Dominating “Top Stories”: An AMP Implementation Strategy
Client: A mid-sized digital news publisher covering the “Tech & Gaming” niche.
Challenges We Faced
The client was producing great content but getting zero traffic from Google’s “Top Stories” carousel:
No “Top Stories” Visibility
Their articles were indexed but never appeared in the mobile carousel, losing massive traffic to competitors.
Slow Mobile Speed
Their standard mobile pages took 6+ seconds to load due to heavy ads and scripts.
High Bounce Rate
Mobile users were abandoning articles before they loaded.
Invalid AMP
They had a broken AMP plugin installed that was generating thousands of validation errors in Google Search Console.
Poor Mobile Engagement
Readers were leaving before content loaded, signaling low relevance for Google’s Top Stories.
Get into the News Carousel
“Are your articles missing from Top Stories? Our AMP for Publishers service builds the valid, fast pages you need to rank.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Comprehensive AMP Audit
We used Google Search Console to identify all 5,000+ validation errors (mostly CSS limits and disallowed tags).
Full AMP Implementation
We removed the broken plugin and built a custom, lightweight AMP template that matched their main branding perfectly.
Technical AMP Coding
We rewrote their ad scripts to be AMP-compatible, ensuring they could still generate revenue without slowing down the page.
Schema Markup Implementation
We implemented valid NewsArticle schema on the AMP pages, a requirement for the “Top Stories” carousel.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances in “Top Stories” | 0 | 450+ (in 3 mos) | N/A |
| Mobile Organic Traffic | 50,000/mo | 180,000/mo | +260% |
| Avg. Mobile Load Time (LCP) | 6.2s | 0.8s | -87% |
Free AMP Validation Audit
“Do you have AMP errors? Claim a Free AMP Audit and let our amp optimization company fix your code!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Speed gets you into “Top Stories.” If you are a news publisher, amp pages for seo are your ticket to the carousel.
- Fix your validation errors. Google will de-index invalid AMP pages. Use Google Search Console to monitor this daily.
- Don’t sacrifice revenue. Use an amp optimization company that knows how to implement AMP-compatible ads properly.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The custom AMP template ensured the brand experience was consistent, reducing bounce rate.
- Validating the NewsArticle schema was the “key” that unlocked the carousel feature.
- The speed increase (under 1s) drastically improved user engagement metrics.
