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Cracking the Code: Best Practices for Creating Web Stories

Welcome, fellow content creators and digital enthusiasts! In the ever-evolving landscape of online content, Web Stories have emerged as a captivating and dynamic way to engage audiences.

If you’re eager to elevate your content game, you’re in the right place. Today, we’re diving deep to explore the best practices for creating Web Stories that will make your creations shine.

Table Of Content

  1. Storytelling best practices for creating Web Stories
  2. Design best practices for creating Web Stories
  3. SEO best practices for creating Web Stories
  4. Technical best practices for creating Web Stories

Storytelling best practices for creating Web Stories

1. Define Your Story’s Purpose:

Before diving into the creative process, clearly define the purpose of your Web Story. Are you aiming to inform, entertain, or persuade? Having a clear objective will guide your content creation and ensure your story resonates with your target audience.

2. Craft a Compelling Narrative:

Web Stories thrive on engaging narratives. Structure your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, introducing a conflict or challenge, building suspense, and delivering a satisfying resolution.

3. Embrace Visual Storytelling:

Images and videos are the lifeblood of Web Stories. Utilize high-quality visuals that complement your narrative and evoke emotions in your audience.

4. Keep it Concise:

Web Stories are meant to be consumed quickly, so keep your text concise and impactful. Use short sentences, bullet points, and visuals to convey information effectively.

Critical storytelling best practices
Bring your perspective Go beyond the facts. Share your opinions. Be the protagonist of your own story. Make it relatable.
Have a narrative arc Create suspense in your story from one page to another. Bring the user along in the journey by providing context and narrative. Deliver payoff for sticking with you to the end.
Video first Video is more engaging than text or images. Use as much video as possible, and supplement with images and text.

SEO best practices for creating Web Stories

1. Target Relevant Keywords:

Incorporate relevant keywords throughout your Web Story’s title, headings, and body text to improve search engine visibility.

2. Utilize Descriptive Metadata:

Craft compelling meta descriptions that accurately represent your Web Story’s content and entice users to click.

3. Promote on Social Media:

Share your Web Stories across social media platforms to amplify their reach and attract new viewers.

4. Embed in Blog Posts:

Integrate Web Stories into your blog posts to provide an engaging alternative to traditional written content.

5. Submit to Google Web Stories:

Submit your Web Stories to Google’s Web Story platform to increase their visibility and potential for inclusion in search results.

Critical SEO best practices
Provide high-quality content Like any web page, providing high-quality content that is useful and interesting to your readers the most important thing you can do. Include a complete narrative and follow the storytelling best practices to keep your readers engaged.
Keep the title short Keep titles shorter than 90 characters. We recommend using a descriptive title that is shorter than 70 characters.
Make sure Google Search can find your story Don’t include a noindex attribute in your story; this attribute blocks Google from indexing the page and prevents it from appearing on Google. Additionally, add your Web Stories to your sitemap. You can check to see if Google can find your Web Stories with the Index Coverage Report and Sitemaps Report in Search Console.
Make the story self-canonical All Web Stories must be canonical. Make sure that each Web Story has a link rel="canonical" to itself. For example: <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/url/to/webstory.html">
Attach metadata Make sure that your Web Stories follow the AMP story metadata guidelines. Include markup that you would normally include on a web page, such as:

  • title, description and meta tags
  • Structured data
  • OGP
  • Twitter card
Include structured data We recommend including structured data in your Web Story to help Google Search understand the structure and content of your Web Story.
Include alt text on images We recommend including alt text on your images to improve your story’s discoverability.

1. Reduce Character Count

Keep text concise and impactful, aiming for approximately 280 characters per page. This aligns with the length of a tweet, making your content easily digestible and visually appealing.

2. Avoid Blocking Text

Ensure that text is not obscured by other elements on the page. Avoid using burned-in text, as this can prevent text from being visible when resizing to fit different device screens.

3. Keep Text Within Bounds

Make sure all text is visible within the designated area of the Web Story. Avoid using burned-in text, as this can cause text to overflow when resizing for various device sizes.

4. Use Animations Mindfully

Leverage animations to enhance your storytelling, but avoid distracting or repetitive movements that can cause eye fatigue. Use animations sparingly and strategically to complement your narrative.

5. Test Thoroughly

Before publishing your Web Story, test it extensively across a variety of devices to ensure optimal viewing and interaction. Check for text visibility, animation smooth

Critical design best practices
Reduce your character count Avoid including multiple pages with walls of text. Consider reducing text to approximately 280 characters per page (the length of a tweet).
Don’t block text Make sure text is not blocked by other content on the page. Avoid burned in text; by not using burned in text, you prevent text from being blocked when it gets resized to fit various device sizes.
Keep text within bounds Ensure that all text in your Web Story is visible to the reader. Avoid burned in text; by not using burned in text, you prevent text from overflowing when it gets resized to fit various device sizes.
Use animations mindfully Bring your stories to life with animations. Avoid distracting or repetitive animations which can cause fatigue.

Technical best practices for creating Web Stories

1. Optimize for Mobile:

Web Stories are primarily consumed on mobile devices, so optimize your content for seamless viewing on smaller screens. Use responsive layouts and ensure text is easily readable.

2. Leverage AMP Technology:

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) ensures fast loading times, a crucial factor for user engagement. Utilize AMP components to optimize your Web Stories for speed and performance.

3. Accessibility Matters:

Make your Web Stories accessible to all users by providing alt text for images, transcripts for videos, and clear color contrast for text overlays.

4. Embrace Analytics:

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement metrics, bounce rates, and completion rates to gauge the effectiveness of your Web Stories and make data-driven improvements.

Critical technical best practices
Make the story valid Web Stories must be valid AMP pages. To avoid invalid AMP issues, test your Story using the AMP Validator tool and fix any detected errors.
Don’t include text in the poster image Avoid using images that contain burned in text, as this could obstruct the title of your story when users preview your story in Search results. If users are unable to clearly read the title, they may be less likely to continue reading.
Include the right poster image size and aspect ratio Make sure that the image linked to your <amp-story> poster-portrait-src attribute is at least 640x853px and use an aspect ratio of 3:4.
Include the right aspect ratio for the logo Make sure that the logo image linked to your <amp-story> publisher-logo-src attribute is at least 96×96 px and aspect ratio of 1:1.
Include og:image We recommend including og:image in your <meta> tags to improve your story’s discoverability.

Conclusion

Mastering the art of Web Story creation requires a blend of storytelling prowess, technical expertise, and SEO optimization strategies. By adhering to best practices and embracing the power of visual storytelling, you can craft compelling narratives that captivate audiences, drive engagement, and boost your website’s organic traffic. Remember, in the ever-evolving digital landscape, the ability to tell a captivating story is more valuable than ever.

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