Let's face it, if your site is not optimized for mobile, you are behind the curve. Almost everyone has a mobile connected device, and in the US alone, over 70% of website page views come from a mobile device. If that isn't enough for you, Google has also long touted that it gives higher search rankings to mobile friendly websites. So, if you care anything about seeing any return on investment from your site, then it needs to be mobile friendly. While responsive design and mobile first development have become the norm, Google and Twitter have taken it to the next level... enter AMP.

What is AMP?

AMP is an open source project by Google that is geared toward enabling content to load instantly for mobile readers. AMP's lightning fast speed is accomplished by:

1. Pre-rendering content while limiting the use of the markup that designers can use like JavaScript and certain HTML tags. (Basically, your site in skinny jeans)
2. Taking advantage of Google’s Caching so that content readily available without fetching it from the server every time.

This seems like it would take away the interactive aspect of your mobile website because JavaScript is limited, but in actuality, the AMP project has its JavaScript library that allows you to use components like light boxes, videos, and carousels still. If there is an element that is not supported by AMP, you can import those features into your website through the use of amp-iframe.

Why use AMP?

It’s Fast: Google announced that there are now over 2 billion AMPs covering some 900,000 domains. According to Google research, 70 percent of responsive mobile pages take seven to 10 seconds for the visual page content to load while AMPs typically load in less than one. Customers expect pages to load in less than 5 seconds. If you think that you can ignore your mobile audience, here is a staggering fact: in the first quarter of 2016, mobile commerce sales were $26.6 billion. If clients can’t download your site, you are missing out on a whole lot of money!

Get an SEO Boost: While Google says that using AMPs does not affect search engine rankings, page speed does. So which page do you think will rank higher, the one that loads in 10 seconds or the page that loads in under 1? We have seen that when there are two identical pages, one AMP, and one conventional mobile page, Google serves the AMP page.

Make Money: Ads can be a site’s bread and butter, but as often account for your site’s poor loading speed too. People will often turn to ad-blockers to prevent them. The AMP team is designed to work efficiently with ads to serve them in a way that works cohesively to give the client a streamlined experience. The bottom line is, speed could boost your conversion.

If you are not using AMPs now, I would definitely consider it. Your page loading just 2 seconds faster would keep your customers more engaged and prevent them from abandoning your site. If for no other reason than that, it is worth upgrading your site (or at least some parts) to AMPs.