Google says 40% of users will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. But did you know that the average page takes a minimum of 8 seconds to load? And the one activity that digital natives hate is waiting.

A fast loading site that is mobile optimized is your best chance of connecting with potential patients who are increasingly using their mobile devices to look for medical practice brands and relevant medical content. To counter the issue of long wait times and a slow web, Google came up with a fix called the AMP program.

What’s Different about AMP?

There are three aspects to how AMP works.

• AMP HTML: this is an updated set of custom AMP related commands that are very basic in nature which means third-party JavaScript and website tracking cookies which clutter mobile content are dropped.
• AMP JS: This is a new but limited JavaScript file designed for mobile pages with the purpose of supporting the loading of external resources asynchronous. In other words, the actual text and images in the content gets loaded first and anything follows after that.
• AMP CDN (Content Delivery Network): This is Google’s network of servers that organizes and caches AMP optimized content to ensure faster delivery of the content.

The AMP program essentially focuses on the creation of simpler pages which can quickly load. The result is a faster mobile web which is what Google is most concerned about right now. So while your AMP optimized content might be extremely basic in nature, what you lose by way of extra images and cookies, you make up in speed.

AMP and Search Optimization

Faster loading pages are what today’s digital natives expect from medical brands of their choice. And this is where AMP comes in; when your pages load faster your pages will earn more views. More views will increase your content engagement quotient and improve the chances of your content getting shared.  But AMP advantages are not limited to just these aspects. Here’s what you can expect.

AMP-optimized Content will Earn Higher Rankings in SERPs

AMP content is featured at the top of Google searches in a swipeable carousel. All AMP-optimized articles come with a thunderbolt icon which indicates they are AMP enabled. And because AMP is open source and anyone can pitch in on how to improve AMP’s feature set to make it more publishing friendly, new and improved changes to AMP can be expected in the near future. This would include a change in how AMP-optimized content appears in SERPs.

Lower Bounce Rates

The majority of mobile users get frustrated with slow loading pages. If the wait time exceeds 5 seconds, they will not hesitate to go back to search results and start their search again. However, with faster loading pages, chances of users staying on your pages increases so you can expect a dramatic decrease in your bounce rates.

Better Content Access and Engagement

AMP optimized medical content is not only easy to access but it can also earn more clicks in Google SERPs since they load faster on any mobile device. Another benefit of AMP content is that since they are information rich (no distracting design elements and added text), users will prefer the content as it directly delivers value and does not come with any attention diluters. Also according to Google mobile users outpace desktop users so AMP optimized content will benefit from greater reach.

Improved Conversion Rates

A number of elements can impact the conversion rates of your medical practice website. However, when content is easily accessible, loads quickly, is information rich, and available to users in their exact moment of need, your readers will feel encouraged to come back for more and will be more willing to buy what you are selling.