AMP Continues to Dominate Discussion This August 2016

There has been a lot of talk about AMP since Google previewed the new mobile HTML at the beginning of August. Pages that have been given the AMP treatment load instantly. It’s quite impressive.

AMP looks great, but there’s a catch. Developers have to create mobile pages that meet AMP specifications. AMP is an open source platform. It’s available for free because it’s a group project. Third party and open source plug-ins are naturally going to come into play to make the process as easy as possible.

This led to a very good question being asked during the August 23rd Google Webmaster Office Hours hangout. Should we only trust the official Wordpress AMP plugin?

Github’s plugin was also noted as a trusted resource, but all the others from unknown sources seem to be risky. Given the importance of mobile use today the concern is warranted. Having something go wrong with mobile pages can be a big deal for countless businesses.

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, was quick to point out that web developers can use numerous plugins simultaneously if they want. He also noted that he’s unsure of the maintenance and development status for the Wordpress and Github plugins. But John was pretty sure about one thing – there will likely be more and more AMP plugins. Finding the most reliable one is going to take a bit of trial and error.

You can also get froggy and create your own plugin since it’s open source. If you have a dynamic taxonomy or want to gain AMP-specific analytics right now a DIY plugin may be the only option.

This AMP discussion is another example of why anyone that’s building a new website or revamping their existing pages has to keep technical aspects and on-page optimization in mind. Both the backend and the frontend need to be well built to function perfectly and improve a user’s experience. When you have those two things in place, sites will perform better in search engines.

Need help getting your mobile pages AMPed? Contact SearchRPM to find out how our tech team can get you set up with an improved mobile website.

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By Michael Ramirez
SearchRPM Founder

Michael Ramirez is the Founder of SearchRPM, a Austin, TX based search marketing company with deep roots in Search Engine Optimization. You can follow Michael Ramirez on Twitter @openmic0323 or on Google+ to see what he’s up to next.