GOOGLE

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): The Definitive Guide for Marketers

Published

3 years ago

June 11, 2021

accelerated mobile pages amp the definitive guide for marketers

When it comes to your website, speed matters. The longer your page takes to load, the more traffic you’ll lose.

A few years ago, Google launched its mobile-friendliness update and made page load speed one of its mobile search engine ranking factors. Today, load speed affects your position in the SERPs; so uses may not be able to see your page at all if it loads slowly.

What’s the solution? Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP. Well, maybe — there’s actually been pushback on AMP pages in recent years.

What is AMP? Is it still relevant? If you want to dig deeper into AMP and learn how to use it to grow your online marketing strategy, you are in the right place.

What Are Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)?

The AMP plugin was born out of a collaboration between tech giants like Google and Twitter.

In simple terms, Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open-source project designed to optimize faster mobile pages. It’s like taking a page that’s already mobile-friendly and making it load quicker, by stripping it down to basics.

If AMP isn’t already part of your marketing strategy, you should consider it.

Webmasters, marketers, and SEOs have analyzed how AMP can affect mobile web pages. They found AMP can have a huge impact on mobile search engine rankings, though Google maintains this isn’t directly factual.

In a roundabout way, however, it might be true. According to Google, the AMP plugin increases page load speed, and site speed is a confirmed ranking factor.

Faster mobile pages + readable content = better user experience

In a nutshell, pages that are AMP-optimized load faster and therefore rank better than other mobile web pages.

what is accelerated mobile pages? why you need to think about it

You can visit the open source initiative platform here.

How Does The AMP Plugin Work?

Paul Shappiro, from Search Engine Land, lays out the three part structure of AMP:

The AMP plugin renders mobile pages faster by cutting back on the HTML coding and rendering only those suitable for mobile users.

This diagram and explanation from Will Critchlow’s Whiteboard Friday make it pretty easy to understand:

what are accelerated mobile pages - diagram of http coding

AMP renders your pages using optimized HTML code. The pages are expected to load faster because certain HTML code tag manager aspects that would otherwise slow down the page are eliminated.

If JavaScript is included in your mobile pages, the script won’t be rendered for your Accelerated Mobile Pages.

Here are a few more things you should know:

With AMP, you have to use a streamlined version of CSS.
You are only permitted to use the JavaScript library that AMP provides. Since you’re not in control, you may experience lazy loading. This might be the only downside to AMP.
For AMP sites to work every time, they must be properly validated.
For a better experience, custom fonts have to be specially loaded.
To avoid quirky-looking images, make sure to declare height and width.
Use AMP-approved extensions if you want to have videos on your page.
There has been some controversy with AMP, with some experts reporting it lowers ad revenue and makes it harder to spot “fake news” articles.

When you integrate the AMP plugin and use it to improve your mobile pages, what should matter to you most is speed and readability, not share-ability. Your social share buttons may not even display properly since the majority of them are developed using JavaScript.

Benefits of Accelerated Mobile Pages

There’s a significant correlation between site speed, page views, and mobile search engine rankings.

One thing that you have to remember is that whenever a particular web page loads up quickly, mobile browser users will view more pages on the site, thereby reducing bounce rate.

When bounce rate is reduced and onsite experience increases, Google will reward the page.

Truth be told, there are many benefits to optimizing with the AMP plugin. Here’s the top four:

1. Insanely Fast-loading Web Pages That Users Love

Speed is the lifeblood of your mobile browser page. Great content is important, but unless your pages are accessible, users won’t read them.

AMP helps you to achieve that.

Remember the way and rate at which people consume content (e.g., articles, blog posts, videos, and podcasts) has changed dramatically. People browsing the internet want their content to load quickly as they jump from site to site, usually consuming many different kinds of content in quick succession or even at once.

If your mobile pages are as slow as a snail, you won’t get mobile browsers that land on your site to convert into customers. AMP gives you dramatic page speed increases that will help you keep users who click on your site from clicking away.

2. Improved Mobile Search Engine Rankings

There’s a strong relationship between site speed and conversion rate. If users are happy on a fast-loading site, they’re more likely to subscribe to a list or purchase a product.

Although a lot is still expected of AMP, Google hasn’t yet made it a ranking factor.

Since AMP works closely with mobile pages, it may never be used as an independent ranking factor; it has nothing to do with the desktop version of pages.

That said, since sites that are mobile-friendly are rewarded with higher rankings in organic mobile search results, pages developed with AMP tend to rank higher than non-AMP pages in the mobile results pages (MRPs).

3. Flexible Ad Support

Most people started a website or blog in order to make money and to possibly replace their day job.

Looking at the desktop and mobile browser versions of a site’s pages, it’s easy to conclude if there are too many distractions.

These distractions, such as the header image, navigational menu, sidebar, social share buttons, forms, popups, and other unnecessary elements, can lower your conversion rate.

With AMP, you can get rid of distractions on your mobile browser pages.

That’s because not all HTML code tags are executed, you use a streamlined version of CSS, and JavaScript is out of the question (mostly).

That means that you can make money more easily from your ads.

When you click on an Accelerated Mobile Page, it’ll load nearly instantaneously, even before you’re done clicking.

When displaying ads from a third party on your Accelerated Mobile Pages, make sure that you deliver ads that load quickly but also grab the user’s attention and deliver immense value.

As you already know, this content marketing approach is the easiest way to increase your influence, help users get answers to their questions, and improve ROI on ad spend.

If you’re ready to monetize your AMP-optimized pages, here are some of the most popular ad networks that are currently using the AMP-ads functionality:

Amazon A9
AdReactor
Google Doubleclick
Flite
Adform
Google AdSense
AOL AdTech
Taboola
plista
Smart AdServer
Yieldmo
DotAndAds

4. User Tracking is Simplified

It’s not enough to send traffic to your mobile browser pages. You also have to know how they arrived at your site.

Tracking helps you determine where people came from, which pages they viewed and so on.

Tracking users and site performance is pretty easy on AMP because there are analytical tools in place, where you can study your AMP versions in greater detail.

User behavior can only be influenced when you track it. With AMP, publishers can utilize such tag manager analytics to choose from two tags.

These tags help to automatically track essential data, such as clicks/conversions, video and link tracking, visitor counts, new vs. returning visitors and more.

Other technology solutions companies, such as WordPress, Parse.ly, Chartbeat, LinkedIn, Adobe Analytics, Pinterest and, of course, Twitter, are also already supporting AMP.

How to Set Up Accelerated Mobile Pages

There are several options when you’re looking to optimize your web pages for AMP. If you’re a beginner, the first step is to maintain at least two versions of your content page.

Your original content page would be the mobile browser friendly version that users will see, but you’ll also have the AMP version of that specific page, which will definitely speed things up.

Remember that AMP versions contain basic HTML code, which doesn’t allow form elements and third-party JavaScript.

As marketers, we all want to build our email list. The downside to AMP is that it won’t allow you to easily achieve that.

Moreover, user comments and other activities that users participate in when viewing your content on a mobile page may not be possible with AMP.

Again, the focus is on speed and readability.

To get started with AMP right now, if you’re a WordPress user, then you just need to download and install the WordPress plugin at GitHub.

Simply click on the “Download Zip” button.

how to download accelerated mobile pages

Note that you can install the AMP plugin through your WordPress dashboard, just as you would any other plugin. It’s pretty straightforward.

Once you’ve successfully installed and activated the plugin, all that you have to do is append “/amp/” to your blog post pages. Here’s how it looks on a mobile browser:

Here’s the AMP version of this page on The Guardian:

example of accelerated mobile pages page

If you don’t have a friendly permalink, then you can append this “?amp=1” instead.

Don’t forget to validate and tweak at Google Search Console. That way, you can help Google pick up your AMP versions faster.

Accelerated Mobile Pages FAQ

How do AMP pages work?

AMP pages strip down pages to their essentials, which helps improve page load time. They do this using a three step configuration.

When should I use AMP pages?

When most of your site traffic comes from mobile devices or you want to lower your bounce rate.

Are AMP pages still relevant in 2021?

AMP doesn’t appear to be going away, but there has been some controversy. Google recently announced it will not AMP pages for news sites to show up in top stories, so it does seem to be less important.

Are AMP pages good for SEO?

They can be helpful, but are not essential for SEO. Optimizing for page speed and mobile experience can be done in several ways.

Accelerated Mobile Pages Conclusion

AMP is powerful, but some marketers say it is losing steam. As an upgrade to mobile-friendly pages, it can help you meet Google’s expectations for site speed.

While there is still a focus on AMP, don’t forget to use proven mobile marketing strategies. That’s the best way to attract mobile customers and grow your business.

Before you leave, I have a question for you: Have you accelerated your mobile pages for speed and readability? If not, what’s stopping you?

See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your Website

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Content Marketing – our team creates epic content that will get shared, get links, and attract traffic.
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Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

Published

2 months ago

February 26, 2024

Max

A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.

In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.

However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.

The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.

In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.

For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.

The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.

Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator

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GOOGLE

Google Implements Stricter Guidelines for Mass Email Senders to Gmail Users

Published

2 months ago

February 13, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Beginning in April, Gmail senders bombarding users with unwanted mass emails will encounter a surge in message rejections unless they comply with the freshly minted Gmail email sender protocols, Google cautions.

Fresh Guidelines for Dispatching Mass Emails to Gmail Inboxes In an elucidative piece featured on Forbes, it was highlighted that novel regulations are being ushered in to shield Gmail users from the deluge of unsolicited mass emails. Initially, there were reports surfacing about certain marketers receiving error notifications pertaining to messages dispatched to Gmail accounts. Nonetheless, a Google representative clarified that these specific errors, denoted as 550-5.7.56, weren’t novel but rather stemmed from existing authentication prerequisites.

Moreover, Google has verified that commencing from April, they will initiate “the rejection of a portion of non-compliant email traffic, progressively escalating the rejection rate over time.” Google elaborates that, for instance, if 75% of the traffic adheres to the new email sender authentication criteria, then a portion of the remaining non-conforming 25% will face rejection. The exact proportion remains undisclosed. Google does assert that the implementation of the new regulations will be executed in a “step-by-step fashion.”

This cautious and methodical strategy seems to have already kicked off, with transient errors affecting a “fraction of their non-compliant email traffic” coming into play this month. Additionally, Google stipulates that bulk senders will be granted until June 1 to integrate “one-click unsubscribe” in all commercial or promotional correspondence.

Exclusively Personal Gmail Accounts Subject to Rejection These alterations exclusively affect bulk emails dispatched to personal Gmail accounts. Entities sending out mass emails, specifically those transmitting a minimum of 5,000 messages daily to Gmail accounts, will be mandated to authenticate outgoing emails and “refrain from dispatching unsolicited emails.” The 5,000 message threshold is tabulated based on emails transmitted from the same principal domain, irrespective of the employment of subdomains. Once the threshold is met, the domain is categorized as a permanent bulk sender.

These guidelines do not extend to communications directed at Google Workspace accounts, although all senders, including those utilizing Google Workspace, are required to adhere to the updated criteria.

Augmented Security and Enhanced Oversight for Gmail Users A Google spokesperson emphasized that these requisites are being rolled out to “fortify sender-side security and augment user control over inbox contents even further.” For the recipient, this translates to heightened trust in the authenticity of the email sender, thus mitigating the risk of falling prey to phishing attempts, a tactic frequently exploited by malevolent entities capitalizing on authentication vulnerabilities. “If anything,” the spokesperson concludes, “meeting these stipulations should facilitate senders in reaching their intended recipients more efficiently, with reduced risks of spoofing and hijacking by malicious actors.”

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GOOGLE

Google’s Next-Gen AI Chatbot, Gemini, Faces Delays: What to Expect When It Finally Launches

Published

4 months ago

December 4, 2023

Max

In an unexpected turn of events, Google has chosen to postpone the much-anticipated debut of its revolutionary generative AI model, Gemini. Initially poised to make waves this week, the unveiling has now been rescheduled for early next year, specifically in January.

Gemini is set to redefine the landscape of conversational AI, representing Google’s most potent endeavor in this domain to date. Positioned as a multimodal AI chatbot, Gemini boasts the capability to process diverse data types. This includes a unique proficiency in comprehending and generating text, images, and various content formats, even going so far as to create an entire website based on a combination of sketches and written descriptions.

Originally, Google had planned an elaborate series of launch events spanning California, New York, and Washington. Regrettably, these events have been canceled due to concerns about Gemini’s responsiveness to non-English prompts. According to anonymous sources cited by The Information, Google’s Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai, personally decided to postpone the launch, acknowledging the importance of global support as a key feature of Gemini’s capabilities.

Gemini is expected to surpass the renowned ChatGPT, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, and preliminary private tests have shown promising results. Fueled by significantly enhanced computing power, Gemini has outperformed GPT-4, particularly in FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second), owing to its access to a multitude of high-end AI accelerators through the Google Cloud platform.

SemiAnalysis, a research firm affiliated with Substack Inc., expressed in an August blog post that Gemini appears poised to “blow OpenAI’s model out of the water.” The extensive compute power at Google’s disposal has evidently contributed to Gemini’s superior performance.

Google’s Vice President and Manager of Bard and Google Assistant, Sissie Hsiao, offered insights into Gemini’s capabilities, citing examples like generating novel images in response to specific requests, such as illustrating the steps to ice a three-layer cake.

While Google’s current generative AI offering, Bard, has showcased noteworthy accomplishments, it has struggled to achieve the same level of consumer awareness as ChatGPT. Gemini, with its unparalleled capabilities, is expected to be a game-changer, demonstrating impressive multimodal functionalities never seen before.

During the initial announcement at Google’s I/O developer conference in May, the company emphasized Gemini’s multimodal prowess and its developer-friendly nature. An application programming interface (API) is under development, allowing developers to seamlessly integrate Gemini into third-party applications.

As the world awaits the delayed unveiling of Gemini, the stakes are high, with Google aiming to revolutionize the AI landscape and solidify its position as a leader in generative artificial intelligence. The postponed launch only adds to the anticipation surrounding Gemini’s eventual debut in the coming year.

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