Web Stories are a new and exciting way to show full-screen content on the web. The format combines videos, images, text, and other elements to deliver engaging and interactive experiences to website visitors.
The Story format was born in social media but it is not limited to these platforms anymore, as Web Stories can be embedded in any webpage.
Unlike traditional social media stories, Web Stories do not disappear after 24 hours. Instead, you can keep them active as long as you want. Since it is possible to add interactive and personalized elements to the Web Story content, you can use this powerful tool to decrease bounce rate, increase pageviews, and maximize session durations with audiences on the open web.
Embedding Web Stories in your website can be beneficial for several reasons:
Web Stories are designed to be highly visual and interactive, which can help capture your audience's attention and keep them engaged with your content.
Web Stories are optimized for mobile devices, which is important given that mobile internet usage continues to rise. By embracing Web Stories, you can ensure that your content is easily accessible and enjoyable on the devices your audience is using.
Web Stories offer an opportunity to showcase your brand in a creative and engaging way. By using visually stunning images, animations, and videos, you can build a strong brand identity and reinforce your messaging.
Because Web Stories are a relatively new format, they can help you reach new audiences who are looking for fresh and exciting content.
Web Stories are highly shareable, which means that your audience can help spread your message and content across social media platforms, expanding your reach and increasing your brand awareness.
Now, let us guide you to create Web Stories with Storyly in 5 simple steps.
Watch the video below to learn how to do it right away or continue reading for all the details.
Register for an account on storyly.io as you can sign up for free and you will receive a confirmation link in your email address to complete the signup process. Once you sign up or if you already have an account, please login and you'll find yourself in the Storyly dashboard. From here you can hit the home section and click on add new to add your website to the dashboard.
After adding your website to the dashboard, you can navigate to the Settings > Account Management > Apps and Websites section and you will find the token for your website and here is a quick guide for this.
You can pass this token to your development team to integrate the Storyly SDK, which means your dev team will implement the Story bar wherever you have decided to place Stories in your website. Usually, we recommend you to place it at the top of your website homepage just underneath the main website banner.
Here is a quick guide for a basic Storyly web integration for your dev team and it normally takes less than a day to integrate Web Stories.
Now that you have sorted out the integration, it's time for the fun part, creating a Story group. In the dashboard from the left Menu > Content section > Click on “New Story Group.”
Select the option “create from scratch” as this is the easiest way to quickly create a Story group and then fill in the Story group title, upload a group cover image.
For now we will skip the other settings and hit the “Create” button on the bottom right corner. This will take you into the studio where you have a few options to create or upload already made content. However, before you click on the “Create” button, you also have another option to save the Story group as a test to ensure that it doesn't appear on your website if you are already integrated.
Of course after you have added all of your content and your Story group is ready, you can set it live as explained in step 5.
Creating and uploading the content that will make up the Stories and Story groups your users will see is very easy as the studio provides you with the below options to create content.
Now that you have created your first Story group and content, you can now test this to see how your Story bar and Stories will look like in a live environment. Whilst in the content section, on the top right of the dashboard, you will see a few options including the preview option that allows you to preview on desktop web and also on mobile web.
After testing and making any changes you need, you are now ready to publish your Stories. As mentioned earlier in step 4, you would have saved your Stories as a test so now from the content section you can select all of your Story groups and use the bulk options to set your Story groups live. As you are already integrated, you should see the groups appear on your website.
Congratulations! You have now enabled Web Stories on your website and your users will enjoy an immersive Web Story experience.
Customer Engagement Manager at Storyly, handling enterprise clients across Europe & US. Besides managing and helping customers get the best out of Storyly products and features, writing about how existing and potential Storyly users can leverage the product is also another avenue to provide expert advice.
