Everything Marketers Should Know About Google AMP

We all heard the term Mobilegeddon last year. That was the push by Google to optimize its search results to give priority to websites that were completely mobile responsive for the best user experience; a response to the ever-growing amount of people searching and visiting sites on their mobile devices.

Just as some of us may have thought the storm had passed and our sites were completely mobile ready, another bomb was dropped by Google back in February - The launch of the Google AMP project, or Google Accelerated Mobile Platforms.

What is Google AMP?

When I first learned about AMP I knew it was going to be big and there were going to be a lot of questions around this.

Google AMP essentially takes your mobile pages that are AMP- optimized and loads them incredibly fast. In other words, it helps avoid sitting around waiting for a site to load on your phone or tablet.

Why is this important? Well, it can all be tied back to one key stat us digital marketers like to keep in mind when optimizing mobile platforms:

46% of users drop off in less than 10 seconds.

That means we have just 10 seconds to capture a visitor on mobile before they decide to bounce off to a site that will provide them with a better experience -- an experience possibly offered by a competitor.

To help us deliver this kind of user experience to our visitors, we now have AMP at our disposal.

Google AMP can help marketers reach our consumers on mobile devices and provide them information in the short timeframe they are demanding.

To help you get a better understanding of the vision behind the Google AMP project, here is a great video providing more information:

The benefits of creating an AMP optimized site are pretty clear. Marketers need to implement this and take advantage of the tools, information, and data Google provides in regards to it. They want to help us create a remarkable mobile experience that will leave our visitors happy and returning to our sites.

How Should I Start Optimizing for Google AMP?

Getting your site optimized for AMP can get a pretty technical if you are not familiar with web development, but this should not stop you from moving forward.

Google offers a lot of informative resources and support lines to get you started.

Here’s another great video from Google that helps introduce how to start getting AMP-optimized:

(You can also read more technical information on these three factors here.)

Where should you start?

I would suggest starting with your blog. These are most likely your biggest organic traffic drivers and the content people are stumbling across the most. Giving them the best experience through an AMP-optimized blog will improve your search rankings, create lower bounce rates, and a higher chance for visitors to convert.

Even though this has been launched since the beginning of the year, it’s still in the early stages so get on it! This give marketers the opportunity to capitalize on something big that can help deliver amazing results through mobile optimization.

Key Takeaways

• Google AMP essentially takes your mobile pages that are AMP optimized and loads them incredibly fast.
• 46% of mobile users drop off in less than 10 seconds, making mobile optimization a high priority.
• Getting your site optimized for AMP can get pretty technical, but this should not stop you from moving forward.