Understanding How AMP Works in Search Results

Understanding how AMP Works in Search Results

This document explains how Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) function within Google Search results, covering aspects like indexing, display, and user experience.

AMP and Google Search

Google Search indexes AMP pages to deliver a faster and smoother web experience, particularly on mobile devices. Here's how AMP interacts with different aspects of Google Search:

Speed as a Ranking Factor:

While AMP itself isn't a direct ranking factor, page speed significantly influences your website's ranking in Google Search. Since AMP inherently promotes faster loading times, it indirectly contributes to improved SEO performance. Remember, Google applies the same ranking standards to all webpages, regardless of the technology used.

AMP and Search Result Display:

AMP pages can be showcased in Google Search results in various ways:

1. Rich Results: Similar to regular web pages, AMP pages can appear as rich results (like those with star ratings or recipe information) in search listings. To enhance the likelihood of your AMP pages appearing as rich results, you can implement structured data.

   Example: Let's say you have an AMP page for a product. You can add structured data for "Product" with properties like "name", "image", "offers", and "reviewRating" to help Google understand and display your page as a rich result with these details. Here's how the code might look:

   <div itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Product">
     <h1 itemprop="name">Awesome Headphones</h1>
     <img itemprop="image" src="headphones.jpg" alt="Headphones Image">
     <div itemprop="offers" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Offer">
       <span itemprop="price">$99.99</span>
       <link itemprop="availability" href="https://schema.org/InStock">In stock
     </div>
     <div itemprop="aggregateRating" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/AggregateRating">
       <span itemprop="ratingValue">4.5</span>
       stars based on
       <span itemprop="reviewCount">120</span> reviews
     </div>
   </div>

   While structured data helps, it's essential to remember that Google doesn't guarantee rich result display for all pages with structured data.

2. Carousels: Google Search can feature AMP pages within carousels, offering a visually engaging way to present multiple results for a specific query.

3. Web Stories: AMP powers Web Stories, a visually-rich, full-screen format ideal for short-form content. Enabling Web Stories can further enhance visibility in search results.

How Google Delivers AMP Content:

When a user clicks on an AMP page in search results, Google can deliver the content in two ways:

1. Google AMP Cache: For extremely fast loading, Google retrieves the AMP page from its dedicated cache, leveraging optimizations like prerendering. This cached version displays the content quickly while indicating the actual publisher's domain at the top.

2. Signed Exchange: This technology allows your AMP page to load directly from your origin server while still appearing under your domain in the browser address bar. This approach enables you to utilize first-party cookies for analytics and personalized content delivery.

Key Takeaways:

• AMP speeds up page load times, indirectly benefiting SEO.

• Implementing structured data can increase the chances of appearing as rich results.

• Google delivers AMP content efficiently through caching or signed exchanges, ensuring a seamless user experience.

By understanding how AMP works within Google Search, you can leverage its speed and performance benefits to enhance visibility and provide a better experience for your users.