Should we use AMP for Shopify?

If you’re not familiar with AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), it’s a Google technology that uses different HTML pages for a website. The goal being an improved performance for mobile users.

Google had been pushing it hard a few years ago. So much so that many websites and apps jumped on the bandwagon.

Shopify however doesn’t support AMP, never has, and probably never will. So you have to code it by hand or use a 3rd party app to use it on your store. There are many apps to choose from so that's not really a concern anymore.

But does AMP actually help your store? Not likely.

When using AMP, you’re basically building an entirely new website that is stripped down to more or less just the text content on your page. That means two different URLs, one with the full functionality of your website, and the other stripped down.

Most Shopify stores use a lot of code to function that would be removed by AMP. That means all the features you've added to your theme are gone, defeating the purpose and value they may add.

I could see potentially some value of AMP on blog posts. But most blog posts for Shopify stores don't have all the gunk (e.g. ads or excessive amounts of JavaScript) that AMP was meant to simplify.

Not to mention that Google no longer cares if you're using AMP or not. Their Core Web Vitals update in April 2021 stated that "the AMP format is no longer required" and that Google "will no longer show the AMP badge icon to indicate AMP content". Rendering AMP more or less useless because let's face it, you didn't implement AMP for your customers.

Google's algorithm is not publically known so there is no way to know for sure what impact AMP could have on your store but we know it's not a ranking factor.

Does that mean you should uninstall your AMP app? Maybe, maybe not.

If you're already using an AMP app, then I'd reverse the questions back to you. How much traffic do your AMP URLs receive?

You can use Search Console to look for specific pages generated by the AMP app. Most AMP apps will add /a/ or /amp/ to your URLs. Ask the app if you're not sure. Try searching for these in your URLs to see if 1. there is any traffic these pages or 2. the pages are indexed by Google.

If the answers to both 1 & 2 are no, you can likely remove the AMP app safely. If either or both are yes, evaluate the traffic you'd potentially lose against the cost of running the app before removing it. Meaning, you may get traffic, but are the AMP URLs driving revenue? Don't forget to redirect any AMP-related URLs to their respective pages so you don't end up with 404 errors.

There is no value added to start using AMP if you're not already. So I wouldn't personally install an AMP app today.

If you’re looking for an SEO improvement, an easier choice is to ensure your structured data is up to snuff.

Most Shopify stores don’t have enough structured data to qualify for Google’s Rich Results so they lose out on highly visible SEO enhancements.

JSON-LD for SEO provides high-quality data that will help your store qualify for Rich Results. Often times faster than the industry averages.