AMP is the latest Google-backed project aimed at improving user experience (UX), but is it something B2B companies need to be concerned with?
What is AMP?
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. AMPs are slightly altered versions of web pages designed to reduced loading time on mobile devices. Google officially integrated AMP listings into its mobile search results on Feb. 24.
AMPs use simple tactics to allow pages to load in milliseconds. For instance, there are AMP-specific HTML tags like <amp-img>. Google also has an AMP cache, so once a page has been stored its load time will be even faster.
AMPs also restrict the elements you can have above the fold on a page, allowing the top of the page to load almost instantly, and while the user reads the content above the fold, the page can load those elements that take more time below the fold, unknown to the user. The result is a mobile page that, to the user, loads instantly.
Why Use AMP for B2B?
Obviously, faster is better when it comes to page speed. AMPs are almost a must for publishers, but do they provide value for your B2B company? The answer: more than you might think.
A recent Google survey of 3,000 B2B decision-makers showed that 42 percent used a mobile device during their decision-making process. Google also recently announced that the majority of all search queries now come from mobile. Finally, according to Kissmetrics, 47 percent of users say a page should load in less than two seconds.
Users want increasingly fast page load times wherever they are on whatever device they’re using. That’s where AMP comes in. AMPs load in less than one second on average, and Google continues to make them even faster.
Not only does AMP improve UX, it can also give a boost to your other SEO efforts. While AMP is not currently a Google ranking factor, many believe it soon will be. Regardless, it makes pages cleaner, faster and easier to use – all good signals to send to Google.
Implementation
If your business’ site uses any common CMS (WordPress, Drupal, etc.), implementing AMP on your site is as easy as downloading the plugin and activating it. If your business uses a custom CMS, implementation may require more resources, but AMP is an open-source project that your web developers can examine and determine the best implantation strategy for your site.
It’s a good idea to test AMP on a few pages or a section of your site before implementing it site-wide. Create AMP versions of your top performing mobile pages, or implement AMP on your blog first. Recording the performance of those test AMP pages can show you exactly what AMP would mean for your business. AMP is very new, and a test can also alert you to any issues that might be specific to the way your business’ site is setup.
Ultimately, whether AMP is right for a B2B website must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Being ahead of the curve on mobile has never been a bad idea, though, and this free tool to make your business’ mobile site cleaner and faster could put you in front of the competition moving forward.
