An average website visitor’s attention span is just 8.25 seconds, and if the page fails to load within this timeframe, readers tend to leave quickly. Longer page loading times lead to higher bounce rates, which is unfavorable for website owners. To address this problem, you can implement Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). However, you must avoid certain mistakes many entrepreneurs make while building their websites, eventually affecting their performance. You can work with a professional web development company to ensure the best result.
What is an AMP?
AMP facilitates the development of mobile-friendly web pages. An AMP page is a simplified version of a standard webpage. Google initiated this project as a response to the competition posed by Facebook Instant Articles and Apple News. Both of these platforms allowed publishers to deliver content that loaded quickly and was user-friendly.
In 2016, Google introduced AMP pages in mobile search results, initially featuring them in a dedicated “Top Stories” section at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). Originally intended for news publishers, AMP has since expanded its scope to encompass all types of web pages. While creating AMPs sounds lucrative, a lot of business owners fail as they end up making some of the common mistakes. Let’s check them out next.
Common Mistakes to Avoid While Developing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs)
Validation Errors
You can group the most common AMP validation errors into the following three main types:
- Missing essential elements.
- Including elements that are prohibited, deprecated, or duplicated.
- Containing errors related to style, layout, or templating.
To effectively identify and rectify these errors, your hired web development company in Texas must employ the AMP validator tool. This tool will promptly detect any of these issues and can also validate raw HTML code to ensure it complies with AMP standards.
Additionally, it’s beneficial to utilize Google’s AMP validation error guide. Moreover, if your website is built on WordPress, the AMP plugin troubleshooting guide can also be valuable.
Content Mismatch
A frequently encountered error within AMP is content disparity. This issue was so widespread that in 2017, Google introduced the AMP Content Parity Update. This update mandated that the content on the AMP page should be comparable to that on the original canonical page.
While it is acceptable for the AMP version to include more advertisements than the HTML page, you need to ensure that the AMP variant employs the same content. This includes embedded content metadata, schema, and a tag directing to the canonical version.
Other prevalent issues to inspect include:
- Verifying that the canonical URL returns a valid status code.
- Ensuring that the canonical URL does not generate any 3XX, 4XX, or 5XX errors.
- Confirming that the AMP version’s referenced canonical URL remains unaltered.
Additionally, you must pay attention to the trailing slash, which is a frequent source of errors in accelerated mobile pages. For instance, the AMP variant may indicate the non-trailing slash as the canonical URL, whereas, in reality, the canonical URL may use the trailing slash or redirect to the trailing slash version. Keep these in mind while collaborating with a web development company in Texas.
Analytics Errors
Google offers a comprehensive guide for tracking AMP webpages in analytics. However, a common mistake in AMP implementation is the failure to connect AMP and non-AMP sessions. You must refrain from committing this error.
This issue is particularly seen with news publishers, as many of their AMP pages are delivered through Google’s AMP cache. Consequently, many publishers report an increase in bounce rates when comparing AMP and non-AMP pages.
The reason behind this lies in the fact that when a user accesses content through the AMP cache, they are not on the publisher’s actual website; instead, they are hosted on Google’s servers. When users click on another article link to read more, they transition from the AMP cache to the publisher’s website.
What often goes unnoticed by many publishers is that if they don’t integrate AMP sessions properly with non-AMP URLs, it can artificially inflate user and session counts. To rectify this, you must implement the AMP linker when setting up accelerated mobile pages and tracking user journeys across the AMP Cache.
These are some common errors that website owners commit while developing AMP webpages. To avoid these errors, you must work with a web development company proficient in AMP. By setting up your AMP perfectly, you can enjoy the myriad benefits these pages are renowned for. Let’s check them out in the following section.
The 4 Biggest Advantages of Using AMP for Your Web Platform
- AMP pages can exist independently of Google products. This means that one has the ability to directly visit AMP pages, as they would with non-AMP pages. This enhances accessibility and contributes to a better user experience.
- AMP web pages offer website owners extensive control over various facets of their pages, making it one of the primary benefits of using AMP. You can control everything, including monetization approaches and how you present the content, all while establishing a direct connection with the audience.
- Google does not consider AMP pages as a separate ranking factor. Instead, they are assessed for rankings using the same criteria as HTML pages. It provides publishers with a sense of confidence when creating AMP pages. This is because their evaluation will be based on metrics that closely resemble those used for HTML pages.
- Another critical benefit of accelerated mobile pages is enhanced SEO. Better SEO results can eventually lead to higher website traffic. Furthermore, AMP can lower your website’s bounce rate when combined with exceptional content. Exceptional content often results in favorable session metrics from users.
Final Thoughts
This blog covered the common errors website owners commit while developing accelerated mobile pages. It also presented some of the major benefits associated with AMP. To
The adoption of AMP is poised for significant expansion, as many entrepreneurs are implementing AMP pages to ensure fast loading times and enhance customer experience. To leverage it effectively, you can opt for the services of a professional web development company in Texas.
