Pages taking less loading time on mobile phones, enhanced customer experience, and highly visible content seem like a dream to users. Well, this is no longer a dream. You can have these unique features by enabling AMP on your WordPress sites.
Have you ever noticed those Google search results with lightning box marks? These are nothing but websites using AMP standards.
AMP appears to be a goldmine for the websites in theory. But if you look closely, you will understand that it is not that straightforward.
If you are among those who want to use this amazing thing on your websites, then there must be some questions that you want the answers for. For instance, what is AMP? Do you need to use it? How does it work? What are its advantages and what are its drawbacks? So let’s get started with answering your queries.
What is AMP?
AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It is a format used to display high-speed web pages on mobile devices.
Its main aim is to provide a better user experience while using websites over the internet. It allows the users to access web pages instantly on mobile devices.
It was an open-source technology launched in 2016 by AMP Open Source Project. This technology is supported by many renowned tech giants like Google being its primary contributor, Twitter, Bing, Linkedin, etc.
Logically, this technology is backed by significant search engines like Google and Bing, whose sole purpose is to make the web faster.
Google’s main reason for contributing to AMP technology is to compete with popular blogs and publishing websites. For instance, apple news and instant meta articles.
How does AMP for WordPress work
In essence, AMP for WordPress creates HTML copies of simplified content that already exist on the web. Web Pages that are transformed into AMP go through these three essential steps.
HTML – The first step is AMP to convert the standard HTML code into a concise and unique markup.
Javascript – In the second step, javascript is used to fetch the data. This data is then compressed to avoid any unnecessary rendering on the web.
CDN – CDN is used to cache the pages and convert them into AMP instantly.
Furthermore, AMP reduces the CSS requests, eliminating large-size images, backend codes, and frequent call-to-actions.
Though the latest AMP version of the site is up on the web, the current traditional version will continue to exist along with the AMP web pages. Both versions will be entirely available for all users.
Advantages of using AMP for WordPress websites
AMP for WordPress websites is doing wonders and provides a better user experience. Users lack patience when going through the websites, and a little delay in loading the website can have a massive impact on user engagement.
Limits your bounce rate
The bounce rate is directly proportional to the load time. The less time your website takes to load, the less likely users will bounce and vice versa.
Enhance traffic and user engagement
On average, AMP for WordPress websites proves to be a better solution in increasing the traffic and keeping the customers hooked for a more extended period on web pages.
A study found that users will be more likely to spend more time on AMP pages than on traditional mobile pages.
Provide a boost in SEO
AMP does not affect the ranking factor of the websites, but the speed does. The faster the website, the more will be its rank among other websites.
Increase revenue
AMP plays a significant role in generating high ad revenue and eCommerce sales. It should be a must to know that if your website takes more than one second of the expected load time, it will reduce the conversion rate by 10%.
Enhance visibility on search engines
Due to the presence of popular lightning bolt signs, it is easier for the users to distinguish between the standard pages and AMP pages.
Features the pages in top stories
One of the significant advantages of AMP is that it displays the web pages in the top stories carousel located at the top of the search results. This increases the chances of getting more clicks, hence enhancing overall traffic.
Disadvantages of using AMP for WordPress Websites
Though it may seem like a goldmine to many users, AMP has its disadvantages which you should keep in mind.
Designs of AMP for WordPress have been compromised
From the beginning, the main goal of AMP is to prioritize speed over design. AMP is not concerned much about your website’s style, and you may lose to your competitors in this aspect.
AMP displays fewer UI components to your website visitors to ensure that your pages load faster.
Unavailability of formats and sizes
Some sizes and formats of the ads are unavailable on AMP pages. For instance, formats like expandable, Non-HTTPS, Flash, etc., are unavailable.
And for sizes, the sizes of the ads that are not known at the time of request or advertisements that resize automatically without using any APIs are unavailable.
Don’t support forms, buttons, etc.
Due to the simplified HTML and javascript code, it is hard for you to see the opt-in forms, buttons, call-to-actions, etc. The absence of these forms and buttons can significantly affect your conversion rate if you run an eCommerce website.
Complicated Format
The AMP format can be pretty intimidating for starters having no or less experience. Implementing and testing the format is hard, and many WordPress plugins are available that make the process of implementing the AMP for WordPress sites a lot easier.
However, having an experienced WordPress developer on your team is good to help when things go south.
Conclusion
AMP for WordPress pages looks appealing since it is much faster than traditional web pages. The AMP pages that successfully reach the carousel have a high chance of getting more clicks and good rankings. AMP pages made it possible to have everything you desire in your websites, from fast-speed pages to high rankings.
AMP pages have so many advantages. However, it could backfire if you have an eCommerce website, as it does not support forms and buttons.
If you want to use services other than AMP to attract traffic and engage customers to your WordPress website, then you should look at Web Help Agency. We provide incredible services and plugins like custom WordPress development, WordPress website migration, PSD to WordPress, etc.
It is up to you whether to take AMP for WordPress or leave it. But it is a no-brainer that it will help you develop the best mobile experience.
