To AMP or not to AMP, that is the question
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) have been around since fall 2015 and according to Google, AMP was designed to “dramatically improve the performance of the mobile web… and webpages with rich content to load instantaneously.” It does this through HTML code to build light-weight webpages for a better experience across all devices – but mostly mobile.
AMP can be a great thing and a great way to ensure your content is optimized for mobile searchers but is the time and effort worth it for hoteliers?
Some marketing agencies are pro-AMP and others feel it’s not as valuable to brand’s to focus on unless they’re producing fresh, timely content constantly like a news or media organization. It’s easy to almost think of AMP as going back to having a separate mobile site, which is something we normally advise against as everything’s responsive these days. Each page or piece of content needs AMP code in order to be shown in Google’s AMP carousel:
By clicking any of the cards with the AMP designation, the article loads immediately and users can swipe to read the next AMP article or exit out and the search results are still there. By clicking on an AMP article, it doesn’t launch a new window or tab, it’s just like an overlay that’s instantaneous.
Want to see what some of this code looks like? AMP by Example is a great resource for learning about AMP and all the coding, but here’s a screenshot of their playground to test different sets of code:
So, back to the original question: Is AMP worth it for independent property owners?
Our short answer: No.
None of your website’s design, rich media, third-party apps, or pop-ups will transfer as AMP is designed to strip sites of all slow loading add-ons. AMP makes more sense for publishers who are always putting out new content and have no need for visitors to continue to explore their site. The goal of your website is to attract visitors and get them to convert, not have them quickly read an article and hop back off.
For now, your responsive website design should meet the standards of mobile usability for your visitors. AMP is also not a ranking factor for the search engines – so no harm done if you're not going to use the technology.
For further reading on responsive web design and Google's standards, please check out the following blogs: