You may have noticed a new icon appearing in mobile searches on Google. That little circle with the lightning bolt indicates that the page being shown in the search results has been adapted for the new Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technology.

What is AMP?

AMP is a new method if delivering mobile web content that allows for an almost instantaneous page load on a mobile device over a data network.

Google has been very keen on page load speed for some time now and all indications are pointing towards it being a significant metric for Google and the other major search engines in the not too distant future.

When implemented, AMPs are indexed by Google and shown as an alternative to a website’s ordinary page. The search results page will show a small icon on a circle and lightning bolt, indicating to the user that the page has been accelerated for mobile viewing.

When the search result is clicked, the user will find a version of the web page, with stripped out and standardised CSS and Javascript, showing clean text and embedded imagery.

Who Is Using AMP?

AMP is currently being used by some huge content publishers such as The Guardian, The BBC, Mashable and Huffington Post, to name but four.

By these larger publishers adopting AMP and Google continuing to harp about page speed, it should really follow that any person or business, who is publishing content, needs to seriously consider implementing AMP sooner rather than later.

FYI, we adopted AMP in December 2016 and have found an increased click through rate on our articles.

How To Implement AMP

There is no way to sugar coat this pill, implementing AMP onto many sites will be a complete nightmare. It is not for their faint hearted and those who have a limited understanding of coding. Those behind the initiative have published comprehensive documentation as to adding AMP to a website, which you can find by clicking here.

However, if you are part of the 23% of global websites using the WordPress platform then there is good news. A plugin has been released that will automatically (sic) create an AMP version of all new blog or article posts. That means all you have to do is download the AMP plugin, activate it and carry on publishing. You may also wish to add your AMP to your Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) account also.

About Us

Quite simply, Big Red Rocket is a seriously talented web design and copywriting agency based in leafy Cheshire. We design and deliver beautiful websites all over the UK. If you would like to contact us you can call on 01625 359010 or click here to send us a confidential email.