Disappointed with AMP for WP Plugin
So I got an email from Google Search Console saying there are problems on my tablet website:
Not sure how to fix these errors. A look in the plugin shows a section called "Fix AMP Errors". Looking in there, they say they can fix all my AMP errors in Google Search Console.
I clicked the button to find out more, and here's what I see:
So let me get this straight. They created a free plugin that causes problems on websites, then they want people to pay them money to fix the errors that their plugin caused?
I don't appreciate being held to ransom like this!
And isn't this like SSL all over again? Oh, just click this button to make your website better, then oh dear, you have problems on your website that still need sorting out!
I know I could probably just fix this by turning off AMP on pages, but the way I designed that particular website was for the pages to rank, not posts.
Oh, and here's another thing:
Jay said in his webinar that the default for this plugin was for posts but not pages. That doesn't seem to be the case. Mine seemed to be set with AMP on for pages by default.
I appreciate Jay can't know everything and there will sometimes be holes in his knowledge when he does his webinars. He's human, and like the rest of us, not perfect. And he defintely knows lot more than I do. And he's an awesome guy I'm sure.
But I do think we need to be careful about things like this. If you're going to tell loads of WA members, just install this plugin, that's all you need to do, and it won't affect your pages, only your posts...isn't it best to be sure about that first? Shouldn't this have been tested on a bunch of different test websites to iron out any problems BEFORE the main webinar guy at WA goes and tells us all to go ahead and install it?
Thoughts?
Recent Comments
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Oh, and here's another thing...
If you have a problem with something I did in a webinar, why don't you contact me directly or at least ping about an issue instead of a mini smear campaign that I happen to stumble upon?
We are a community aren't we?
Okay, good point, I will do that next time. I apologise for any upset my post caused to you.
Marcus,
Just to clarify, I DID NOT say what you have mentioned above.
I said to use this plugin for Posts and not pages.
Depending on your own site set-up, maybe pages will be activated also.
EVERY single piece of training that I broadcast is based on my PERSONAL USER EXPERIENCE within my own sites, so the information that I deliver to thousands of WA members is based on my own successful set-up.
On every single site that I personally have set-up with this plugin, I have not run into any issues and I purposely didn't use my web developer skills while installing or tweaking to ensure it was as user friendly as possible.
Maybe going forward, I should have some disclaimer within each live training session to use everything I say with discretion..
Problem is in what you DID NOT not say Jay.
1. You did not say that plugin does not allow any ads except Adsense (unless you pay).
2. You did not say that the plugin causes errors, which can be removed if one pays to these guys of course.
3. You did not enter settings and did not show which options to choose.
4. You did change things in Customization. But this does not work at my side, in any of my sites, and many others have reported the same issue. I get Bad Request when I try to enter AMP in Customization.
This plugin causes a mess in Webmaster. I have also blogged about it. Just see what all other members are writing.
So Marcus is totally right in everything what he is writing here. I am very disappointed. You are WA representative here and information you give in tutorials should be reliable and complete.
Posts or pages is a trivial issue in all this.
Jovo,
Like I said, I am basing everything within the webinar on my own experience and after the webinar, I did not experience any issues as Marcus did.
1. You are right, I didn't mention anything about Adsense - because I don't use Adsense.
2. I did not experience errors.
Errors will happen based on a persons site set-up.
Themes, other plugins & layouts etc.
So, I am responsible AND must mention everything under the sun within that realm?
"Oh, BTW - in case you are using this theme, maybe this will happen.."
Jay,
I appreciate you taking the time to reply, and I undersstand what you are saying.
But Jovo is right, you are seen as a WA representative. Your webinars are regarded as official WA webinars. They are even emailed to us by Carson.
Also, I seem to remember you did say that the default for this plugin was for posts not pages. If I am remembering that incorrectly, I apologise.
But I stand by my assertion that something as critical as this should be tested on more than just your personal websites. Many people at WA will take your advice on something like this. This is because you are extyremely highly regarded, and rightly so, because you gives us such great information every week.
It's no good to simply say, "Try this if you want, but if something goes wrong it's not my fault." Paying WA members should not be guineapigs for experimental new changes to websites.
In fact, maybe Kyle and Carson should recruit some experienced WA members as testers to test things like this? I would gladly be part of that group and set up some test sites on my account if it gave me some money off my membership fee.
All the best,
Marcus.
Hey Jay, I have read a whole lot of posts here on WA from people who have severe problems with their websites, ever since they have activated this plugin, perhaps it is a sensible thing to disable this training for a while, and investigate it thoroughly.
So, no extra members run into this, before Google have addressed the bugs.
Good thinking, Loes. Perhaps Jay could do some follow up training about how to fix common errors that might occur with this plugin.
I'm getting errors on my main site now. No idea how to fix them.
AMP caused all sorts of problems on my site too but that's because I use the Thrive Content Builder plugin which conflicts with it. Until that gets resolved, I've decided to deactivate the AMP plugin. Oh well. But yeah, that's a nice racket Google has going on there...
Hi Marcus, I guess you are very right about this, you can't just give a plugin that causes problems and then ask money for support. Another thing you wrote seems very interesting and I'd like to ask about it. You said that 'but the way I designed that particular website was for the pages to rank, not posts.'. Can you please briefly explain how you do this and why? Is there a training or some links you can share? Thank you very much.
Well, it was just a case of creating the content as pages rather than posts. But I did enable comments on the pages: Enable Comments on Pages But I also created a training series while I was creating this website: Mini Niche Site Case Study, Part 1: Niche Research, Keywords, Domains
I am wondering if some of the AMP problems are related to the themes we use. I installed it on 4 sites and saw an increase in ranking and traffic withing 24 hours.
No messages from Webmaster Console either. Using 2 themes Optimizer Pro and Virtue Premium. Reading this certainly concerns me, I would be interested to hear what others are experiencing.
I've only had this message for this one website. My other 4 websites have not had this message.
Hi Scott, I wonder are you sure about increased traffic. It can be accidental. Here is why.
When you add AMP, Google does not know about it. So you submit sitemap and then it starts 'mapping' your site. But this is very slow process, and it can take weeks. You could not have effects overnight.
I had this thing on the site for one week or so, and yet, only 7 AMP posts were indexed. All of them had errors, due to reasons clearly shown here by Marcus.
To stress that this is a very active site where I add stuff daily, so Google visits it vert frequently, and as you realize the process was slow.
It's certainly possible that the increased traffic was a coincidence. My thought process is higher ranking with Google = more traffic. My main site, which was on Google page one briefly, has been struggling to get past page 5 lately. It shot up to page 2 so I figured the AMP had something to do with it. The increased traffic was from organic searches according to my Google analytics page. Maybe it's too early to tell, the Google dance can be tricky as we all know.
Eek! Thanks for posting your experience. I'll stay away until I hear more positive experiences.
~Aloha
I agree entirely Marcuse and although I have had no problems with it, neither have I seen any increase in speed :(
I too have the same warnings on my console Marcus and I do not have the slightest clue what to do about it..
Im just leaving them alone or I might make things worse...
If they do not get resolved or i see no training to resolve the issues I will probably get rid of it..
There is no point having something that does not work, and worse still, no help to be sought!
Chris
ps .. if you hear anything let me know... and I will do the same!
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Hi guys, I predict that the ranking advantage of Amp will only be in the early stages.
Google did the same thing with its 'mobile-friendly' notation in search for early responsive sites. They've stopped including the notation as soon as responsiveness became mainstream.
AMP is not a trend. It will be standard. Right now, it is an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in rankings.
A plugin is a plugin is a plugin - none work perfectly on all themes and all combinations of scripts and plugins. That's a given. Why should this plugin be any different?
I've had no issues with AMP posts. I decided to add AMP to my pages, at my own risk as Jay clearly recommended it for posts. So far 3 of 9 pages show critical issues.
I noticed in the AMP plugin support forum that 2 of the issues will be addressed in the next plugin update. The developers appear to be active and responding there.
I disabled AMP on the 3 pages with critical issues (the others are okay) and will test them again after a few plugin updates...lol.
https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accelerated-mobile-pages/
Kudos to Jay for keeping his fingers on the pulse about the latest developments and helping us to stay ahead of the pack. ~Jude
Hello, If you do not add a page, will you able to navigate in that page in the movile version?.
Because at least with my theme,I will need to add AMP to pages, if I want to navigate from smartphones.
As I understand it, if a visitor is already on an amp page, Google detects if the internal link goes to an amp page or a regular mobile page and can decide accordingly.
If you have all of your posts 'amped', visitors using internal links on those posts will still be taken to non-amped pages on the site.
I'm guessing that the same should apply page to page, or page to post, or post to page....lol.
Best to test it for yourself though. ~Jude
Ywes the problem for me with no AMP for pages, si that I get blank answer in Mobile devices of the pages...so I turn on, and I have only "no critical" issues..lol... hope it keep there