What Is Amp Content—And How Can You Achieve It?

Every business wants its company to be prominently featured in Google search results, and Google, in turn, wants to provide users with relevant search result listings. For businesses to achieve their goal, it’s really just a matter of helping Google achieve its goal—but how?

The Need for Speed

One point to keep in mind is that search engine users—especially mobile ones—don’t want to wait 15 minutes (or even 15 seconds) for their content to load; for this reason, Google tends to prioritize pages that load speedily. That’s where we come to the concept of AMP, which stands for accelerated mobile pages.

Basically, AMP is a coding language (sort of a simplified version of HTML) that is used to create fast-loading mobile pages; you may see AMP content listed on a Google search results page, typically with little lightning bolt icons off to the side. AMP content is designed to load quickly on all mobile devices, and Google has recently started not only indexing but rewarding AMP content—which means that, if you want to achieve solid search engine rankings, creating AMP content is one practical step you can take.

Get Going with AMP

If you are working with a professional design company on your business website, asking them about AMP is key. If you’re going the DIY route, then you need to make sure you are using a content management system that supports AMP. WordPress, the most popular CMS, can support AMP with a simple, free plugin, so it’s certainly a good option.

Beyond that, here are a few quick pointers for getting started with AMP.

• Remember that AMP is recommended primarily for pages that are static, not ones that are dynamic or interactive, and that not every page of your website has to be AMP—so choose your AMP conversions carefully.
• Along the same lines, it is perfectly fine and perhaps even smart to start with just a couple of AMP pages—your most popular evergreen content, maybe—and then expand from there. You don’t have to go all-in on AMP all at once.
• You’ll want to have your AMP content validated by Google.
• While AMP is a strong component in SEO, you won’t see a big change overnight. Make sure you don’t have any undue expectations!

Learn more about AMP today—and visit ACES to discover new ways to inform yourself about the latest in online marketing!