How to Handle Legacy AMP Subdomains: Insights from Google John Mueller

Google Search Advocate John Mueller has shared recommendations on how website owners can manage outdated AMP subdomains. With AMP becoming less relevant for some sites, transitioning from old AMP implementations can be challenging. Mueller offers practical advice, suggesting two main strategies: maintaining 301 redirects or completely removing the AMP subdomain from DNS.

This advice highlights how best to handle legacy AMP content without disrupting SEO efforts or wasting crawl budget, a topic that concerns both large and mid-sized websites.

Understanding AMP Subdomains and Crawl Budget

A site owner recently sought help on Reddit about a persistent issue: despite using 301 redirects for over three years, Googlebot continues to crawl an abandoned AMP subdomain. The case raised common concerns about whether old AMP subdomains affect the crawl budget, which can directly influence how often Google indexes critical pages.

Here are the key details the site owner shared:

• All AMP URLs were redirected to the main domain three years ago.
• The AMP sitemap is currently empty.
• Both HTTP and HTTPS versions of the subdomain are being crawled.

Mueller’s Recommendations: Redirects or DNS Removal

John Mueller offered two straightforward solutions to address the problem:

1. Keep the 301 redirects in place to guide traffic from AMP URLs to the main site.
2. Remove the AMP subdomain from DNS entirely to prevent Googlebot from accessing those URLs.

Mueller emphasized that concerns about the crawl budget are often overblown, especially for websites operating on separate subdomains.

“If it’s a separate subdomain, it’ll generally have its own crawl budget,” Mueller explained. “Even with 500,000 pages, you don’t really need to worry about the crawl budget, even if it were not on a separate hostname.”

AMP Transition Challenges: Why This Matters

Many publishers are moving away from AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) as Google shifts its focus to Core Web Vitals and other user experience metrics. Managing the transition from AMP, however, comes with technical hurdles, such as persistent crawling of outdated AMP URLs.

This situation illustrates a broader concern for SEO professionals and webmasters: old technical implementations—such as AMP—can linger, causing unnecessary crawling and complicating SEO maintenance.

For those managing sites with vast URL structures, like the 500,000-page example discussed, optimizing crawl efficiency is still an important aspect of technical SEO. However, Mueller’s response suggests that solutions need not be overly complex.

Impact on SEO: Is Crawl Budget a Major Concern?

Crawl budget refers to the number of pages Googlebot can and will crawl on a website over a specific period. While crawl budget is a legitimate concern for very large websites (millions of pages), Mueller reassures mid-sized sites that the impact is minimal. In the case of legacy AMP URLs, the subdomain’s crawl budget is separate from the main domain’s budget.

This clarification can reduce anxiety for technical SEO professionals, especially those managing websites with multiple subdomains. Mueller’s practical advice simplifies decisions: instead of worrying about minor crawl inefficiencies, focus on redirects or DNS removal.

Next Steps for Managing Legacy AMP Subdomains

For technical SEO experts and webmasters dealing with old AMP implementations, the following steps can ensure a smooth transition:

1. Maintain Existing 301 Redirects: Ensure that all old AMP URLs consistently redirect to the main domain.
2. Remove AMP Subdomain via DNS: If crawling persists despite redirects, a DNS-level solution can block Googlebot from accessing the AMP subdomain.
3. Consult Google’s Crawl Budget Documentation: For sites with complex URL structures, referring to Google’s Large Site Owner’s Guide can provide additional insights.

Conclusion

John Mueller’s advice on managing outdated AMP subdomains provides clear direction for website owners. His guidance underscores that crawl budget optimization is less critical for mid-sized websites with around 500,000 pages than for massive sites. Instead of overcomplicating things, Mueller encourages technical SEO teams to rely on simple but effective solutions like 301 redirects or DNS removal.

This insight is particularly useful for SEO professionals like Ravinder Kumar rivravinder , who often handle large, complex websites. Staying on top of legacy implementations ensures websites remain efficient and well-optimized in the long term. Whether you’re an independent SEO consultant or a technical SEO lead, following Mueller’s advice can prevent legacy issues from hampering your site’s performance.