Web Stories for WordPress and What They Mean for Your Content

By: Team WTI | Date: July 20, 2020

Categories: Digital Marketing, Local SEO,

Tags: Web Stories, WordPress,

If you’re not fully immersed in social media and Google updates, you may not know what I’m talking about here, so let me fill you in. A web story is a fullscreen, interactive visual storytelling format intended for mobile users. Displaying content this way quickly gained popularity through social media channels like SnapChat, Instagram, and Facebook. However, web stories for WordPress is a bit of a plot-twist, and I’m pumped about it.

What’s the Point of Stories?

Stories are meant to be quick bites of information, easily digested by the user. When done well, presenting content in this format can lead to high conversion rates, almost like the “impulse buy” section of the grocery store. You know-the area right at checkout with all the magazines filled with juicy gossip that’s not true. Except web stories are way better, because they’re full of content you’ll actually want to read.

How are Web Stories for WordPress Different?

While the format of web stories is similar to stories on social media, there’s one big difference. Web stories for WordPress is part of the open web, and they can be shared across sites and apps. Whereas stories on social media are confined to the specific platform it was posted on.

Who Can Use Web Stories?

Currently, Web Stories for WordPress is in public beta testing. Anyone with a WordPress site can download the plugin and begin creating stories. You might be more familiar with web stories than you might think because many news and media outlets have already begun to utilize this tool! However, just because you can use web stories, doesn’t always mean you should. 

In order for stories to be effective, your content has to fit the story format. If your content is visual heavy, such as video and image-based content, you should definitely try out web stories! On the other hand, if your content is mostly thorough, long-form text, stories might not be your bread and butter. Although, you may still be able to use stories as a tool to generate traffic to your content.

Want to learn more? Check out this demo web story, or learn more about enabling web stories from Google!