Do you want to setup Google AMP on your WordPress site? Accelerated mobile pages or AMP is a way to make your website load faster on mobile devices. Fast loading websites offer better user experience and can improve your traffic. In this article, we will show you how to set up Google AMP in WordPress.
What is Google AMP?
Google AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It is an open source initiative supported by technology companies like Google and Twitter. The goal of the project is to make web content load faster for mobile users.
For many mobile users, reading on the web is often slow. Most content rich pages take several seconds to load despite all efforts taken by site owners to speed up their website.
Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP uses bare minimal HTML and limited Javascript. This allows the content to be hosted on Google AMP Cache. Google can then serve this cached version to users instantly when they click on your link in the search results.
It is very similar to Facebook Instant Articles. However, Instant Articles are limited only to Facebook’s platform, more specifically to their mobile app.
Accelerated Mobile Pages are platform-agnostic and can be used by any app, browser, or web viewer. Currently it is used by Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, and others.
Pros and Cons of Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
SEO experts claim that Accelerated Mobile Pages will help you rank higher in Google, and it improves the user experience for mobile users on slow internet connections. However, they are several challenges for website owners, bloggers, and marketers.
AMP uses limited set of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This means you cannot add certain widgets and features to your mobile AMP website. This limits your ability to add smart email optin forms, facebook like boxes, and other dynamic scripts.
While Google AMP supports Google Analytics, it does not support many other analytics platforms. Same goes for advertising options which are limited to select few advertising platforms.
Despite its limitations, Google is pushing AMP pages by giving them a boost in mobile search.
If significant chunk of your traffic comes from mobile searches, then you may benefit from adding AMP support to improve and maintain your SEO.
Note: There have been a few complaints about Google AMP by bloggers.
First is by Alex Kras who claim that you can potentially lose mobile traffic if you enable Google AMP. Read the article thoroughly because that’s a huge problem, and despite what the Google Tech Lead for AMP project has said, there aren’t any good solutions that address the issue in our opinion.
Second is by Terrence Eden which highlights the difficulties of switching back from Google AMP should you change your mind in the future. We don’t believe this is a major issue because you can do a 301 redirect which several have pointed out in the comment section of his blog posts, but nonetheless it is something you need to think about.
For the reasons above, we are not switching WPBeginner to Google AMP just yet.
However since several of our readers asked about how to setup Google AMP in WordPress, we have created a step by step process on how to setup Accelerated Mobile Pages in WordPress.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Setting up Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP in WordPress
First thing you need to do is install and activate the AMP plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you can head over to Appearance » AMP page to see how your site looks on mobile devices using AMP.
You can change the header background and text color on this page. The header background color you choose will also be used for links.
The plugin will also use your site’s icon or logo if your theme supports it. See our guide on how to add a favicon or site icon in WordPress for detailed instructions.
Don’t forget to click on the save button to store your changes.
You can now visit any single post on your website and add /amp/ at the end of the URL. Like this:
http://example.com/2016/10/my-blog-post/amp/
This will show you a stripped down AMP version of the same post.
If you view the source code of the original post, you will find this line in the HTML:
<link rel="amphtml" href="http://example.com/2016/10/my-blog-post/amp/" />
This line tells search engines and other AMP consuming apps/services where to look for the AMP version of the page.
Troubleshooting:
If you see a 404 error when trying to view the amp version, then here is what you need to do.
Visit Settings » Permalinks page in your WordPress admin and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. Remember, don’t change anything here, just press the save button. This will refresh your website’s permalink structure.
View Accelerated Mobile Pages in Google Search Console
Want to know how your Accelerated Mobile Pages are doing in Google Search? You can easily check this using the Google Search Console.
Log in to your Google Search Console dashboard and then click on Search Appearance » Accelerated Mobile Pages.
Don’t worry if you don’t see your AMP results right away. It may take a while for Google to index your Accelerated Mobile Pages and then show data in Search Console.
Extending and Customizing Your Accelerated Mobile Pages
The AMP plugin for WordPress comes with very limited customization options. However you can use some other WordPress plugins to add few more customizations.
If you are already using Yoast SEO, then you need to install and activate the Glue for Yoast SEO & AMP.
It is an add-on plugin for Yoast SEO and AMP plugins. Upon activation, you need to visit SEO » AMP page to configure plugin settings.
The plugin allows you to enable AMP support for other post types.
On the design tab, you can choose colors and design options. You can also upload a logo and a default header image which will be used when a post does not have its own featured image.
You can switch to the Analytics tab to add your Google Analytics ID.
Don’t forget to click on the save settings button to store your changes.
There are many more plugins which will allow you to add related posts, footer widgets, and even social media icons to your AMP pages.
However, you need to make sure to validate your AMP pages after you install any addon plugins.
We hope this article, helped you learn how to set up Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) on WordPress. You may also want to see our list of 19 actionable tips to drive traffic to your WordPress site.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Will you all be updating this article, since it is two years old?
We will certainly look into updating the article as we are able and as it is needed
Now Google AMP showing image size error.
Image size is smaller than recommended size. Images should be at least 1200 pixels wide.
That huge. What’s wrong with Google AMP?
It is a change for Google’s top stories carousel for why that size is now being requested. The AMP plugin is saying that it is receiving that error from Google and letting you know.
how can we use wordpess theme into amp layout, because after entring amp url the page layout is not match as per our site url.
Me too. My css file not work when i will activate amp plugin.
AMP uses limited HTML, CSS, and Javascript. You would want to reach out to your theme to see if there is something that can be done to make the theme more AMP friendly.
Thanks for this valuable article. Not only this one, but also all of your articles are so helpful for us.
Thanks you all.
You Don’t Need AMP Because wpbeginner.com is as fast as AMP .
This is a fantastic article! The structure and detail are easy to follow and user friendly. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, is there any option to auto redirect user to amp site while using mobile.
Thank you for this post!
I already activated AMP for one of my site and it is performing well but here you did not recommend it.
Well said, on my next site I will just leave it without implementing AMP and test the two.
Thanks from Nigeria
I see more pitfalls than gains in implementing AMP – particularly with a plugin. For now, I’ll follow your advice and, “not switch to Google AMP, just yet.”
How do I add Adsense on my AMP page
Hi, Thank you indeed for your helpful post. I have two points:
1- Have you used the AMP yet or not? How can I be notify if you are going to use it in the future?
2-In w3 total cache, there is an addon for AMP, is that ok?
For me I will not install the plugin as you recommended.
I think you can get the best ranking when you have great content, seo, good speed which can be implemented without apm.
Thanks indeed
Hi Amin,
For our thoughts on AMP please see our article on how to properly disable Google AMP in WordPress.
Thanks indeed
I can’t seem to get AMP analytics working. the Yoast SEO tab for analytics never saves my analytics ID. Any suggestions?
Hi Sarah,
You can try MonsterInsights. You will need the paid version with at least plus plan to access AMP addon.
i need to know if i can add my pages in amp , currently it is just working on posts. when i type PAGE_URL/amp it takes to 404 page
Is there a WordPress AMP plugin that also supports AMP for pages and not just for posts?
What is the difference between Automatic AMP and Accelerated Mobile Pages plugin? Free site on wordpress.com is displaying theme header image and better looking in mobile with their AMP plugin,but self hosted site with AMP do not have theme header image and not looking good like free site. Why like this?
Do You know if the Plugin is compatible with the Elementor Plugin?
i have activated amp in my wordpress .. my question is how to now that amp is working on my posts and if i build amp page except main post then what will happen ?
Make sure you reply this comment. Why aren’t you “WP Beginner” using this AMP right now? Is there a limitation or disadvantage of using it?
My post text from my post do not appear in my AMP page. Header and image work perfectly, but the text do not appear…
I use wordpress with thrivetheme, AMP form Automatic + Glue from Yoast.
Thanks for your help
I am using AMP for WP and have generated and listed some pages. Now I want to discontinue AMP. Can I just delete the AMP for WP plugin or is it a more involved procedure?
Thanks.
Hello. I have been using the AMP plugin by Automattic without any issues for the past 6 months. However we started getting AMP errors in search console that said Prohibited or invalid use of HTML Tag on 12 pages including this one
Has anyone noticed this?
Posted on the plugin page as well but did not get a reply.
I hope the bug gets resolved fast as the pages have been removed from search results and have led to a loss of traffic.
Use the AMPforWP plugin, it’s wayyy better than the AMP plugin by Automattic
AMP can not install in my wordpress
Every time I try to install it says “installation failed: destination folder already exist” now should I do so that the AMP in wordpress can be installed??
I used this plugin but i got one problem. This plugin added amp page for my home page when i tried to open that link then it will redirect it in blog amp page . How can i change it?
I am getting this same effect. when I go to my domain.com/amp/ It does not show home home page, but it shows blog post page. How can we change it to where it shows home page?
Under the AMP Plugin. Go: AMP/Getting Started/Homepage then enable AMP Frontpage –> custom amp front page. Then, just below that you will select your homepage from the drop down menu.
It should all (finally) show up on the AMP version if your homepage/front page.
I hope that helps!
Hie Guys,
Very informative post and WordPress is among the early supporters of Google AMP Project. Google AMP plugin for WordPress is quite useful for making the mobile web faster i.e. 4 times faster, which will be a crucial factor for enhancing user experience.
Also, Baidu – the Chinese search engine is now supporting Google AMP project and will consider AMP sites in SERP result as Google has made it a norm for getting higher ranking on search result. Very soon others will be following the same trend and we will be witnessing Google’s footsteps.
Thanks,
Nick
Great Article. Does anyone knows hoe to trigger AMP automatically when user is viewing our website on mobile device. I mean for viewing AMP pages I dont want to manually go and type /amp at the end of URL. Is there a way?
As far as I understand, typing /amp at the end of the URL is only for testing, but the plugin already creates the AMP version of the posts and add the related HTML tag to the source code and then google will index those AMP posts and show them to mobile users
Hi,
Please help, how to add adsense in amp pages. There is no option in yoast glue …
Adsense code adds in the setting section.
Let me know if your problem not resolved.
Thanks,
Hi,
Which Social Media icons plugin is compatible with your mentioned AMP plugin?
Thanks!
Michael
AMP is not installing in my wordpress .
Whenever I trying to install it says “Installation failed : Destination folder already exist ”
Now what I have to do ??
Hey Raj,
It looks like your previous attempt to install the plugin was interrupted. You need to connect to your website using FTP and then go to wp-content/plugins/ folder. Locate the AMP plugin folder and delete it.
Thank you so much .
My problem resolved.
You are welcome
I have use AMP on my website. But always one error detect on some posts. This is image optimization. I try to to use AMP image html code for insert image on post. But this time no image are shown. How can i fix this problem. Please help me. Thanks in advance.
I WANT to switch to AMP but since many of my posts have recipes, tables and image grids none of these show up on AMP pages.
I’d like to do AMP pages like the New York Times does, basically there is a long excerpt with a link to continue reading the story that takes you to the non-AMP page.
Any recommendation on how to find a plug-in or how to tweak the WordPress AMP plug-in to do this?
Thanks,
L
I don’t have Yoast but All in One SEO, can you please help I want to install AMP
I tried everything in this tutorial, but I still get a blank page when I input myURL/amp/ on my browser. Can you please help me out?
Hey Man,
First Install Official AMP Plugin Then Glue by yoast if you are using Yoast plugin.
Thanks!
Nice post,
is anyone has tried AMP ? and is make difference in google ranking ? please tell me ?
Yes , it helps to improve the ranking.
The correct way to implement AMP is to do it as apart of your theme. The AMP plugin is merely a band-aid to bridge the gap from an existing theme. AMP is so new that there’s very little examples of how to include it as your WordPress theme. I’d be interested in knowing if anyone has taken it this far yet. I’ve done some AMP development already and I find it to not be all the difficult.
I have trying AMP for a 5 months. And the result is amp not recommend for my site. Because amp make appearance broken. And yes, amp WordPress doesn’t not give features that we need
Did anyone have issues trying to save the Analytics code? Doesn’t seem to want to save.
Tried pasting full script or just the UA-xxxx code and none would save.
Do you also recommend using the AMP for WP as in combination with AMP and Glue for Yoast plugins?
Yeah I’ve been having the same issue for months. No matter what I enter in the Analytics box, it won’t save.
How do we make it work for woocommerce? AMP plugin throws up very basic layout of a woocommerce site with the menu also losing all its style and formatting.
Does the AMP plugin still only work on Posts and not Pages? Has anyone found a solution that works on entire sites? Thx!
To make it work on pages, you can use the AMP for WP plugin (this plugin requires the AMP plugin).
Hey! Thanks for this AMP WordPress. I have a question in my mid. Can i have to edit my old posts URL and add /amp at the end?
No, the plugin will automatically add it and Google will automatically show the amp URL whenever it is available.
Thank you very much. Am waiting for when they’ll accept Facebook audience network
Great article!! Do you know if it’s possible to remove the “powered by WordPress” in the footer of our post AMP page? See here >>
Super thanks
Gaz
Hi guys,
great guide. What about when Google search console notify me invalid css stylesheet for amp page?