Google’s John Mueller recently explained the do’s and don’ts of choosing a URL structure for AMP pages.
This was explained during a Google Webmaster Central hangout held on April 9.
Mueller answered a question about whether Google prefers a certain type of URL structure when it comes to AMP pages.
Here is the question that was submitted by a site owner:
“I was wondering if there’s any best practice for the URL structure of AMP pages. If you use a sub-domain or a folder in the upper level you can have a better possibility for analyzing in different tools.
But I was wondering if there’s any benefit for Google if you put your AMP pages under the root domain instead of a sub-domain or parameters.”
Mueller’s Response
Mueller speaks on the URL structure of AMP pagesMueller said the only thing Google is concerned about, with regards to the URLs of AMP pages, is that they’re all on the same domain.
As long as the AMP URLs are all on the same domain, however else you choose to structure them is all acceptable to Google.
“From Google’s point of view I think the only criteria that is critical for AMP pages is that it has to be on the same domain.
So if you have it in the subdomain, or a sub-directory, all of that is perfectly fine.”
If that’s all that matters to Google, then what should site owners choose?
Mueller’s advice to site owners is to go with the URL structure that works best for your current setup.
That means the URL structure should be:
- Easy to track
- Easy to monitor
- Easy to maintain
- Compatible with your CMS
- Compatible with your sever.
“In general, with these kind of related pages, I would recommend doing them in a way that works best for you. So something where it’s easy for you to track, it’s easy for you to monitor, it’s easy for you to maintain that setup. So if it works well for your CMS, for example, or if it works well for your server setup then that’s a good choice.”
If were looking for a specific optimization technique for AMP URLs, you may be out of luck.
Mueller says there’s nothing that makes much of a difference when it comes to AMP URLs.
“I wouldn’t worry about is there any kind of Google tweak that makes a big difference with regards to these alternate URLs.”
There is one thing site owners should watch out for, but it’s something that applies to all URLs.
Be careful not to change your URL structure too often.
Ideally you should choose one and maintain it for as long as possible.
If the structure is changed then Google has to reprocess all the URLs, which has the potential to negatively impact rankings.
“The other thing I would watch out for with these alternate URLs is that you don’t change the patterns too often.
So, ideally, if you pick something like a sub-directory or a sub-domain then try to keep that for as long as you can.
It’s not quite the same as if you change your primary URLs with regards to search, but any time you change URLs in general then we kind of have to reprocess that.
If you’re changing the alternate URLs that are associated with every page on your site then that means we have to process a lot of URLs to kind of understand that new setup.
So pick pick a sub-domain, or sub-directory, or parameters if you want. Whatever works best for you. And try to keep that setup, ideally, for the long run.”
See the full question and answer in the video below:
