Are you looking to create fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages for your WordPress site? AMP and Shifter might just be the power couple you need to achieve this.
What is AMP and why is it beneficial?
AMP or Accelerated Mobile Pages is a powerful open-source HTML framework that can help elevate your user experience with fast, lightweight pages that load smoothly on mobile devices. AMP is supported by multiple platforms and creates pages that load almost instantly giving consistent performance across all device types and these faster speeds can contribute to a better user experience.
AMP pages achieve these boosts in performance by using minimal graphics, streamlined code, and optimized images. The pages can still be styled with custom CSS but the overall complexity of the code is reduced. They’re typically used for content pages like blog posts and news articles, where fast load times are critical for keeping visitors engaged.
Though AMP pages have a greater chance of appearing as rich results on Google search due to the increased speed AMP provides, they still need to be optimized for SEO. Your content should be, at minimum, similar on both your AMP and non-AMP page versions as well as maintaining consistent code elements on both versions of your page.
In short, using AMP for your site’s mobile pages can provide a number of benefits, including:
– Faster load times, which can reduce bounce rates and increase engagement
– Improved search engine rankings, as Google prioritizes AMP pages in mobile search results
– Better user experience on mobile devices, which can increase conversions and engagement
Why use Shifter with AMP?
Shifter is a powerful hosting and development solution for WordPress, designed to make it easy to create, deploy, and maintain your site. Shifter comes with built in AMP support, making it easy to create fast loading, compact, and mobile friendly pages.
Some of the benefits of using Shifter for AMP include:
– Simple setup: Shifter makes it easy to configure AMP pages for your WordPress site, with step-by-step instructions and a user-friendly interface.
– Fast loading times: Because Shifter is built for speed and performance, your AMP pages will load quickly and reliably, even under heavy traffic.
– Automatic deployment: With Shifter you can automate the deployment process, so your AMP pages will always be up-to-date and optimized for performance.
– Scalability: Shifter automatically scales your site to handle high levels of traffic, without any additional configuration or setup required.
How to configure AMP on Shifter
Now that you understand why AMP and Shifter make a great team, let’s explore how to configure AMP on Shifter.
To get started, you’ll need to install the “AMP for WordPress” plugin on your Shifter site using the WordPress dashboard. This plugin generates AMP versions of your site’s pages automatically, without any additional coding or configuration.
Once you’ve installed the plugin, you’ll need to configure it to work with Shifter. Here are the settings we recommend:
– Template Mode: Choose the “Reader” template mode for your AMP pages. This mode is designed for content pages like blog posts and news articles and provides the stripped-down, simplified version of your site’s pages needed to load quickly on mobile devices.
– Reader theme: Choose “AMP Legacy” as your Reader theme. This theme is designed to work with the “AMP for WordPress” plugin and provides a clean, minimalist look for your AMP pages.
– Supported Template: Shifter supports all WordPress Core content types, including Posts, Pages, and Media. You can also choose custom templates you want to enable for AMP.
– Advanced Settings: Shifter currently doesn’t support the feature to redirect mobile visitors to AMP pages. Please turn off this feature in the plugin settings under “Other”.
– Plugin Suppression: This setting allows you to disable other plugins for AMP pages. Choose the plugins that you want to suppress on your AMP pages. Be careful not to disable plugins that are essential for your site’s functionality.
– Analytics (Optional): If you want to track your AMP pages’ performance, you can add analytics code to them. The “AMP for WordPress” plugin supports various analytics vendors, including Google Universal Analytics. Make sure to add the analytics code in JSON format and refer to the plugin documentation for more details.
Note: Your AMP pages’ URLs should end with “/amp/” to differentiate them from your regular pages. For instance, if your regular page URL is “https://example.com/my-page/”, the AMP version of this page should have the URL “https://example.com/my-page/amp/“.
In conclusion
AMP is a powerful tool for improving your site’s mobile performance and user experience. By configuring AMP on Shifter, you can better take advantage of its benefits and provide a great experience for your users. Follow the steps outlined above to configure AMP on your Shifter site and start reaping the benefits today!
