The Fast & Furious Rise of AMP and its Implications for Every Site
In less than six months, the Accelerated Mobile Page Project (AMP) has reached unimaginable heights. The powerful new open-source initiative announced by Google in February was launched to speed up the mobile browsing experience, but with each day, AMP is adding more value for those who adopt it, whether they are embracing the web for publishing, commerce, or marketing. Google reports that, as of August 2, its index had more than 150 million AMP documents, with “over 4 million new ones being added every week.”
So, is it time for your site to get on board? Let’s consider a few current and developing features of AMP that might help you decide.
Faster Load Times, Higher Conversion Rates
Super-fast load times are huge for mobile users. Less white screen waiting time means visitors will get what they came for, and stick around. That means lower bounce rates. So, now we’re talking real engagement. With the barrier of load time offloaded, the AMP Project is seeing a correlation between speedier content delivery and higher conversion rates. That means while AMP is a huge asset to publishers like The Washington Post, BBC, Vox, and The New York Times, it is now true that every site can benefit by implementing AMP.
Live Updating AMPs
This is pure wow. With the new AMP component <amp-live-list>, that was announced in beta in July, content is updated live without the need to reload. AMP Project reports on its blog that this component is ideal for rapidly updated “live blogs,” or other dynamic real-time data such as election results and sports scores. Because it is in beta right now, developers can experiment and discover the yet unseen ways that this kind of updating can dramatically increase user engagement for real-time content scenarios.
Not Just for “Top Stories”
At first, it was unclear if using AMP impacted search rankings in Google. Google recently answered that question in discussing its AMP preview, and the answer is no. However, the plan is that AMP sites will be accompanied by a lightning bolt moniker, an “AMP” notification so users know that the site will deliver the goods in a fast, reliable way. You can test it out at g.co/ampdemo. So while AMP might not be directly tied to rankings at this time (although ramblings of a “live ticker” section for AMP-only pages is being reported by Digiday), implementing AMP pages should help to improve your site’s overall performance by increasing click-through rates in mobile search.
AMPs are a Simple Implementation in WordPress & Drupal
Organizations that are ready to leverage the functionality of AMP for their sites will find it is a painless process in both WordPress and Drupal.
- WordPress: Automattic has been a leader in the AMP Project initiative with its AMP plugin for WordPress that dynamically generates AMP-friendly code. It’s a fairly turnkey solution for standard WP posts but does require a little extra effort to support Pages and Custom Post Types. For the most part, getting AMP-ed up with WordPress is simple.
- Drupal: Lullabot partnered with Google to create an AMP module, AMP theme, and a PHP Library for Drupal 8 and Drupal 7, to convert mobile sites to AMP. Launched in February, the module’s features are rapidly evolving to meet AMP standards. Lullabot reports that the module works with Google Analytics, AdSense, and DoubleClick for Publisher, with additional support planned.
Let’s Talk
Do you need a hand implementing AMP on your website? We invite you to reach out and start a discussion with us about AMP and how it can work for you. Up your mobile game, and very soon you will be enjoying the spoils of speed, higher conversion, and significantly improved engagement.
