Stories Format Is Becoming a Bonanza for Publishers
Snapchat started it, Facebook and Instagram copied it, and now Google with its innovative AMP project has hopped on to the Stories bandwagon too and it has become a game changer for online publishers.
Aishwarya Karwa
Last Updated: Sep 7, 2020
A decade ago, print media was considered as the most important form of publication. However, the industry has now changed and adopted the digital content, helping the publishers to reach a wider audience. Publishers today focus on having content packed with appealing visuals (images, animations, videos, infographics, etc.) instead of plain and traditional text, to achieve high user engagement. The ‘Stories’ format allows publishers to have visually-rich content which loads in less than a second. Since then the publishing industry has been taken by storm with the immersive Stories Format.
The ‘Stories’ format, was pioneered by Snapchat, cloned by Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp. Now, Google too wants a slice of these mobile-friendly Stories. Google has rolled out ‘Web Stories’ (earlier known as AMP Stories) for content publishers, wherein they can beautify their content using rich visuals. With this visual storytelling format, publishers can not only engage their readers but can also make them come back for more. Web Stories format lets you create crisp, concise, visually engaging content that loads instantly. What makes Web Stories different from Instagram and Snapchat Stories is that they are shareable across all social media platforms. It’s an open source project, hence publishers can customize their Accelerated Mobile Pages as per their requirement to create compelling Web Stories.
Success Stories
Google’s Web Stories is proving to be a boon for the online publishers. How? Well, the numbers say it all. Being one of the early adopters, Condé Nast went live with Web Stories on Vanity Fair about more than a year ago. Post-launch, the click through rate from Google search increased from 5.9% to 10.3% , and average search position increased from 5.9% to 1.7%. Furthermore, the Stories published are already witnessing the concrete benefits. The Washington Post sees 23% of upsurge in mobile search users who return within 7 days. There’s been 88% of improvement in load time and the retention rate jumped to 63% for the content in the Web Stories format. Wired, a monthly online magazine viewed 25% increase in click through rates from search results and 63% increase in CTR after having the ads placed in Web Stories.
Join the Trend
If you’re a publisher and want to achieve better readership then you should switch to the Web Stories format right away! All you need is a Story building tool to create enticing Web Stories. ‘Web Story Builder’ by Visual Stories lets you create compelling and spectacular Web Stories to engage your audience and make them come back for more. Don’t waste even a second, AMP-up your content and get ahead of your competitors!
