What is AMP?
Google is currently working on a new standard for mobile websites called the AMP Project, short for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It is a collaboration started by Google and Twitter and is seen as a response to Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple’s News. Providing users with relevance and fast delivery of answers on the internet has always been Google’s #1 priority. With over 50% of all internet traffic now coming from mobile devices, Google is now coming up with the new standard for mobile sites and is expected to launch in February 2016. The purpose of this new format is to increase the speed of websites on mobile devices through minimal coding. Several major US media outlets are currently testing the new standard, including The Guardian, The New York Times and BBC
So how does AMP work technically?
Pages to be built on the new technology are in principle a lightweight version of HTML, HTML is a code that all websites are basically built in today. Inline CSS is used and the only java scripting used is hosted on Google’s own servers. Once you have developed your new site, you can use the built-in validator in Google Chrome to test whether it complies with the new standard.
So what does AMP mean for the individual company in terms of search engines and what should I do?
Since April 2015, there has been a huge sales hysteria in our industry that you had to have a mobile website NOW or you would be completely removed from Google’s search results. This is partly correct, we at Webex haven’t had the time to turn our own website into a mobile-friendly website yet (self-awareness is a great thing 🙂 ), but if you go to Google and search for mobile website, we are still at the top even though all other websites on page 1 with this keyword are mobile-friendly.
What about Responsive Web Design or my mobile website?
In 2015, many companies have updated their websites to be mobile-friendly and adapted to different devices. AMP won’t replace mobile-friendly websites as of right now, but it’s a fact that sites built with the new technology will be prioritized by Google on searches in the future. This is something to keep in mind the next time you need to update your company’s website. A relatively easy way to get the new standard on your website is to make a copy of your site adapted to the new standard. I have created an example of this article coded to the new standard.
The fact that this site is also optimized for Google’s new Rich Snippets (Structured data) format, which significantly improves the display of websites in terms of search engine optimization, is another story. More on this shortly :).
When will Google release the new standard?
No concrete date has been set yet, but it is a fact that Google will start indexing their new standard in February 2016, where you will start to see pages adapted to the new standard being prioritized in the search results on the search engine’s giant network. Therefore, it’s a good idea to consider this new format when thinking about your digital marketing.
