Top 3 ways to emphasize your articles through web stories

There is no content marketing manager out there that hasn't struggled with boosting their article. Even if you have a well-researched, interesting, entertaining article you'll still need to find ways to combat the modern SEO and see that it reaches a decent audience. If your article comes as a part of a long-term SEO strategy, it might do well. But, if you don't the luxury of relying on such a strategy, you are in for a rough time. That is unless you choose to emphasize your articles through web stories.

Ways to emphasize your articles through web stories

Will using web stories magically make your article come up first in Google search results? Of course not. The SEO algorithm is too sophisticated to make any one thing have such a big impact. But, web stories do stand with a significant advantage when compared to other types of content.
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In essence, there are two reasons for this. First is that web stories are quite effective in capturing and keeping viewers attention. Even a modest web story will have the viewer seeing it to the end. With any other type of content, be it written, video or audio, this is not the case. Yes, well-crafted content will garner an audience. But when you compare the content quality to the number of views, all others types fall short of web stories.

The second reason is that Google web stories are pushed by Google itself. The people at Google recognize how effective web stories are and are more than happy to push them to the forefront. So, how can you make use of these factors when it comes to writing your articles?

1) Lead readers from web stories to your articles

The first way in which you can emphasize your articles through web stories is to lead people from web stories to your articles. A web story can be a great prelude to what you have to say in your article. You can give a short introduction to what the article is supposed to cover, and then naturally lead people to it. Another way is to give a brief explanation of the subject within your web story, and then recommend the article for further reading. The goal is to use the attention that the web story garners and focus it on your article.

What's important here is to understand how people will perceive going from viewing a web story to reading an article. Reading, by default, requires concentration. Therefore, if your web story is exciting and overwhelming, you can hardly expect your viewers to concentrate on reading an article. Keep in mind that it won't be a problem to lead people to your article. The problem will be to motivate them to read it in its entirety. So, try to understand what role web stories play as a prelude to your article. They should be interesting enough so that people want to know more. But, they need to have a similar tone to your article, so that the transition feels natural.

2) Use web stories as a part of your article

Another way to emphasize your articles through web stories is to use them as a part of your article. It is always a good practice to enhance your articles with extra content. Things like images, videos, graphics... All these help make written content clearer and more engaging. So, why not use web stories? They are, by design, visually based. Therefore, they stand to work quite well when connected to written content.

Again, your goal is to use web stories to emphasize your articles. If they overshine them, you can hardly hope that your viewers will continue reading it. Good web stories are in line with what the article says. They help emphasize certain points, and can even explain more complex subjects. But, for them to be effective in the context of an article, they need to achieve two things. First, they need to follow the train of thought that the article has. By doing so, they will keep the reader's attention on the article, instead of drawing it away. Ideally, they will help the reader understand the article better and be more engaged with what it has to say.

Second, they need to be short enough so that the reader doesn't linger too long on them. If the reader needs to scroll through multiple pages of a web story, they might lose their train of thought. The longer the web story is, the more likely this is to happen. So, try to keep things short and sweet.

3) Use web stories and articles in tandem

Both web stories and articles should be a part of a larger content strategy. Again, if you have prior experience with content marketing, you already know how important it is to plan for the long run. You need to cover various subjects in order to draw people to your brand. And you need to find different keywords to address different ways in which people might stumble onto your content. So, try to come up with a strategy that will make good use of both web stories and articles.

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Keep in mind a web story can emphasize an article without pointing directly to it, or being a part of it. By covering similar subjects, your web stories can interest your viewers in various articles. They can garner that initial interest for your brand, that you can later expand upon through articles. On the other hand, articles can point to longer web stories where you provide further explanations through video, animations, and other visually rich content. If you make use of the interactive elements that web stories have, you can seamlessly lead your readers between various articles and web stories. So, instead of focusing on individual web stories and articles, try to see them as a part of a larger content strategy.

Making the most out of your web stories

In our articles, we often emphasize how effective web stories can be in modern marketing. We've covered our views on why it is so, and even provided metrics that indicate that web stories will likely become more effective as time goes on. But, it is important that you understand that web stories on their own cannot carry your brand. Web stories have certain strengths. And if you wish to make the most of them, you will use those strengths as a part of a larger marketing strategy. We advise that you closely study what web stories are and how to make them. And to understand your brand and how it relates to web stories. Once you know this, you will have a fairly easy time making use of them to garner quality online traffic.

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