Google web stories, the Google Web Stories WordPress plugin went live in beta on the 22nd of September. Since then, there’s been significant amount of discussion about the new method of creating SEO-friendly content by Google.
Here’s everything you should be aware of.
What is Google Web Stories?
Google Web Stories is basically the Google search equivalent of stories from social media. With their mobile-first dimension and the emphasis on video and images Web stories can be a means to bring the experience of searching into the year 2020.
Web stories consist of 30 to 40 pages of content that can be accessed as the social media stories, and appear on Google’s search results, as well as the Discover page.
They’re a kind from AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) according to Google they’re designed for quick and easy use by busy individuals.
What is AMP?
Accelerated Mobile Pages , also known as the AMP initiative is an initiative of Google initiative to push the web to be more mobile-friendly.
It comes with open source HTML framework that lets designers to create light pages with speedy loading times.
Technically speaking, the AMP criteria don’t count as an SEO ranking factor, however the speed of loading is appreciated by being ranked higher in results for searches.
AMP Web Stories are a improvement of this because they offer easy-to-read stories that are entertaining, fun and visually appealing.
What’s the advantages to Google Web Stories?
Web-based stories are the newest
Because they’re a fresh offering by Google It’s likely that they’ll be given a higher priority in search results. This gives them a simple method to beat your competition and prove you’re ahead.
Furthermore, as they’re new, there aren’t too numerous of them. So, creating engaging web-based stories is a certain guaranteed way to rank high in search results for the key phrases you want to rank for.
Web Stories are entertaining to read
Because they’re quick, simple fun content, your customers will enjoy them.
A great web story makes the reading experience feel like you’re on Instagram and is a fantastic method to keep your readers engaged when you talk about your products or services.
Google defines them as a method to engage with your audience through the power of storytelling through the internet.’
Web Stories are simple to create
If you tweak the dimensions, they could double in the form of Instagram and stories on Facebook.
This means that you can utilize them to enhance your social networks by making an small amount of content go a great distance.
They each have their own URLs which makes them simple to share and add links to.
Do you have the ability to track for tracking Google Web Stories? Yes!
They also have the same analytics tracking capabilities to normal websites, so you are able to observe user behaviour and engagement as well as gain more information about your users.
Web Stories WordPress plugin. Web Stories WordPress plugin
The plugin was first launched in beta in 2020 The WordPress plugin can be described as an application that you can download to your WordPress dashboard that includes a built-in Wysiwyg editor that allows instant integration between your site and the stories you write for.
This is definitely significant, since before, the only method for creating web stories was writing them in code, which clearly requires lots of time and expertise as well as third-party editors and editors, which are expensive or not efficient.
If you’re interested in creating for a web-based story you should read this informative article by AMP about how to do it.
Through WordPress, using the WordPress plugin, you’ll be able to create and edit stories and then upload them on your website.
Although it’s only just been released from Beta, this plugin requires some improvement. There are some important items you’ll need that require additional tools that we’ll go over in more detail.
How do download Google Web Stories? Google Web Stories WordPress plugin?
There are two ways to install the brand new plugin.
You can either go or go to your WordPress dashboard and select the Plugins tab and then Add New. Look for Web Stories on the search bar and you’ll find this box. Click Install. Check your ‘Installed Plugins and then enable it.
Google Web Story WordPress Plugin
You can also download your WordPress plugin here. If you hit Download, you’ll be presented with an unzip folder named web-stories.
All you have to do is to upload the entire folder to the /wpcontent/plugins directory. After that, navigate to your Plugins section on the WordPress dashboard and enable it.
How do I use to use the Google web Stories WordPress plug-in interface
Although the interface appears to be fairly easy to use but there are a few crucial things to be aware of that aren’t always easy to grasp.
In the first place, if you click Stories on the menu, it will bring you to your Web Stories Dashboard. It is a user-friendly interface, where you can check out the stories you have Draft and Published. Draft and Published.
We’ve noticed that the dashboard isn’t always working and occasionally doesn’t display any updates or stories that you’ve posted.
If you’re having similar issues, simply click on ‘All Stories’ within the drop-down menu. You’ll be able to view an identical table in WordPress style which includes the entire collection of stories you’ve written and details about them.
How do you make Google Web Stories?
To start, click on ‘Add New to the Web Stories plugin menu, or if you’re already on the dashboard, click the “Create New Story’ button in the upper left.
What is Google web stories? An in-depth guide to the brand new Google web story WordPress plugin
What is Google web stories?
An extensive guide to the brand new Google Web Stories WordPress plugin
As with other WYSIWYG editors, this plugin includes tools left to assist with uploading images, uploads as well as text and shapes.
The plugin contains pictures of the Unsplash website as well as videos by coverr which means you have a wide selection to pick from. It’s worth noting that the forms that are available serve like placeholders to images!
Google Web Stories WordPress Plugin Interface
The tools that are available are somewhat basic, however there are web-based story templates that you can pick from within the Dashboard.
On the right side, you will find Layers on the bottom followed by a selection between Document and Design. Design is unique to each page, and will be displayed when you click on the page you’re currently on.
By doing this, you can choose the background colour, and also create a “Page Attachment” that is a URL users can click to swipe up (again as on Instagram). Additionally, you can create an overlay and add description text to assist visually impaired users.
Google Web Stories Guide
Under the document, you can access all the tools to publish such as when, who and so on.
You can also set the URL for your story as well as the cover image. The cover image is vital since it’s what people will be able to see when deciding whether or not to read your story.
The cover image has different dimensions from the main story’s size and we’ll go over in the following section.
The document tab lets you choose Page Advancement, which is how long the story will last on every page.
It is also possible to change the page to manual, which is to say that the users can manually press the buttons to move onto the next section. Also, remember the short excerpt. This is where you explain the main story that will be in the same place as your cover photo.
There are 200 characters you can use to inform and lure your readers to click on your story Make it count.
How can you edit an online story?
If you find an error or need to make a change you’ve noticed, don’t worry – web stories are editable after they’ve been published.
To edit the story, visit the All Stories page and mousing over the title, edit will be displayed in the story’s text.
When your dashboard appears to be functional it is possible to select a story from the dashboard. This will launch the editor.
How come my website story running?
We had several problems when we started making web-based stories and which is why we decided to share the stories here.
Set the background
It is important to set the background for each page. If you upload mp4s with out backgrounds, they will not pass test AMP test.
Instead to upload your videos, you can upload them as gifs with the appropriate dimensions, and then use them as your background. So, you’ll be able to meet the required requirements!
In the event that you’re using an WordPress cache plugin
If you’re using an WordPress caching plugin, then you could encounter issues.
The Web stories plug-in is able to load third-party JS into the plugin and when the option of bundling or modifies turned on, then it will fail the AMP test.
You might see an error message on your console in the form of:
“No “poster” attribute has been included for amp-video’
There’s a regex search trying to locate you to add in the JS that comes from cdn.ampproject.org, which is not able to be it is minified.
To prevent this from happening, occur, it is necessary to remove all files from cdn.ampproject.org in your caching plugin from bundling or minification.
We are using the WP Rocket which is why it looks like this:
What is Google Web Stories?
An in-depth guide to the brand new Google web Stories WordPress plugin
What can I do to create an effective Google website story?
Let’s get started with the basics.
Google Web Story dimensions
The dimensions are 720px 1280 pixels. However, be aware that there’s a “safe zone” in this area that shows where the top and the bottom of the story aren’t as clear which is 83px away from the top and bottom therefore, try to avoid placing things that are crucial in those areas when writing your story.
Words and sizes of fonts
Google suggests that you include at least 10 characters (200 characters) or less per page and 10-words (40 characters) or less in your title. The minimum font size should be 24px.
Many of the examples contain more than this words-per-page count, but you should try to stay as close to the limit in the way you’re able to.
If you have to go over the limit, add that information as an attachment to the page, that allows readers to scroll up and read the text.
The maximum length that can be used for the creation of a Web Story
Maximum length of 30 pages and the minimum length is five. Ideally, you’ll want to create a web-based story with between 10 and 20 pages.
Video and images
It’s recommended to use shorter videos that are less than 15 seconds long. If you’re planning to upload your own photos, make sure they’re of high-quality and are have a portrait.
You can include social posts in stories, however, you must include the title and the description of the post, you can either place it above and below. Be sure to adhere to the same theme throughout your story by using the appropriate the colors, images, and fonts.
AMP offers a fantastic visual guide with additional advice on how to create an engaging web story.
How do you check web story stories
You can access your web-based story using the URL you have created under the permalink section in the Document tab. If you’d like to test your story to determine whether it is in compliance with the AMP requirements (hint to Do this!) go to the test AMP and enter the URL of your story’s website.
What exactly are Google web Stories? A complete guide to the brand new Google web Stories WordPress plugin
Can you make money from the content of a Google online story?
Web stories can be monetized by a variety of methods! You can firstly use affiliate links. These are where you can earn a commission from an online site for helping users to their desired URL.
They can be embedded using”swipe-up”, or as links on pages, but you need to mention that they’re affiliate hyperlinks.
It is also possible to insert advertisements on Google web Stories. They are displayed in a single webpage.
To do this, you’ll need to utilize Google Ad Manager, which can decide what and how many ads you can include in your stories. Learn more on this topic at the AMP website.
Schema and SEO for Web Stories
AMP web stories need some schema markup and SEO, similar to a regular webpage. The WordPress plugin can do a small amount of this however, there are some elements you aren’t able to add which require the use of additional plugins.
This involves the addition of labels to your article to describe what it is. Google have divided under three different categories: an article Post, News Story, Blog Post and News Story.
In the XML sitemap
The most crucial thing you could do is incorporate your stories on the web into the XML sitemap.
As Brodie Clark notes Sitemaps that contain URLs make up around 20% of the way Google finds new websites. So it’s definitely worthwhile!
SEO Plugin Options
There are several various options available to include the information you require to your stories on the web. The Yoast along with Rank Math plugins automatically add meta tags to the AMP pages.
To use Rank Math, just go to Titles & Meta in the Rank Math Plugin, and then under Post Types you’ll see Stories.
Here you can alter how the story titles are displayed, alter the schema types and include thumbnails for social media.
Setting up Analytics
Similar to any website it is possible to keep track of your engagement, impressions, and clicks. One of the main features that distinguishes the WP web stories plugin compared to the beta version is the ability to add Google Analytics tracking directly into the plugin.
To do this , visit your Web Stories dashboard. On the left, select Editor Settings.
You’ll find the option to enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID.
The story editor will add an initial, customizable AMP analysis configuration onto your tale. If you’re looking to add more advanced tracking capabilities to your stories on the web look into this post.
Do you need assistance on the content of your Google Web Stories?
We enjoy staying current on the most up-to-date and effective SEO tricks so that you don’t need to. We also love using these hacks.
If you are aware of the benefits of web-based stories for your company but you don’t know where to begin contact us and we’ll be glad to assist.