickly on mobile devices. Pages with faster load times tend to rank higher in search results, as search engines like Google prioritise fast-loading pages in their search algorithms.

Overall, Accelerated Mobile Pages offer a faster and smoother user experience on mobile devices, which can lead to increased engagement and improved search engine visibility.

However, it’s important to note that AMP has some limitations and may not be suitable for all types of websites and content. Web developers should weigh the benefits and limitations of AMP before implementing it on their website.

How AMP helps SEO?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) can help improve search engine optimisation (SEO) in several ways:

Faster load times: AMP pages load much faster than traditional mobile web pages, which is a key factor in how search engines rank pages. Fast-loading pages are favoured in search engine algorithms, and AMP helps to ensure that mobile pages load quickly, which can positively impact search engine rankings.
Improved user experience: The fast loading times and smooth user experience of AMP pages can result in higher engagement and lower bounce rates, which are also factors that search engines take into account when ranking pages.
Increased visibility in search results: Google has a dedicated carousel in its search results for AMP pages, which can increase the visibility of your content and drive more traffic to your site.
Better mobile optimisation: AMP pages are optimised specifically for mobile devices, which can improve the overall mobile optimisation of a website. This is important, as search engines are placing increasing emphasis on mobile optimisation as more and more users access the web on mobile devices.

In summary, AMP helps improve SEO by providing faster load times, a better user experience, increased visibility in search results, and better mobile optimisation. However, it’s important to note that AMP is just one aspect of a comprehensive SEO strategy, and there are many other factors that can impact search engine rankings. To improve your website’s SEO, it’s important to focus on a range of tactics, including keyword research, content optimisation, link building, and more.

Source: Google Search Central

Here are some statistics and facts about Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP):

Adoption: AMP has been widely adopted by websites and publishers, with millions of AMP pages now available on the web.
Page load times: AMP pages load much faster than traditional mobile web pages, with load times often measured in milliseconds.
User engagement: The fast load times and smooth user experience of AMP pages have been shown to result in higher engagement and lower bounce rates compared to traditional mobile web pages.
Improved visibility: AMP pages are favoured by search engines, with AMP pages often appearing at the top of search results. Additionally, Google has a dedicated carousel in its search results for AMP pages, which can increase the visibility of your content.
Better mobile optimisation: AMP pages are optimised specifically for mobile devices, which can improve the overall mobile optimisation of a website.
Increased traffic: Websites that use AMP often see an increase in traffic from mobile devices, as users are more likely to click on fast-loading pages in search results.
Improved user experience: The fast load times and smooth user experience of AMP pages can result in higher engagement and lower bounce rates, improving the overall user experience.
Open-source project: AMP is an open-source project, which means that anyone can contribute to its development and use it on their website.

Overall, AMP has become a popular and widely-adopted solution for improving the speed and user experience of mobile web pages. With fast load times, improved visibility in search results, and better mobile optimisation, AMP can help websites to drive more traffic and improve the overall user experience.

How does AMP work?

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) works by simplifying the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript used on a web page, and limiting the use of certain web technologies that can slow down page load times. The goal is to create fast-loading pages specifically for mobile devices, providing users with a smooth and fast user experience.

Source: Bryt Designs

Here's a high-level overview of how AMP works:

AMP HTML: AMP uses a simplified version of HTML called AMP HTML, which includes a set of custom AMP elements and restrictions on the use of certain HTML tags. This stripped-down version of HTML helps to reduce the amount of code on a page, making it faster to load.

AMP JavaScript: AMP uses a specialised JavaScript library called AMP JS, which optimises the loading and execution of JavaScript on a page. This ensures that only necessary JavaScript is loaded, reducing the amount of code that needs to be processed and improving page load times.

AMP Cache: AMP uses a specialised cache to pre-render pages, allowing for near-instant load times. The cache stores a pre-rendered version of an AMP page, which can be delivered to users quickly. This can reduce the amount of time users spend waiting for a page to load, improving the overall user experience.

Valid AMP pages: To ensure that AMP pages adhere to best practices and provide a fast and smooth user experience, all AMP pages must be validated to ensure they comply with AMP standards. Only valid AMP pages can be served through the AMP cache, which helps to ensure a consistent user experience across all AMP pages.

In summary, AMP works by simplifying the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript used on a page, limiting the use of certain web technologies that can slow down page load times, and using a specialised cache to pre-render pages. This allows for fast-loading pages that provide users with a smooth and fast user experience on mobile devices.

What has been DSOC’s most notable achievement to date? We’d love to hear about the positive impact you’ve made on the industry.

I’d say our FEDESSA 2022 award was the cherry on top.

Our biggest achievements have been the unquantifiable amounts of crimes we have prevented and deterred since 2020.

We have had successful arrests, we’ve stopped criminals in the act, we’ve scared them off with speaker warnings, and we have ultimately helped to protect sites, staff and assets.

The impact we have had on the sector is quite significant, I believe we have helped to raise the overall standard of security and monitoring within Self Storage in the whole of the UK.

If you were to give any new self-storage owner, 2-3 tips what would those be? (It could be marketing, security, or operations)

Security, Security, Security 😊

1. Engage with a security supplier early, well ahead of the build phase of any new stores and ahead of any acquisition takeovers.

2. Educate yourselves on the technology and terminologies within security, the SSA will be able to help with myth busters and terminology descriptions. I’m happy to help in my current position as Chair of the Security Sector Forum.

3. Ensure clarity amongst your staff with regards to your assignment instructions and operating procedures for your security systems, suppliers and ultimately, and hopefully, your remote monitoring.