{"id":8987,"date":"2020-07-04T15:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=8987"},"modified":"2020-11-13T13:05:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T12:05:21","slug":"disable-google-amp-in-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/disable-google-amp-in-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Disable Google AMP in WordPress (And Why)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Usually, jumping on a bandwagon that was started by Google is one of the most reasonable choices you can make. Google had its fair share of mistakes \u2014 Google Plus is one of many that comes to mind \u2014 but as a website owner or administrator you should usually do well for your website if you followed Google\u2019s lead. Google is, after all, the biggest search engine in the world, a company that knows what it\u2019s doing, and above all \u2014 a company in a position to dictate trends. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Some bandwagons, however, might not take you where you needed to be. <strong>Google\u2019s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project is a perfect example of a trend that seemed appealing to all but only benefited some<\/strong>. If you\u2019re looking for a way to disable Google AMP on your WordPress website, we\u2019ll show you the right way to do it. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In this article, you\u2019ll learn:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#why-you-might-consider-disabling\">Why You Might Consider Disabling Google AMP<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-disable\">How to Disable Google AMP on Your WordPress Website<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-set-up-proper-redirects\">How to Set Up Proper Redirects<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"why-you-might-consider-disabling\"><\/a>Why Would You Want to Disable Google AMP?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Would-You-Want-to-Disable-Google-AMP.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Would-You-Want-to-Disable-Google-AMP.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Would-You-Want-to-Disable-Google-AMP-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Why-Would-You-Want-to-Disable-Google-AMP-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The mobile web has always had a steep hill to climb when it comes to delivering good user experience. The internet speeds are slower, the screens are smaller, the navigation is more difficult, and it joined the game at the point when the whole of the internet was pretty much set up for the big-screened, desktop-processor-powered, fixed-line broadband-enabled experience. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>But here\u2019s the kicker: people still wanted to browse the web on their mobile devices<\/strong>. In their infinite wisdom, Google decided to take steps to improve the mobile browsing experience by helping mobile pages load quicker with AMP \u2014 <strong>a project that created simplified, mobile-friendly versions of web pages and occasionally stored them on Google\u2019s servers for quick fetching<\/strong>.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]While this might work well for some kinds of publishers, many can see no benefit from using it. There are no lowered bounce rates, no page loading boosts, or any other change for the better. <strong>But the real problem is that for some types of websites, Google AMP has actually done the opposite of what it promised<\/strong>. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Because it serves a stripped-down, simplified version of a page, Google AMP makes navigating your website more difficult. This could lead to a decrease in page views, conversion rates, and lower engagement rates. So AMP really only works on pages that have the most basic elements. <strong>Add a pop-up or a form, and you might be better served by employing mobile-friendly web design and doing other things to provide a better mobile experience<\/strong>. Choosing a responsive <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/theme-category\/multipurpose-wordpress-themes\">premium multipurpose WordPress theme<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-optimize-images-for-web\/\">optimizing images<\/a> would serve you better than using AMP.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-disable\"><\/a>How to Disable Google AMP on Your WordPress Website<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/How-to-Disable-Google-AMP-on-Your-WordPress-Website.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/How-to-Disable-Google-AMP-on-Your-WordPress-Website.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/How-to-Disable-Google-AMP-on-Your-WordPress-Website-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/How-to-Disable-Google-AMP-on-Your-WordPress-Website-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Since you\u2019ve probably enabled Google AMP on your website using either <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/amp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the official plugin<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/accelerated-mobile-pages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">its better-graded competitor<\/a>, at one point you\u2019ll need to uninstall the plugin to disable AMP on your website. <strong>You shouldn\u2019t rush with it, however \u2014 disabling Google AMP requires a more methodical approach<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Google advises that you start the process by removing the rel=&#8221;amphtml&#8221; link from your non-AMP page\u2019s HTML. Why should you do it? <strong>Because this little piece of code tells Googlebot that the page it&#8217;s visiting has an AMP version of it<\/strong>. That\u2019s not something you want going on, so you need a way to stop it.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Unless you\u2019re a developer, you\u2019ll need a good plugin to help you remove all of those links while Google re-indexes your website<\/strong>. That\u2019s exactly what the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/real-time-find-and-replace\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Real-Time Find and Replace<\/a> can help you with. So go ahead and <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-install-a-wordpress-plugin\/\">install it<\/a>, and activate it.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Real Time Find and Replace\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Once you\u2019ve installed and activated it, you find the plugin settings under <em><strong>Tools &gt; Real-Time Find and Replace<\/strong><\/em>. After clicking the \u201cAdd\u201d button, you\u2019ll see two fields followed by some options. Enter this code into the \u201cFind\u201d field:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<pre class=\"EnlighterJSRAW\" data-enlighter-language=\"generic\">&lt;link rel=\"amphtml\" href=\"(.+)\" &gt;<\/pre>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;18px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Leave the \u201cReplace\u201d field empty, and make sure you check the box next to RegEx. <strong>When done, click on the \u201cUpdate Settings\u201d button<\/strong>. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/2-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-update-settings.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Real-Time Find and Replace update settings\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/2-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-update-settings.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/2-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-update-settings-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/2-Real-Time-Find-and-Replace-update-settings-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]With that, you\u2019ve stopped telling Googlebot about the AMP versions of your pages. <strong>It would also be a good idea to tell Google to stop crawling your AMP pages<\/strong>. If you\u2019re using the AMP for WP plugin, it\u2019s as simple as adding <em>&lt;meta name=&#8221;robots&#8221; content=&#8221;noindex,follow&#8221;\/&gt;<\/em> as an additional tag for the head section under SEO. Otherwise, you\u2019ll have to learn a bit about <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-search-engines-work\/\">search engine indexing<\/a> and add the tags manually.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;81px&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;banner-seo&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-set-up-proper-redirects\"><\/a>How to Set Up Proper Redirects<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Google might take some time to notice what you did there, so while you\u2019re waiting for the AMP pages to phase away from search results, you might as well set up a couple of redirects to ensure the viewers reach for non-AMP content. There are two ways you can <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-create-301-redirects-in-wordpress\/\">set up 301 redirects in WordPress<\/a>, and both might come in handy.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]First, let\u2019s see how you should set everything up using the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/redirection\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Redirection plugin<\/a>. <strong>Find it, install it, and activate it<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/3-How-to-Set-Up-Proper-Redirects.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How to Set Up Proper Redirects\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/3-How-to-Set-Up-Proper-Redirects.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/3-How-to-Set-Up-Proper-Redirects-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/3-How-to-Set-Up-Proper-Redirects-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]After setting up the plugin, you can find it under <em><strong>Tools &gt; Redirection<\/strong><\/em>. Click on the \u201cAdd New\u201d button, and enter the following code into the Source URL field:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<pre class=\"EnlighterJSRAW\" data-enlighter-language=\"generic\">\/(.*)\\\/amp<\/pre>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;18px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Make sure you check the \u201cRegex\u201d box in the dropdown menu to the right of the Source URL field<\/strong>. In the Target URL field, enter: [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<em>https:\/\/domainname.com\/$1<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You should replace the \u201cdomainname\u201d part with the actual name of your domain. Press the Add Redirect button when done. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/4-Redirection-plugin.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Redirection plugin\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/4-Redirection-plugin.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/4-Redirection-plugin-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/4-Redirection-plugin-620x331.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]That should do it, at least if you\u2019re done setting up the redirects using the plugin. If you\u2019re adventurous and you understand <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-use-ftp\/\">what FTP is and how to use it<\/a>, you can try adding the following code at the end of your .htaccess file:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<pre class=\"EnlighterJSRAW\" data-enlighter-language=\"generic\"># Redirect from AMP to non-AMP path \r\nRewriteEngine On \r\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.+)\/amp(.*)$ \r\nRewriteRule ^ %1\/ [R=301,L]<\/pre>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;18px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>And when all of that is done, you can go ahead and disable the plugin<\/strong>. If you still notice that Google is serving your AMP pages, your next step would be to reach out to the plugin developers or your host. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">Let\u2019s Wrap It Up!<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Installing Google AMP is an easy mistake to make if you\u2019re not sure whether you really need it or not. But while it would certainly be best to avoid making such a mistake, it\u2019s important to know that you can, with a little work, rectify it. You should manage to disable Google AMP with nothing more than a couple of plugins and some code, even though it\u2019s not as easy as pie. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to disable Google AMP on your WordPress website? Many admins jumped the gun and installed it without needing it. Here&#8217;s how to disable AMP for good!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":9041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25,4,13],"class_list":["post-8987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-seo","tag-tips","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}