How to get your blog site to load pages Quickly

As technology continues to march forward, the way businesses manage their online presence becomes increasingly important. Responsive design and site speed are critical factors to engagement. The longer a site takes to load, and, the more difficult a webpage is to view on mobile devices, the less likely potential customers are to wait.

Content creators and distributors are turning to accelerated mobile pages (AMP) to help ensure speedy access to timely information — think News. Is AMP right for all web content? No. Is AMP right for your business? Here is a look at the basic features of AMPs and when to use them.

What are AMPs?

Accelerated mobile pages (AMP) are pages that are built to comply with Google standards. They have stripped down code to help present content that loads very quickly — a second or two — on mobile devices. AMP pages use streamlined Html and CSS to help keep web design and content elements easily cached by Google. As a result of these guidelines, one potential downfall of AMP is its lack of JavaScript compatibility.  If you use Google to search for content, AMP pages are typically marked with an icon and can help you identify content that will load quickly.

That’s why you’ll find AMP pages in use across most online News platforms, where a majority of the page is text-based.

There are advantages to using AMP

• Improved user experience thanks to decreased load time
• Increased engagement can lead to potentially increased ad views
• Increased time on page
• Higher page rank in Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

When is AMP the best option?

It might seem AMP pages are the best option for all websites. If AMP delivers fast loading speeds and increased SEO rank, then why wouldn’t everyone want to use them? When it comes to news and blog articles, AMP is ideal. AMP is not the right choice when page design and interactivity are a priority in your online presence. There are now many tools available that can speed the process, especially if you have a WordPress website. Speak to a professional web design firm to find out what is involved in adding AMP pages to your website.

For design intensive projects, AMP can begin to falter due to the limitations. And AMP pages that do not meet specs will not be indexed until they are corrected. Additionally, non-blog content will typically require an separate AMP version of the page. Imagine if you have 50 pages of design-oriented content. That requires 50 duplicate pages built for AMP. For non-blog content, it’s better to focus efforts on responsive design instead of AMP design. Responsive page design focuses on arranging content in a mobile-friendly format while preserving interactive features and drama. 

You can do it yourself, but getting outside help may be a better idea. For more information about AMP and mobile design and whether it’s a good fit for you, contact Vortex Communications today!