What is AMP?

AMP is a technique to show internet pages quicker on mobile phones. AMP was released by Google in 2015 but since then several parties are involved in the development. In general AMP is used to speed up news and blog articles.  Web developers are not always charmed by AMP. A lot is forbidden and some things are plain not possible at all. All restrictions however do guarantee that a page loads lightning fast. That is great for the reader. But more importantly is that Google ranks fast loading pages higher in the free or organic results. 

Beside their speed AMP pages have another advantage. The Core Web Vitals of a page are also a ranking factor. If you ever read an article from an online news publisher you might have experienced the following. While the page loads you start to read. Only to be interrupted by the text that moved because a banner had to be fit in. The amount of moving of a text during the loading is one of the Core Web Vitals. AMP will also enhance the Core Web Vitals. An AMP page loads in one go without any element moving. 

AMP is not suitable for all situations and is certainly no panacea. A fast loading website and good Core Web Vitals can be achieved in other ways. But for certain types of content AMP is a proven method to increase the ranking and/or enhance the Core Web Vitals.