In view of the success of the stories format to boost the online visibility of brands and businesses, Google is joining the trend of temporary content in its search and discovery products. It has done so with the launch of a new tool: Web Stories, created to help websites take advantage of this type of format.
How Web Stories work
Google’s new tool is a version of Instagram Stories but specifically for boosting websites. Web Stories can be placed among the search results on its Search platform, or also within the Google Discover content discovery platform.
Initially, the new format works like Instagram, with a few exceptions such as duration. Google Stories allows users to decide the amount of time to keep viewing their content, as opposed to the 24-hour duration of other social media formats. In parallel, this new format is supported by Google’s AMP technology, which enables faster loading of web pages on mobile devices.
Given the interesting future for web visibility that this new tool promises, the Semrush portal has carried out a study on how to make Google Web Stories in 2021 last over time.
Analysis of the creation of Google Web Stories in 2021
The study was conducted based on the analysis of 2,423 url results in the US, resulting in findings in 9 key areas.
Stories boost SERP rankings
According to Semrush’s analysis, the average number of stories appearing in Google Search is 3, with an estimated average in the results of 4 stories supported by 1,403 results. Also the number 4 is the maximum number of stories found in search, with a minimum of 1.
The positioning of these stories within the results is considerably high within the search results: 5th and 6th positions in the results are the most frequent for Web Stories, with 28% and 20% respectively. In addition, the presence of these stories can favour other prominent search results, or interact with them.
The prominent position of the travel and news niches
According to Semrush analysis, the average number of stories appearing in Google Search is 3, with an estimated average in the results of 4 stories supported by 1,403 results. Also the number 4 is the maximum number of stories found in search, with a minimum of 1.
The positioning of these stories within the results is considerably high within the search results: 5th and 6th positions in the results are the most frequent for Web Stories, with 28% and 20% respectively. In addition, the presence of these stories can favour other prominent search results, or interact with them.
The influence of the distribution of text, web pages and images or videos.
The use of text in this content format has to be careful, avoiding overloading. We must not forget that the first effect is visual and we must avoid alienating users, which would diminish the visibility of the website.
Within the distribution of these stories based on their number of words, it is advisable not to overuse them: 19.5% of the stories have between 4 and 10 words. 18.5% are between 30 and 40 words, which indicates that text content is sometimes advisable.
In reference to the visual aspect, despite the rise of video formats, it is images that dominate with 84%. This means that the use of static images and photographs is suitable for marketing strategies in which this tool is to be integrated.
Keywords and call to action
Keywords are always important for positioning any product that can be searched in Google. On average, 4 keywords are used in the creation of web stories, ranging from short to long-tail, depending on the subject matter. However, most of the keywords that generate this content do not have a lot of traffic, but sometimes they can generate stories.
The “Call to Action” or CTA, are the main theme of the last page of the stories, appearing after having captured the user’s attention with the previous visual content. The most commonly used phrases for the call to action are: “For more”, “To find out more”, “Read the article”, “Read more”, etc. The continuation of the content on the target website must be indicated.
On the analysis of images on Web Stories, the tones that are best positioned are grey and blue, and brown/beige colours, unlike what happens on Instagram. And in 67% of cases, people are part of the main image, accompanying furniture, food or other everyday objects.