Google Web Stories – What Is It And How It Works?
In today’s world where customers are more inclined in buying experiences and stories rather than products – it’s important to show them what your brand means instead of only showing what you sell. But the question is how would you do that in the vast and crowded digital marketing space? How would your brand stand out and cut through the noise and catch your audience’s shortening attention span? Well, the secret lies in telling a great and quick story! People love stories. It is because stories humanize brands. By telling stories, you take customers on a journey, entertain them, educate them, and eventually sell to them without feeling they are being sold to. You make them feel seen, understood, and included. It helps develop connections with a consumer who’s way of engaging with products and services are ever changing. Many businesses utilize the tappable story feature of popular social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Tappable stories help brands share quick photos and videos with their followers to highlight what makes them unique through full-screen visuals on mobile. However, the Stories feature on these apps are only limited to the users on of their platform and does not appeal to a wider audience. That’s why, Google, the largest search engine in the world, launched their own version, the Google Web Stories. What are Google Web Stories? Google Web Stories are a new way to share your story with the world. They’re an interactive storytelling tool that lets you combine video, photos, text, and 360° experiences into one seamless experience. They appear in a vertical format and are fast, memorable and fun by design. Its target audience is someone who wants to consume content, but won’t commit to a lengthy piece while they are on public transportation or have some free time. By tapping through it or swiping from one piece of content to the next, this visual style enables them to explore content at their own pace. Given this definition, It’s easy to think that Google Web Stories are just as similar with standard social media app stories, but they are a bit more unique than any of those. Instead of only making it available for a limited time, usually for 24 hours, Web Stories are short-lived and evergreen but can be shown to your target audience no matter how long you like. It works as another form of publishing format on the web such as a blog, video or podcast. They fill the sweet gap between videos and text articles since they are usually less expensive to produce than a video while also being more engaging than a mere blog. Web Stories by Google are more open than stories on these social media apps. Web Stories are yours, hosted on your server, making you money effortlessly and not the serving platform. Unlike with the social platforms, nobody can dictate what content you create. It’s the web, so you make the rules. Google highlights Web Stories in several important places and goes the extra mile to let them shine. Such as Google Search and Google Discover. Examples of Great Google Web Stories Without knowing what makes a web story great in the first place, you can’t make your own web stories fantastic! Listed below are some of fantastic web stories to get you on the right track. Street Food Icons: The Burger Sisters of Kenya by VICE Many things in this story are done well. Then, it simultaneously zooms in on the food and the subjects, narrated in a first-person narrative, and employs background music to great advantage, making it extremely “lifestyle-y.” Portraits like this work well as Web Stories. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E 1400 Prototype makes a Tesla look like a toy by INPUT This story not only kicks it up a notch from the get-go thanks to clever video usage and an incredibly lean font, but it’s also a terrific illustration of a responsive story—that is, a story that functions equally well on tablets and desktop as it does on mobile. The Very Best Black Boots to Invest In by VOGUE With its minimalistic designs and straightforward content, this web story of Vogue showcases its products and provide a quick link for the people who wants to learn more about it. How to Create a Google Web Story? Now that you know what Google Web Story is and have seen some of great Google Web Stories there are, it’s time to get into how you can create your own. Building a web story can be broken up into five (5) simple steps. Step 1: Select Your Story Creation Tool It is important to have the right tools before you actually begin creating web stories. Tools that help you create content quickly with better results. Drag and drop tools like the Web Story Editor for WordPress make stories create Web stories in minutes for your website. These editors require no coding skills and pages can be dragged together and configure it similar to a design tool. Step 2: Draft Your Storyline You need to elaborate your concept, write a compelling story and source creative assets. Determine images or videos should be displayed on each panel including call to action. Google provides a simple PDF template to help with your narrative draft, Web Story – Script Template (PDF) Step 3: Source the Right Content The right imagery or videos are the make or break of a good web story. With a web story, you start with the image and then write some copy to clarify your point. Step 4: Make it Your Own Take the time to customize your story and make it feel like your personal brand. And once you’re done, you can simply click the publish button. Step 5: Optimize It Learn from engagement analytics so your story reaches an even greater audience. Google Search Console provides additional details about how your Web stories are performing in Search and Discover. Benefits of Using Google Web Stories So, why should you