Google Web Stories was launched by Google in 2018. Back then, it was named AMP stories, until it was rebranded in May 2020. This new feature, as explained by Google themselves, is“a web-based version of the popular Story format, allowing creators to host and own their content.”

We are familiar with the said story format, which got its start on Snapchat, a popular social media app. Snapchat made the concept of stories popular by allowing users to post snippets of their day online, which will disappear after 24 hours. This idea was later adopted by Instagram, and now nearly every social media app has this feature, including Facebook and Whatsapp. And now, most recently, Google.

The format, flexibility, and convenience of Google Web Stories make it a useful medium for marketers to venture into to sell their products. Following are a few reasons why you should incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy:

• One of its benefits is that it stays under your control, as all the stories can be posted to your own webpage. The property rights for the content belong to you only.
• Furthermore, you can monetize your content. Any ads that appear in Google Web Stories are totally in your hands.
• Another advantage is that it allows posting links to other web pages. Some social media sites have restrictions on linking out to other sites, but this is not an issue with Google Web Stories.
• This new feature also supports Google Analytics, and so a lot more tracking and user analysis can be done than with other story formats.
• There are close to no restrictions on this feature, so you can use whatever branding style and design you want.
• Web Stories can respond to any device type, so marketers don’t have to specifically create stories that are friendly for both desktops and mobile phones.
• There is no time limit to Google Web stories, and they can last for as long as you want.
• Search engines can easily link to Google Web Stories, so there are no further formalities other than the initial search engine optimization to get your story rank highly.
• Google Web Stories allow marketers to host interactive sessions with their customers like polls and quizzes so that they get a fair idea of their customers’ likes and dislikes.

How To Use It

• Visit https://stories.google/
• Go through Google’s content policy on Web Stories to be able to use it to its full extent.
• Look for successful Web Stories to get an idea of how it’s done.
• Plan out the content of your story. It has to be meaningful, captivating, and to the point.
• Pick out your ideal tool, edit and customize your story according to your taste. There are many tools available on its site, but its most popular ones are WordPress, MakeStories, and Newsroom AI.
• Once the story is made, publish it to your own site. This will create a link that can be shared.
• The story will then surface inappropriate users’ search results. Multiple stories in one ad, or stories carousel, is only available in US, India, and Brazil for now.

Visit Kolkata School of Digital Marketing for more information.

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