We recently shared news about Google’s AMP technology, which has sped-up the web experience for mobile users. Facebook has had its own say on the matter with immediately-displayed content through its Instant Articles feature, and now it’s available to everyone.
Publishers of any type, anywhere in the world can deliver an incredibly fast and immersive reading experience for people on Facebook.
Differences between the two
There are subtle differences between the two formats. AMP offers fast-loading articles for mobile users offers fast-loading articles for mobile users. With Instant Articles, content can be published in whole on Facebook’s news feed, instead of having to click through to a site.
Facebook’s new publishing platform comes with some great new mobile features to bring stories to life, such as auto-play video and tap-to-zoom image galleries.
AMP has a wider reach than Instant Articles, mainly because Google has more users than Facebook, with content that gets more exposure. For marketers, AMP offers more potential to get visitors to their sites than Instant Articles.
How do you sign up for?
Step 1: Join the Facebook Instant Articles program
Step 2: Choose which Facebook page you’d like to activate articles for
Step 3: Claim your URL
Step 4: Create articles
Brand awareness
Are the AMP and Facebook Instant articles platforms good for brand awareness?
AMP positions your content directly below pay-per-click entries and above natural search listings. This is great for getting your brand in front of more people.
Instant Articles is similar, giving you comparable brand awareness. Although it’s confined to social media, that might be exactly where you want your brand to appear. It depends on what you’re selling.
Publishing on AMP requires a special coding language; Facebook doesn’t. That could make Instant Articles more accessible and easy to use for you.
Limitations
Both AMP and Instant Articles have limitations on what you can include in the final format. Facebook restricts content to text and a few photos, but you can include more on Google. AMP is better for advertising, as Facebook stipulates that there must be at least 350 words of text between each ad. Google suggests no such limitations.
Instant Articles won’t be the be-all and end-all of your marketing strategy, but it’s a useful addition to your social media toolbox.
What about WordPress and Instant Articles?
There’s an open-source Instant Article plugin available that creates a special RSS feed to optimise posts to appear as Instant Articles.
Here at Moove Agency, we’ve always been at the cutting-edge of WordPress technology. If you’re a publishing client of ours, stand by to hear more. In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can call us on 020 3373 5696 or drop us an email.
