What is AMP?
AMP stands for “Accelerated Mobile Pages,” an open-source initiative that aims to significantly reduce web page loading times on mobile devices.
AMP is a format composed of selected elements from classic web layout languages such as HTML and JavaScript, but it uses its own libraries, elements, and rules.
The AMP design is mobile-first but, above all, user-first. Its advantages are tangible both for users, who enjoy a faster and smoother browsing experience, and for website owners—especially content-heavy sites such as online newspapers—who benefit from improved SEO positioning and metrics:
- Page conversions
- CTR increases
- Higher viewability (percentage of ads viewed per user)
Pros and Cons of Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
Loading speed is an important SEO ranking factor, so having AMP undoubtedly helps achieve a better position on Google and improves content access for mobile users with slow internet connections.
On the other hand, AMP has certain limitations in web development when dealing with complex content, since it uses a restricted subset of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This limits the ability to include interactive or visually dynamic elements that enhance user experience (UX), such as animations, visual effects, forms, and other dynamic scripts. AMP clearly prioritizes efficiency over creativity. Another key limitation is that AMP only allows one ad tag per page.
In terms of analytics, AMP supports Google Analytics, Ads, and DoubleClick — although not at full capacity — which is often sufficient, but it’s not compatible with many other analytics platforms. The same applies to advertising options, which are limited to a select group of ad networks.
When to Use AMP
When a significant portion of your traffic comes from mobile searches, implementing AMP to boost SEO can be decisive.
It’s also ideal when the content is mainly informative and requires little to no interaction, such as blogs, magazines, or online newspapers. It can also be valuable for e-commerce sites.
Since AMP is not a CMS and doesn’t allow for complex or visually rich layouts, it makes the most sense for the final content pages — for instance, news articles, blog posts, or product detail pages — where users land directly from Google search results or navigate between related articles. These include posts or product pages in online stores.
AMP in Newspapers and Digital Media
Currently, the use of AMP is growing among major newspapers such as Marca, El Periódico, Expansión, Cosmopolitan, Wired, India Today, and others, including some of the world’s most-read publications like The Tribune and The Guardian.
AMP and WordPress: An Ideal Combination for Online Newspapers and Content Sites
AMP is a mobile-oriented format and cannot be properly displayed on other devices, which often require browser extensions. Therefore, AMP is typically integrated into an existing CMS.
Among the most popular CMS platforms for online publishing, WordPress stands out prominently. WordPress has plugins that enable AMP content integration and assist in creating it through templates and pre-designed elements. However, it’s usually far better to create AMP pages manually for a look that matches the site’s design.
Therefore, WordPress + AMP is one of the winning combinations for building an online newspaper that offers optimal mobile loading speed, full functionality, and engaging, visually rich sections where needed.
Expert Layout Designer in AMP and WordPress
When deciding to move to AMP, it must be done carefully—especially if the existing site is already well-positioned in SEO. WordPress provides a plugin that allows AMP integration and some tools to build simple pages, but to truly leverage AMP’s potential and achieve a more refined and visual result than the default options allow, it’s best to hand-code a custom AMP version instead of relying on prebuilt plugin templates.
This is a task that requires experience, and since AMP is still relatively new, it’s not easy to find professionals with deep expertise in it.
At Omitsis, we have in-depth knowledge of what AMP implementation entails.
If you’re considering incorporating AMP into your project, we’re the team you can trust.
#AMP #AMPLayout