Google certainly makes sure that online marketers don’t become complacent.
As soon as you think you have the system gamed, Google goes and changes things up again. Sometimes, those changes are in response to new user patterns, but other times, those changes are an attempt to better quality search results.
With its new accelerated mobile pages platform, Google is trying to serve mobile users better. The search giant has already predicted that mobile search will outpace desktop search, and it is modifying its services accordingly.
The AMP platform, which was introduced in October, displays content instantaneously and formatted specifically for mobile users. Publishers have to format their content using a specific markup language to use AMP, but doing so can get them many benefits, such as increased brand exposure and site traffic.
Here are a few predictions for how Google AMP will impact publishers:
Improve Speed and Site Ranking
Google announced nearly six years ago that site speed would be an important factor in determining placement in organic search rankings, and it has continued to emphasize speed in its algorithm updates.
The AMP platform improves your site speed in mobile. Google aggressively caches information so that the pages appear pretty much instantly.
That improved speed will improve your rankings in mobile search, which will lead to more views and more clicks. You’ll get more brand exposure and more traffic to your site.
Appear at Top of Mobile Search
Mobile sites are ranking higher in search, and AMP articles appear right at the top of search results, just under the paid search results.
If you don’t have articles appearing in those results, you are losing traffic and impressions. Creating AMP articles is one of the easiest things you can do to get top search placement.
Right now, AMP is still in its early days, so you won’t have much competition for these spots. However, that will soon change as more publishers understand the benefits of AMP and jump on board.
To stay competitive, you will need to be strategic when selecting your keywords and must employ other SEO techniques to maintain that top position.
Appear above Local Search
Google has shifted in recent years to put greater emphasis on local search results.
However, AMP posts will be placed even before local search. Again, you are missing out on great exposure and increased traffic if you aren’t publishing with AMP.
Posts published through AMP are appearing even ahead of highly optimized local pages. Even without doing a lot of work, you can beat out local competitors who are not on AMP in your search rankings.
Get Buried with Competitive Keywords
Paid search continues to take precedence over all other types of search results.
On a mobile screen, there isn’t much room to accommodate multiple search results. For highly competitive keywords, paid search results will easily dominate the screen.
That means that even AMP results will be buried under a lot of scrolling if you are targeting highly competitive keywords. You can try to salvage your placement by targeting more generic search terms or terms that have less competition. That may mean targeting different keywords for your AMP pages than you would for your primary SEO strategy.
Front Load Links to Get More Traffic
Articles published through the AMP platform are able to load more quickly partially because they are simplified to the most important elements, such as the text and a few pictures.
Though many interactive features won’t be supported with AMP, you can put as many text links into the content as you like. That means that you can front load links into your AMP articles to redirect your readers to other content on your site.
You will get more views with AMP articles, and you can take advantage of that by getting more people onto your site, where you will offer them more interactive content and other features. You can also include links to your social media profiles, your email list and more.
Think of your AMP article like the free download you offer email subscribers. It’s a way to get readers in the door to keep coming back to your site and boosting your stats. You can then use your on-site strategy to turn that traffic into conversions.
Google will continue to evolve in order to stay relevant, and that means that you will need to pay attention to those changes to stay at the head of the game. If you are not already publishing with AMP, you should be.
When you create your AMP articles, it is important that you pay special attention to your ad placement so that you don’t lose revenue. CodeFuel has tools to help you get maximum placement for ads across your platforms, helping you to increase your revenue and meet your financial goals.
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