Every other platform has some form of short digestible stories on them, so it was only a matter of time before it was introduced to WordPress.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, And TikTok all have these short stories throughout them, and they’re performing very well.
This concept has been around in Google since around 2018, so it’s been something in the works but it’s becoming official as they are launching ‘Web Stories For WordPress By Google’
It’s not every day that Google rolls out its own plugin, so that could only really mean one thing.
They’re going to start looking for content with these stories on them, and it might be taken into account when and how Google is ranking you.
This plugin is currently in the Beta Stage, which is an amazing opportunity because it could be a whole new way for you to produce a massive amount of traffic with little competition.
Throughout this article, I’m going to be covering some tips and tricks that were released to ensure that you can have the most amount of success with Web stories!
Web Stories For WordPress By Google | What Are Web Stories?
A Web Story is a visual storytelling format, that is immersive, tappable and easily shared across channels.
They’re snackable micro-content that allow your audience to easily digest the content in a condensed engaging way.
Above is a Web Story that I created breaking down 7 benefits of using them on your website.
I’ve never used the plugin prior to starting to write this post and getting it set up and functional was easy!
Want to learn even more about what web stories are?
Head Over To Amp.Dev to read up on their latest updates.
How To Install Web Stories?
First things first you’ll need to head over to Google.github.io and download the plugin as a ZIP file. (The plugin will be available in the plugin section of WordPress upon its actual release. It’s still in beta stages)
- Navigate To Plugins > Add New
- Click Upload Plugin Button at the top of the screen
- Select the zip file from your local system
- Click the Install Now Button
- When the installation is complete you’ll see “Plugin Installed Successfully” Click the Activate Plugin button at the bottom of the page.
It is the same process as adding a new plugin to WordPress that isn’t on the plugin store.
Upon successful installation, there will be a new section that you’ll go to when you want to create a new story.
Related Post: How To Start A Blog With WordPress
Why Are Web Stories Important?
It isn’t very often that Google itself releases a plugin for WordPress. While there is various functionality plugins provided by other that integrate well with existing Google tools, the ones that are actually created by Google are few and far between.
Which is telling you just how important this plugin could be.
Google is basically saying that they want website owners and bloggers alike to start creating content in these formats.
Which will directly affect the way you’re able to rank throughout search engine and even open up avenues of being able to appear in different ways.
Features such as Web Stories are available on all major platforms right now, so Google is trying to compete and keep people on Google and using their content.
You can read an article by Google where the new Web Stories will be featured and how they plan to utilize them.
The beauty of it is if you start creating these web stories throughout your industry there is very little competition and the possibility of generating serious traffic is greater because of that.
Related Post: How Difficult Is It To Earn Money From Affiliate Marketing?
Guidelines For Web Stories By Google
Google and Amp released some practices that should be followed when creating your web stories.
Following these guidelines will ensure that you’re able to have the most amount of success when creating your web stories.
- Completeness – Make sure that your web story tells the story in full. It was mentioned by both that having a web story that requires the visitors to leave the story to get essential information will negatively affect your results.
- Affiliate Programs – Only use 1 affiliate link per story. This means if you’re doing a story about the “10 best products” you’ll only be able to include a link to 1.
- Story Length – Create web stories between 5-30 pages long with the suggested target of 10-20 pages.
- Title Length – Say more with less, utilize attention-grabbing images. Aim to keep your title below 40 characters long.
- Text – Try to maintain a visually appealing story. Less than 200 characters per page and focus each page on a singular idea.
- Video – Keep videos below 15 seconds long per page and make sure that you have captions for each video.
- Animation – Don’t overuse animations or embed and pay attention to the transition timing.
AMP has a beautiful article that compares the dos and don’ts side by side. Check it out here.
Web Stories For WordPress By Google | Summary
While this plugin is still in the beta stage as I’m writing this article, it could prove to be a shift in how Google is planning on ranking websites or it could be a complete flop and a couple of years from now people might say “Remember when Google tried to launch web stories?”
But the main thing to keep in mind is by Google releasing a plugin like this they’re are telling us that they want people to publish content like this and most likely don’t have enough data to start taking it into account for ranking factors.
Even if it is a phase or doesn’t last long, you can still ride the wave and get traffic while you can.
Very similar to how every aspect of digital marketing works. Sometimes you have to adapt to follow the trends!
Download Web Stories By Google Here
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