Capitalizing on Google AMP paywall and subscription models
Welcome to the mobile-first world.
Desktops have fallen to give way to the reign of mobile traffic (56% of all internet traffic). Your consumers are glued to their smartphones, as a result of which, all websites are expected to be mobile-optimized. To not do so is considered content marketing suicide.
The need for speed
Just offering your audience quality content is not enough anymore. Audiences now want a rich and fast online experience, especially for mobile browsing. According to Google, almost 53% of mobile users will abandon a website if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds. Speeding up your site will move more prospects further down the subscription funnel. Delays as short as 100 milliseconds can reduce conversion rates by over 7%. Slower site speed also translates to less traffic from organic searches as speed has been a known ranking factor for Google.
Tapping into this demand for better and faster mobile user experience, Google spearheaded the AMP initiative. Its promise? To deliver fast and light-weight web content at scale.
What is AMP?
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open source project designed to help web publishers create mobile-optimized content that render at lightning speed on all devices. AMP web pages are 85% faster than non-accelerated mobile pages. At its core, the framework allows you to build lightweight experiences for mobile by simplifying the HTML and following streamlined CSS rules.
AMP’s ability to deliver faster loading pages sets off a chain reaction which then reduces load time, lowers bounce rate, enhances SEO and leads to an increase in engagement and conversions. Implementation of AMP is key to your one true goal: more organic traffic to your site.
Boosting organic traffic
Organic search accounts for almost 60% of your website traffic with Google in the lead by occupying more than 90% of the market share. Google takes a lot of factors like backlinks, time on site, bounce rate and domain authority into consideration when it generates SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
A faster experience make users more inclined to read and like your content, thus spending more time on your site. This will cause your position to rise in SERPs and make your website more credible.
Since Google AMP is an initiative led by Google, AMP pages are prioritized in their search algorithms. Google even states that AMP is required to appear in the Top Stories Carousel. And those who are in the publishing business know that you drive high volumes of traffic by winning a spot in the Top Stories carousel.
Driving subscriptions using AMP
Being one of the biggest media trends in recent years, bigshots like Mashable, CNN, Conde Nast and The Washington Post have already incorporated AMP into their existing content marketing strategy. Initially, AMP pages were a way for users to access paywalled content for free as it was difficult for publishers to adapt their in-house paywall and subscription model to work within AMP specifications. But the AMP Project, in close collaboration with publishers and technologists from around the world, have come up with innovative subscription solutions.
This solution can now be integrated into your existing paywall strategies thus giving you a chance at having the best of both worlds. A way to monetize your content without having to compromise on its swift and seamless delivery.
Future of digital publishing
In an industry where new technology disrupts the scenario everyday, you have to be quick to adapt solutions like AMP Subscriptions in order to stay relevant. It is an exciting time to be in the publishing business with tech giants like Google dedicating their vast resources to the cause. You too should embrace new technology to, not just AMP-lify your content, but monetize it too.
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