AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages and is an open standard for delivery of lightweight web content--particularly news and other text-based content--efficiently via mobile devices. It has a simplified coding set and Google-sponsored caching for fast delivery.
AMP has been in the works for about a year and and is promoted by Google. As with Google’s previous endorsement of responsive design for mobile delivery, AMP fits into Google’s model of consistent improvement for search results and delivery. AMP is not part of Google’s organic search and strategy for mobile-first search.
The AMP project has published the following design principles to guide ongoing development:
“User Experience > Developer Experience > Ease of Implementation.”
Meaning: User experience is foremost. Everything must serve that goal, not vice versa.
“Don’t design for a hypothetical faster future browser.”
Meaning: AMP is about driving coding standards for fast user experience now, not driving upstream technology changes.
“Don’t break the web.”
Meaning: Everything must fail gracefully--even if a service is down.
“Solve problems on the right layer.”
Meaning: Make smart decisions based on desired outcomes. Sometimes server-side solutions are best.
“Only do things if they can be made fast.”
Meaning: AMP is about speed and efficiency and saving data/bandwidth. Don’t wreck that.
“Prioritise things that improve the user experience – but compromise when needed.”
Meaning: User experience should only be limited by pragmatic concerns--see above.
“No whitelists.”
Meaning: Caching service is open and fair.
Publishers, including, Wired, The Washington Post, Gizmodo and many others are embracing AMP and the AMP Project has published helpful case studies.
So, is serving up AMP content right for you? Consider implementing AMP delivery if any of the following apply to you:
You serve timely, text-based content
Mobile use cases are strategically important to you
You are formulating a forward-looking SEO strategy
You are in the process of implementing a new Content Management System or doing significant redevelopment on your existing system
Our favorite CMS platforms, Drupal and WordPress, have active modules, themes and plugins available for implementation now and development will surely continue.
Call or email Xeno Media today to discuss whether and how AMPing up your site might be right for you.
More information:
AMP project
Drupal AMP theme
https://www.drupal.org/project/amptheme
WordPress AMP plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/amp/
AMP Validator Tool
https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/amp-validator/
