Described as a significantly faster method of distributing content for mobile consumption, Facebook Instant Articles was similar to Google AMP but offered additional customization options, including image zooming and autoplay video.
What Does This Mean for SEO?
The answer depends on how you define search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization involves preparing content so it can be properly discovered, understood, and served by search engines. From that perspective, Google AMP initially appeared to be the more obvious choice for SEO agencies.
Facebook Instant Articles accomplished something similar in terms of speed. However, because Facebook operates largely as a closed platform, Instant Articles existed somewhere between social media marketing and traditional SEO.
Social visibility can also help content reach a larger audience and attract additional traffic. Each technology therefore required a different strategy.
How Could Publishers Get Started?
Large publishers received early access to these technologies, while smaller businesses and independent publishers generally had to wait for broader availability. In the meantime, website owners could prepare their content and technical infrastructure.
Owners of custom-built websites needed to review the relevant Facebook and Google developer documentation.
WordPress publishers could use plugins such as PageFrog, which was designed to add Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP markup to existing posts and pages.
PageFrog Features
The PageFrog plugin allowed publishers to manage content for Facebook Instant Articles and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages directly from WordPress, with support for advertising and analytics.
What Were Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP?
Facebook Instant Articles was a mobile publishing format developed by Facebook for content viewed through the Facebook mobile app.
Google AMP was a mobile publishing format developed by Google for content accessed through platforms such as Google Search and other supported mobile applications.
Why Optimize Content for These Formats?
Both formats were designed to load quickly on mobile devices and provide a more responsive reading experience.
Traffic and Discoverability
Page speed, usability, and visitor engagement can influence how users interact with and discover content. Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP attempted to improve these areas by preloading content and caching media files.
Engagement and Sharing
These formats supported mobile-focused features such as audio captions, interactive maps, tilt-to-pan photos, and other immersive elements.
They were also integrated into widely used mobile platforms, providing layouts intended to encourage interactions such as likes, comments, and shares.
Who Was Using These Technologies?
Leading Content Publishers
Many major publishers adopted Facebook Instant Articles, Google AMP, and Apple News during the early growth of mobile-first publishing.
The Future of Content Was Mobile
Facebook Instant Articles, Google AMP, and Apple News were native mobile formats created to help publishers adapt their content for mobile audiences.
Traffic
Instant Articles and AMP pages were designed to deliver a faster mobile reading experience, potentially increasing traffic and reducing abandonment.
Engagement
Native mobile content was designed to encourage interaction and make articles easier to share across social networks.
Accessibility
Native mobile content could load directly within supported applications rather than requiring readers to open a separate mobile browser.
Experience
Faster loading, smoother scrolling, and improved readability were intended to create a better mobile reading experience.
Immersion
Publishers could add interactive mobile features such as tilt-to-explore photography and embedded audio captions.
Performance
Native mobile formats were designed to load considerably faster than conventional mobile web pages.
What Could Publishers Do with PageFrog?
Content Optimization
Instead of building separate Facebook Instant Articles and AMP templates manually, PageFrog converted existing WordPress content into formats that met each platform’s technical requirements.
Quality Assurance
PageFrog provided real-time previews showing how content would appear in Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP.
Branding and Styling
Because each platform imposed its own styling restrictions, PageFrog allowed publishers to manage supported branding and presentation options through WordPress.
Analytics and Insights
PageFrog supported third-party analytics services such as Google Analytics, Chartbeat, and Parse.ly. It could also display selected Facebook Insights data within WordPress.
Advertising and Monetization
Publishers could connect supported advertising accounts, including Facebook Audience Network and Google AdSense, and manage ad placement and display frequency.
Easy Setup
Rather than studying extensive documentation and creating custom templates from scratch, PageFrog offered WordPress publishers a simpler way to prepare content for Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP.
Live Preview
The plugin provided previews within the WordPress content editor, allowing publishers to review how articles would appear on supported platforms. It could also display notifications when a post contained elements that might not display properly on mobile devices.