Any initiative that sees the light from the headquarters of Google must be taken into account. You never know how far any idea of the technological giant can go. In fact, this could be the case of three acronyms whose importance is increasing within the professional circles linked to web development, SEO and online marketing in general. This is AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).
What does AMP mean?
Before going on to answer what impact the AMP concept can have on your Top Ecommerce Companies, let’s make clear what we are talking about when referring to AMP.
From our blog we have previously told about what the AMP concept is through the post written by José E. Vicente (Head of Search Marketing of Human Level), whose title is What is AMP: Accelerated Mobile Pages. However, next, it is interesting to provide some more brushstrokes related to the origins of AMP.
It is no longer enough for the design to adapt to mobile phones or tablets, in addition there must be a much shorter loading time
AMP emerges in the current context in which Google is committed to the “mobile first” philosophy. In summary: given that more and more users are betting on mobile devices to surf the Internet, the experience offered by websites through these devices must be better and better in every way … Well, within this scenario, the responsive design seems to be insufficient in the eyes of Google. It is no longer enough for the design to be adapted to mobile phones or tablets, in addition there must be a much shorter loading time compared to the version of the same desktop site.
In this sense, Google began to move the tab towards the beginning of 2016, putting itself at the head of a change in the parameters established in terms of web programming and that initially benefited media websites. In fact, the Mountain View are accompanied in this interesting journey by large European media, including all common efforts under the umbrella of the Digital News Initiative (DNI).
It should be noted that AMP is an open source project, so the truth is that any web programmer could make his contribution in order to make the initiative evolve.
AMP is an open source project, so any web programmer could make his contribution in order to evolve the initiative.
All the work carried out to date has resulted in a series of new conventions in programming aimed at achieving websites whose loading time on mobile devices is shortened significantly. The concept coined to give name to this type of programming is AMP or, in Spanish, accelerated pages for mobiles.
What benefits can AMP bring to an eCommerce?
Although AMP originated as a project oriented towards websites of media and blogs, allowing the user to access information from mobile devices at a higher speed, the truth is that its potential has not been slow to be exploited in other areas. This would be the case of electronic commerce.
The main advantages that AMP can bring to an eCommerce would be the following:
Better web positioning linked to a shorter loading time
We must consider that, although AMP does not constitute in itself a factor among the more than 200 that takes into account the algorithm of Google when establishing the positioning of a website, the truth is that indirectly it helps to achieve better positions, since applying the AMP programming technique we will have optimized the loading time in mobile devices, which in itself constitutes a direct criterion for optimization.
➡ Applying the #AMP programming technique ⚡ we optimize the loading time in mobile devices, which is a direct criterion for optimization.
Increase in conversions and reduction of the rebound rate
At the same time, the chances of our bounce rate decreasing are increased, since a shorter loading time favors the user’s satisfaction and experience, and this can encourage the user to continue advancing in the navigation of our website, enjoying the Content from other pages than the destination at a high speed. In the end, as always, take care of Google means taking care of the user.
The incidence of this greater user satisfaction derived from a higher loading speed translates, therefore, into an increase in the likelihood that the user will end up becoming a customer of our online store.
Use of AMP landings for campaigns in AdWords
There are many managers and owners of online stores that have assimilated the growing importance of promoting their eCommerce to achieve an increase in the income statement. Play a very relevant role in this regard the use of any of the variants of Google AdWords.
By using AMP to generate the landings linked to our ads in the AdWords networks we will be attracting the potential buyer to a page optimized for mobile, with a much lower loading speed for users accessing these devices and offering a more satisfactory experience.
In other words, AMP will have helped make our campaigns a bit more optimized and our investment in AdWords a bit more profitable.
Greater visibility among search results
AMP for eCommerceIn the case of media, the articles of pages developed under the AMP technique are shown among the Google search results within the carousel called “Top Stories” (provided that the search term originates the appearance of said element between the results), and the meta-description is accompanied, in a distinctive way, by the lightning icon. This helps to give greater visibility among the results to these articles, increasing the possibilities of attracting traffic.
Well, the implication on eCommerce is identical, because if access to one of the product listings of our online store is highlighted with the aforementioned icon we will be expanding the possibilities of attracting the attention of the potential buyer compared to the rest of the results offered by the search engine.
Are all advantages?
No, the fact is that the AMP applied to electronic commerce also adds certain handicaps that must be taken into account before embarking on the AMP programming application in our online store:
Limitation in design
AMP implies being willing to assume design restrictions in favor of the loading speed from mobile devices. In fact, the operation of this programming technique entails important limitations in the marking of HTML tags, since it goes on to apply what has been known as AMP HTML. It is a special mark that significantly restricts many aspects of the code that affect structure and design.
On the other hand, an order of priorities is established between elements when loading the page, showing first text and relegating images and other graphic resources to a second level.
In fact, applying AMP involves losing visual richness in our content in favor of the information itself in text format. This can be considered as a negative element, and there are many website managers who would squeak enormously lose an attractive look & feel in exchange for offering a faster site.