SEO guide for small businesses can help emerging entrepreneurs boost their website traffic, strengthen brand visibility, and increase revenue.
In that sense, search engine optimization (SEO) for small businesses is as relevant as the one employed by larger or more established companies. But unlike corporations, small businesses have a smaller budget allotted for an SEO campaign.
Despite the dilemma, tools, such as Google Web Stories, are available out there to help small businesses in implementing an effective SEO campaign with a limited budget.
What Are Google Web Stories?
Google Web Stories was previously known as AMP stories. Launched in February 2018, AMP Stories featured a content format that shares similarities with the stories functionality of many social media platforms. The technology behind AMP Stories anchors on accelerated mobile pages.
Eventually, Google rebranded AMP stories as Google Web Stories in May 2020. The Internet giant describes it as a web-based variant of the popular Story format that allows creators, such as small businesses, to host and own their content.
Google Web Stories, according to Google, are a web-based visual content format--web-based means that they can be shown across the Internet.
Promising to offer a fully immersive experience, Google Web Stories can be viewed full screen as creators publish a mix of content: audio, images, and videos.
Some brands employing Google Web Stories include Bustle, Lonely Planet and Refinery 29.
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Where Do Google Web Stories Appear?
Google Web Stories can appear across the Internet, unlike similar content published on social media apps, as per Search Engine Journal's (SEJ) explanation.
Instagram Stories, for example, can be viewed only on Instagram. Google Web Stories, meanwhile, can be published on a small business' website.
With more freedom, small businesses can use Google Web Stories to drive traffic to their website, outside the content restrictions of a social media app.
Taking advantage of the proven power of Google's search engine, Google Web Stories are more searchable on the Internet. They can be indexed like a traditional web page.
As Google Web Stories can be hosted on a small business's website, it means that they can be used on other digital marketing assets like brochures and emails.
Web Stories, unlike their social media equivalent, are browser-based. They can be viewed as long as your device can open an Internet browser.
It doesn't matter if you are using a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, or running on Android, iOS, Linux, or Windows.
How Do You Create Google Web Stories?
Small businesses can use different tools to create Google Web Stories without needing the help of a developer or a design team. Two of these tools are News Room AI and MakeStories.
News Room AI offers a WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) interface and a Getty images deal, giving creators access to millions of images.
MakeStories, meanwhile, features a drag-and-drop functionality that allows creators to customize stories with access to Google fonts and image filters.
Small businesses that use WordPress as a content management system (CMS) can also use a plugin to create Web Stories on their website. The plugin can be used to set their Web Stories metadata.
For small businesses that use Shopify, they can use the ProductStories app to convert their Shopify pages into Web Stories.
