Most of the big boys have moved to AMP, and more are jumping on the AMP bandwagon.You too can get into the fast lane if you integrate AMP into your mobile offering. It’s the new buzz word. And the hottest.
# First, what is AMP
One year ago Google launched the Accelerated Mobile Pages project . The objective of this project as given on the Project Site iss: “For many, reading on the mobile web is a slow, clunky and frustrating experience – but it doesn’t have to be that way. The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project is an open source initiative that embodies the vision that publishers can create mobile optimized content once and have it load instantly everywhere.”
In simple words, the goal was to create mobile pages that did not take ages to load, but loaded quickly – as they say in the blinking of an eye.
No one can argue with such a goal.
# One year on, some quick facts about AMP
Some of the biggest web entities have adopted AMP, and are reaping its benefits. Google, in a post to celebrate one year of AMP, says:
- AMP pages load 4X times faster
- 600 million plus AMP pages have been published over the last one year
- Over 700,000 domains are publishing AMP pages
- Over 8,700 plus developers ae engaged with AMP
- AMP pages use 10X less bandwidth
- Google mobile search delivers over 73% more unique visitors every month
#5 reasons why you should launch AMP
# 1: User satisfaction: The AMP pages load 4X times faster. This is in sharp contrast to the loading time of non-AMP mobile pages. According to a Double Click study, “The average load time for mobile sites is 19 seconds over 3G connections.”
The slow loading times frustrate mobile users. Double Click says “53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load.”
The AMP pages give you a powerful tool to increase user satisfaction, and improve loyalty.
# 2. More Revenue: There is a direct correlation between advertising revenue and speed. Mobile pages that load fast lead to better ad revenues. According to Double Click, “Publishers whose mobile sites load in 5 seconds earn up to 2x more mobile ad revenue than those whose sites load in 19 seconds.”
This happens because of a 25% jump in ad viewability in sites that load in five seconds.
Another study that showed a jump in ad revenue was carried out in Europe by Plista. According to this study, the introduction of Accelerated Mobile Pages led to a 600 % increase click through rates. In fact, the study said, the average increase for publishers in the test was 220%.
# 3. Low bounce rate: One of the most frustrating statistics for any publisher is a high bounce rate. No publisher wants users to depart within seconds of arriving on their site. They would like users to open at least two or three stories before leaving. This is the best way of building long-term loyalty. Faster loading sites reduce bounce rates by 35%. In other words, two out of three readers start spending more time on the site. Even the session length jumps by 70%. No wonder more and more publishers are launching Accelerated Mobile Pages.
# 4. More traffic: Publishers who moved to AMP have all seen a huge spurt in traffic. The AMP project report celebrating one year of Accelerated Mobile Pages lists some stunning data. Washington Post recorded 23% increase in mobile search users who return within 7 days while Slate recorded 44% increase in monthly unique visitors and a 73% increase in visits per monthly unique visitor. In the case of Gizmodo, 80% of its new traffic has come from AMP pages.
# 5. AMP for non-news content: The Accelerated Mobile Pages project was initially targeted at news publishers. But now Google has opened it to non-news publishers too. This is great news for brands. They can now reach out to most customers on the mobile web by launching AMP content.
# How to launch AMP pages
These are powerful reasons to launch your own Accelerated Mobile Pages pages. There are 7 billion small screens in the world today, and a sizeable number of them are being used to browse the mobile pages. You too can AMP up your site.
The bloggers who use the WordPress platform can download the AMP plugin and install it.
Those who are more tech savvy can visit the AMP project site, and create the HTML that will AMP up their site.
Leave a Reply