Google Web Stories for WordPress appeared on the scene recently as a free plugin. I was alerted to it by a marketer I subscribe to and thought I’d take a look. I liked what I saw, grabbed the plugin and produced my first little web story half an hour later. That’s it below. I’ve set it to automatic but you can also set it manual and let your viewers click through the pages.
Google web stories for wordpress is similar to Instagram stories. I’m ashamed to admit that Instagram has completley passed me by. I created an account years ago, did little with it and have more or less ignored it ever since. Google’s new offering inspired me to sort that out too so now I’m merrily creating Instagram stories.
It seems like these little short form creations – bite sized bits of content – are extremely popular in flicker of internet communication. They are suited to a world drenched in information, content and eye grabbing images. It makes sense then to go with the flow. Resitace is futile – or at least un wise if you want to have any relevance.
Dead Simple
Anyway to get to the plugin itself. It’s a very nice, very intuitive interface – even for an Instagram neanderthal like me. The page you download it from has some helpful information and once loaded into your WordPress site guide (in the form a story) walks you through it.
Essentially web stories are mobile friendly slide shows the viewer clicks through. You can start with one of Google’s design templates or from a blank page. Best bet is to start with an image or video – yours or something from the included library. You then overlay text, shapes and colours as you see fit. All of the editors are very familair to anyone who has ever created any kind of online content. Since this is a WordPress plugin most people who use it will be in that category. It’s easy.
One of the best things about Google web stories for WordPress is that you can add clickable links to every component in them. You can’t do that in Instagram. The possibility of adding clickable text and images in short, punchy little stories is obvioulsy exciting but it gets even better.
Better Than Other Stories
These strories are searchable content. Google will index them and some SEO are built in to them. You can add a cover photo and logo as well as a little meta information. If you use Yoast or similar seo blogging tool you can embed your story in a post like this and use tags and othe SEO helpers. Stories now appear in your WordPress dashboard and as part of the Guttenberg menu.
Last but not least your stories provide you with a shareable link you can add to multiple platforms. So Google web stories for WordPress look like being a jolly good idea. Free, easy to use, searchable, great for SEO and linkable to anything you like. Google have stated they will be adding more tools, templates and editing possibilities so I suggest you give them a try.
