Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source framework developed by Google to create ultra-fast loading web pages, particularly optimized for mobile devices. AMP achieves speed by enforcing a streamlined version of HTML (AMP HTML), using a restricted set of JavaScript, and serving cached pages via the Google AMP Cache. The framework prioritizes performance and simplicity by removing elements that typically slow down mobile sites, such as heavy scripts or unoptimized media. While initially designed for publishers and news outlets, AMP has been adopted across e-commerce, blogs, and corporate websites to reduce bounce rates and improve user engagement.

Why It Matters

Speed → AMP pages load almost instantly, reducing abandonment rates.
SEO benefits → Google favors fast, mobile-friendly content in search results.
User experience → Smooth performance keeps visitors engaged.
Discoverability → AMP pages often appear in Google’s “Top Stories” carousel.

Key Features

AMP HTML → A simplified version of HTML with custom AMP components.
AMP JS → A library that manages resource loading and rendering.
AMP Cache → A content delivery network (CDN) for lightning-fast delivery.

Example (Basic AMP Page)

<!doctype html>
<html amp lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>My AMP Page</title>
    <link rel="canonical" href="index.html">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,minimum-scale=1">
    <script async src="https://cdn.ampproject.org/v0.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello AMP</h1>
  </body>
</html>

Best Practices

Use AMP for content-heavy or high-traffic mobile pages.
Ensure a canonical URL links back to the original page.
Optimize images, fonts, and ads within AMP constraints.
Monitor performance with Google Search Console and AMP Validator.