How to make money with Google Web Stories in 2022?

Introduction to Web Stories on Google

Web Stories are a series of tappable, mobile-optimized, interactive images or videos. They are like stories on social media. The intention of creating web stories is to provide concise information fast.

A brand has complete ownership to conceptualize and execute Web stories. There are no restrictions unlike on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

Google introduced Web Stories in 2015, then known as AMP stories. It did not gain momentum and did not continue. In recent times, social media stories being a game-changer in user behavior. Google made the decision to relaunch AMP stories as Google Web Stories in October 2020. They did so in India, Brazil, and the United States. Learn more about Google Web Stories here.

Benefits of Web Stories on Google

Apart from having full ownership of the stories, hosting them on your website is an advantage! They are not bound by a 24-hour time limit, unlike Instagram and Facebook. It helps you reach a wider audience. You can also boost your SEO with easy indexing. Another benefit is you can track the performance of your web stories on Google Analytics. You can also send real-time notifications to your users using the Live Story feature.

But what a lot of brands and marketers don’t know is that Google Web Stories are also a source of revenue! Dive deeper to understand the benefits of Google Web Stories.

How do Web Stories Ads work and where do they appear?

There are 500 million people viewing Instagram stories daily. If you are one of them, you must have come across sponsored ads. A study by Hootsuite revealed that 50% of users visit the website of a product or service they saw in ads. This makes it important for marketers to capitalize on advertising on Instagram stories.

Web Stories Ads are full-length, engaging ad creatives. The user can view it while browsing through a Web Story. These ads appear based on the number of pages viewed on the story and the time spent on the site. Hence, the longer a Web Story, the higher the ad impressions will be. The biggest advantage of Web Stories Ads is that 100% of revenue generated goes to you.

Types of Story Ads

Currently, there are different types of story ads that a brand can publish on web stories.

1. Display Ads – These are ads used to drive traffic to the advertiser’s website. They can be in the form of images, videos, text, or audio.
2. Affiliate Links – These are ads with either a call-to-action like ‘swipe up’. You can add this using the page attachment option on the Web Story. Another way is to add definite links to direct the user to the affiliate sites. It is advisable not to use affiliate links in every story instead keep them limited.
3. Brand Deals – Create an individual story that appears like an ad. Do so by highlighting your product or service

How to monetize Google Web Stories?

You can use any type of ad story mentioned above to make money with Google Web Stories. An ad story with an AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) framework is an open-source HTML. It aims at aiding faster mobile loading to enhance user experience. There are many supporting ad networks. Google AdSense or Google Ad Manager are some that help creates Web Story Ads.

Google recommends using third-party tools like MakeStories. Besides creating and publishing, it helps with monetizing Google Web Stories.

You can do so in 3 simple steps:

1. Sign in to your MakeStories account

   

2. Go to General Settings

   

3. Advertising Set Up – which gives you the option of monetization. It can be through Google Adsense, Google Ad Manager, or creating a Custom ad.

   

How to create a Web Story Ad

Before you learn how to create a Web Story Ad, it is important to keep a few things in mind Web Story Ads use AMP technology and are created for a mobile-optimized, full-page experience.

• Web Story Ads use AMP technology. This helps for a mobile-optimized, full-page experience
• Meet the dimensions of the vertical format of stories
• Focus on engaging and creative content. Make your ad design stand out!
• Ensure AMPHTML specifications are mentioned accurately
• Ensure a clear Call-To-Action is mentioned in your ad story

Creating your first Web Story is very simple, especially if you have had the experience of creating stories for social media. Mentioned below are simple steps to create a Web Story Ad:

1. Find the right tool for creating web stories
2. Outline your story
3. Add visual elements
4. Create the story
5. Publish the story

MakeStories is a recommended option for both beginners as well as professionals. Its simple features help in creating web stories easily. Learn how to create your first web story on MakeStories here.

How to track your Story Ad performance

Tracking your ad story performance depends on the ad network you use. It is like tracking Google Ads on Google Analytics. On Google AdSense, you can view the visual ad report to analyze how your ad story is performing.

You can track the performance of a Web Story Ad based on the following criteria:

1. Estimated Earnings
2. Page Views
3. Page RPM
4. Impressions
5. Impressions RPM
6. Clicks
7. Total earnings

Summary

Web Stories Ads is a revenue generation route that brands should definitely explore. Like Instagram ads, ad stories appear while a user is browsing through Web Stories on Google. There are a few Ad network tools such as Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager. They help with monetizing and tracking your ad stories. Google recommends using third-party tools like MakeStories. They provide you with a platform for anything Web Stories related.