What Do You need To Know About Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)?

18 May What Do You need To Know About Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)?

When you work for an SEO company, one of the most important parts of your job is staying on top of the latest trends and news in the search engine world, so your clients don’t have to. That’s why they hired an SEO company in the first place. But not only do you need to understand these trends well enough to keep your clients’ rankings on the rise, you have to be able to help your clients understand these issues as well.

So if you’re a business owner who’s just hearing about Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) program for the first time, then you’re in good company. Fortunately, your friendly Seattle SEO company has got your back.

Put very simply, AMP is a project that gives publishers new tools to ensure their website loads quickly on mobile devices. Plus, when users make certain mobile searches, Google displays a special carousel with AMP-enabled sites right at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). Now that AMP has gone live, early reports indicate that AMP sites aren’t just loading fast on mobile devices, they’re loading lightning fast, almost instantly.

So what does this mean for business owners trying to get their website to page one of the search results?

The truth is, like most things Google does, AMP was not designed with the local business owner in mind. Instead, the AMP project was designed to give publishers like The Seattle Times new tools to create mobile responsive websites, while also benefiting mobile users themselves. Ultimately, the AMP project simply underscores what our Seattle SEO company has been saying for years: in addition to professional website design, you need a mobile responsive website, or else.

Already, many publishers are freaking out about the speed of their new AMP pages.

“In early tests, we found that AMP pages load four times faster and use eight times less data than traditional mobile-optimized pages,” Pinterest’s product engineer Jon Parise recently said. “A better, faster mobile web is better for everyone, including users, platforms like Pinterest, and publishers.”

Even if you don’t directly benefit from AMP coding tools, why is it so important to have a mobile-friendly site? If you run a business, then you have to know that many of your potential customers will be searching on mobile devices.

For instance, we know that 50% of all mobile searches are aimed at finding local results, and by some estimates, 61% of those users are looking to make a purchase. We also know that three out of four users never click past page one of Google search results, and we further know that 60% of organic clicks go to those first three search results. Without a mobile-friendly site, you’ll be near invisible to mobile searchers, a trend that’s only going to accelerate in the years to come.

The future is mobile, and your website must be too.