Technology is advancing at an exponential rate and smart devices are getting more attractions from the consumer’s end. Based on the statistical data of 2016, mobile traffic has exceeded desktop traffic when it comes to surfing the internet. And to serve the 51.3% mobile users, companies are working hard to ensure fast and easy accessibility to their website via the mobile platform. But traditional web applications or websites are not optimized for mobile devices. Thus the loading time is quite high to eliminate this problem, companies are embracing smart technologies like PWA (Progressive Web Applications) and AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). Both of these technologies offer super-fast, user-friendly mobile applications for their target audience.
PWA vs. AMP
PWA stands of Progressive Web Applications, which acts more like a mobile app which gives a user a super-fast browsing experience. But don’t get fooled by thinking PWA is limited to mobile apps only. Those who are accessing Pinterest, twitter or, tinder via the desktop platform are using this PWA app. It allows the users to enjoy the premium features, which was supposed to be found exclusively on the native apps. With the help of PWA technologies, you can even browse in offline mode. Unlike native apps, updates are reflected in the PWA almost immediately. The required budget for custom PWA development is also very low compared to the native app.
AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages are specially designed to load the webpage faster on the mobile device. This is an open-source framework developed by Google in collaboration with Twitter. If you are dealing with the content industry, the contents must be load faster to retain customer satisfaction. With fast response time, it tends to boost the traffic significantly as users get their desired information without facing any loading issues. Based on Google research, web pages having loading time higher than 3 seconds tends to lose 40% of the users. So, improving the loading time is very crucial to decrease your bounce rate.
PWA and AMP seem to offer a perfect solution to access the internet via mobile platforms. But which is faster and has a better SEO score? Let’s dig deep.
Both PWA and AMP are great better compared to our old fashioned web pages. But when it comes down to performance factors, the answer greatly depends on your business attributes. For instance, those who are dealing with a large number of client databases or products might get better results from PWA. PWA is designed to handle a large number of requests from the client’s end. Moreover, it also inherits the property of the native apps, which makes it more user-friendly when it comes to offline use.
On the contrary, using AMP, to set up an e-commerce store or any social media site will be very expensive. However, if the AMP is used for media sites, the contents will load in less than 1 second which is 4 times faster than our average loading time. In a nutshell, AMP gives better performance for the front end users and PWA tends to work best for the sites which have more sophisticated features.
SEO factors
When it comes to SEO factors, AMP has slightly ahead since its loading time less than 3 seconds, which significantly reduces the bounce rate. On the contrary, PWA loading time might slightly vary depending on the number of active users requesting the same information. However, loading time eventually becomes less equal since AMP cache URLs and PWA cache data.
Loading time is just one factor to rank higher in SERPs. Before you consider the SEO factors, you should select the framework (PWA or AMP) that suits your business need. But don’t think you can’t use both for the same project. Using AMP and PWA features simultaneously can result in significant improvement in organic SEO. However, those who are determined to stick to one solution should focus on their key requirements. Based on that, they should pick the model to rank naturally higher in SERPs.
