Google AMP stories – Visual story telling has arrived on Google

Google just launched the AMP story format to give content publishers a mobile-focused format that is visually compelling and interactive. Searchers on mobile devices will be able to tap on and engage deeper with published content that utilize the new AMP story format. Google’s AMP stories are yet another push to create a better mobile experience for searchers.

The AMP story release is part of Google’s bigger mobile focused AMP project. Ampproject.org defines the AMP Project as, “An open-source initiative aiming to make the web better for all. The project enables the creation of websites and ads that are consistently fast, beautiful and high-performing across devices and distribution platforms.”

What is Google Accelerated Pages (AMP)?

Google originally launched Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) which allowed publishers to server “lightning fast” content from Google’s AMP cache. There are three main components of AMP:

• AMP HTML: This is regular HTML with AMP properties and some restrictions to ensure the page loads quickly.
• AMP Cache: This is Google’s content delivery network (CDN) that allows Google to quickly serve your content from their cache.
• AMP JavaScript(JS): Is a JS library that implements all of AMP’s best practices to ensure page performance.

What’s different about AMP stories?

Google AMP stories allows brands to use rich media like text, images and video to enhance the stories they tell. This is important because people are not all the same and like to ingest content in different ways. Mobile usage has sky rocketed and with it so has mobile searches. More people are searching and engaging with news articles and published content than ever before. Amp Stories allows brands to capture searchers attention and keep them engaged longer with this more interactive format.

Image Source: Google

Example Google Amp Stories
Google rolled out Amp Stories with select publishers and as a result have stunning examples of how they work. Below are few examples.

Image Source: Google

Are AMP stories Worth It?

Like Google Amp stories Google rolled out original AMP pages in partnership with publishers. The partnerships soured when brands realized that the AMP pages absorbed most of their traffic because they were cached on Google. That’s a big problem for publishers since they make money off of website traffic.

Google has fixed that and I’d bet that they won’t make a mistake like that again. Only time will tell if AMP stories are worth the investment in time and development resources. However, I think it is worth testing anything that potentially enhances a searchers experience and engagement with your brand. To get started with the AMP story format check out this tutorial and documentation.

Final thoughts

I believe that Google will always be your competitor in search but I think AMP and AMP stories are fantastic. My hunch is that investing in AMP stories will be worth it and brands that embrace the Amp story format sooner will reap big benefits. If you think AMP stories are cool you should check out these SEO tips to grow your website traffic.