Google AMP: What Is It And How Does It Work ?

Google AMP: it’s used by the likes of eBay, Eventbrite and J.Crew, but what does it actually do? In short, the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project enables the creation of websites and ads that render and deliver content at a consistently fast rate. Still confused?

It’s actually a simple concept; AMP is an open-source library that allows you to create web pages that are beautiful, load instantly and allow for a smooth user experience. Essentially, AMP pages are just high-performing web pages that are controlled by you, are supported by multiple platforms and are compatible across various browsers. A quick way to know whether a page is part of the Google AMP project is whether a search result has a lightning bolt next to it. This means that link will take you through to a copy of the original source, on a web page hosted by Google’s servers. This only happens on mobile devices.

Who Is AMP For?

Though not solely for eCommerce businesses, this is where AMP pages can really shine. With quick load times, this enables your customers to stay engaged as they browse products and move through purchase flows. Regardless of where the journey begins, a site powered by AMP offers a mobile-friendly and smooth user experience, which is why many eCommerce businesses are starting to navigate towards the Google AMP project. That being said, AMP is also being used by many other industries and sectors, including publishing and advertising.

Is It Worth It?

Google AMP is essentially designed to speed up the web. Loading a new web page can cause lots of different components to happen at once, meaning there can be a delay in the loading time for various resources, especially when browsing on mobile.

In a competitive market, even the difference between a few seconds in load time can cause a user to disengage with your site, especially as we’re becoming so used to living in an ‘instant’ world where information is so easily accessed through the tap of a screen.

Google AMP fits right into this world by creating a fuss-free version of your page, where instead of having resources load from multiple sources, the AMP version is limited to basic web technologies with no JavaScript and is hosted on Google’s servers, making it load instantaneously and without overbearing ads or other factors that put a strain on the user experience. This smoother journey then translates into better conversions.

Even though your AMP page would be hosted on Google’s servers, you will still maintain your own branding and tooling. You can choose to adopt one of the many embed and analytics integrations and you can also use CSS to customise the styling and fetch dynamic data. The possibilities are endless and can be suited specifically to your customer and the aims of your business.

With all of this is mind, it’s no surprise that AMP can see higher conversions and more customers returning to shop. User experience should be at the heart of everything, and this is just another way to ensure you keep your customers happy.

If you’re still unsure whether AMP is right for you or if you’re an eCommerce store looking to be a part of the AMP project, speak to one of our eCommerce experts who will be happy to talk you through the process of how AMP pages are built and how they could be beneficial to your store. You can get in touch today by contacting us here.