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AMPWPTools News to Know Round-Up: May 2021

by Toren Ajk

We’ve combed through the previous month’s batch of news to highlight the top developments, insights, and commentary items you should know about. In this round-up, we’ll be featuring the top news items related to AMP, Core Web Vitals, and WordPress from May 2021.

7 Local SEO Best Practices for WordPress Websites – Search Engine Journal

In addition to powering a significant percentage of sites worldwide, WordPress is also a popular choice among small business owners thanks to its ease of use. Of course, this demographic can also benefit greatly from having strong SEO. With that in mind, this Search Engine Journal article looks at some best SEO practices for WordPress sites — including tips for improving site speed.

Are You Prepared for Google’s Core Web Vitals? – Business2Community

Soon, Google’s Page Experience Update will begin its phased debut. Even with that impending deadline, there are still many sites that are just learning about Core Web Vitals and how they can be improved. For them, this primer from Business2Community can help get them caught up quickly.

Page Speed and SEO: Everything Google Has Said So Far – AiThority

Over the past several years, Google has put a major emphasis on page speed. In fact, even before the mobile-first push, the search engine was preaching the importance of speed. Now, on the eve of the Page Experience Update, this post from AiThority looks back at Google’s page speed history and what it might mean for the future.

Google: Why Fixing Core Web Vitals Already Boosts Rankings – Search Engine Land

Although Google’s Page Experience update has been delayed (currently set to begin rolling out this month), some sites may already be seeing rankings boosts as they improve their Core Web Vitals. This led more than a few observers to wonder whether Google was implementing and testing elements of its algorithm update. However, as Search Engine Land reports, it seems it’s just site speed improvement in general that may be leading to these bumps.

Core Web Vitals Can’t Take a Backseat as Cookies are Phased Out – VentureBeat

Finally, while we often look at what Core Web Vitals mean for publishers, it’s also worth considering what impact they might have on advertisers. In particular, as developers attempt to improve their site speed, the types of ads users see may evolve since larger, flashier displays take longer to load. Those topics and more are explored in this intriguing dive from VentureBeat.

That wraps up the May review. As you can tell Core Web Vitals is on a lot of people’s minds. Fortunately incorporating AMP can go a long way towards improving your scores. As always feel free to reach out or comment if you have questions.