AMP pages explained
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a webpage technology that can deliver relatively instant mobile page loads.
- AMP works by serving your content directly from Google’s ultra-fast servers. AMP pages listed in Google’s search results are served from Google’s cache (on Google.com). Since they are cached, no server processing needs to occur.
- Page coding of AMP is simpler for browsers to process, leading to rapid rendering once the page is loaded.
These two factors combine to deliver mobile pages at lightning speed.
You can use AMP
AMP pages were originally intended for large media sites like news publishing sites and magazines. Google created this technology to overcome the limitations of mobile browsing.
These days, and a few iterations later, AMP is now applicable to most websites, including e-commerce and information sites.
AMP delivers great results
AMP pages will load faster, probably much faster, than your current site pages. And Google will start ranking your domain higher in its index, as a faster load is a better experience for the visitor.
There have been plenty of success stories. Take Event Tickets Center for example. They implemented 99.9% of their pages in AMP and opted to create an AMP-immersive experience. Page load times on their site dropped from five seconds to one second. They saw improvements in user engagement metrics, with a drop in bounce rate of 10%, an increase in pages per session of 6%, and session duration of 13%. But, the stunning stat is that they report a whopping 100% increase in e-commerce conversions.
AMP is more than just ticking a box
AMP coding
If only AMP was just a plugin, you’d see it on most websites. In reality, it takes a substantial amount of time to program correctly formatted AMP templates. The templates have to match your mobile site closely, otherwise, Google may ignore your efforts.
If you’re going to invest in this technology, be prepared to engage quality programmers who will take their time to ensure every detail is addressed. You have to go the distance. A half-done job will not give you a 50% improvement; it will give you 0%. But if better results are important to you, then it will be well worth it.
AMP and analytics
Your second issue is tracking. If you love your website analytics, the analytics tracking code will need to be adjusted. If that’s not done correctly, your AMP pages will be treated as though they were a distinct website, and your visitor tracking will be disconnected. If you just try to add the visitor totals together, the amount will be inflated and inaccurate.
To fix this, some ‘stitching’ is necessary. It can be a bit delicate, and if done wrong can lead to 0 tracking. So it’s best to leave the adjustment of your analytics tracking code to those with experience.
KND Digital and AMP
KND can set your site up to take advantage of AMP technology, so you can reap the rewards. With almost instant load times, your visitors should be reading, downloading, and buying much more than they are right now. And we’ll make sure tracking is set up correctly so you can meaningfully measure the results.
