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Publishers who are new to the Stories world, might have a whole lot of questions on where they should begin on building out their publisher platform. In a recent post, we covered the most basic questions you should have answered before venturing into the bold new world of Web Stories. While some of these questions might be focused on strategy, here’s a follow-up post we wrote on the next set of tactical considerations you should bring up with your digital team.

Any content strategy requires a sense of direction. Here’s three strategic imperatives for any web stories strategy.

1. Always begin with the end-user in mind

It’s a mobile-mobile-mobile world

There’s a rising tide of video consumption with eighty percent of U.S. mobile users streaming video on their smartphones. Even better, is that more than half of video content is consumed on mobile devices. Consumers have begun to expect a good mobile experience, especially since they spend an average of nearly three hours per day on their devices. 

Sites that load faster increase engagement

One of the Web Stories pioneers, Google’s open source AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project enables mobile sites to load four times faster than traditional web pages, resulting in increased site traffic and click-through. Want to do even better, speed up even more by limiting third-party trackers to less than a few with the help of tools like Ghostery. 

Fast is good, secure is better

HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) protects passwords, personal data, and credit card information in addition to improving search rankings and brand image. If your site doesn’t have that security yet, consider this before you consider web stories.

2. Be bold with your creative content

It’s a flashy world, so make your content stand out  

Pick visuals that showcase key snippets in the video, feature people vs. background visuals, and provide a single point of focus with contrasting colors and pacing. Choose SEO-friendly Metadata or Descriptions to augment your content too.  

Clarity speaks loudest 

To boost your video’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings, don’t forget to embed your metadata in your video files too so there’s no discrepancy between what’s in your video and what’s on your page. 

Go big or go home with your video player  

Opting for a larger video player (600×400 pixels or bigger) boosts engagement and thus your ad revenue. Your video content should be the main element of your page when it loads.

3. Be strategic about your content

Shorter is better when it comes to videos 

A recent study found that global consumers are watching videos that are five  minutes or shorter more often daily. And, if your video is shorter than 90 seconds, an increasingly common option with web stories and short videos, opt for a 6- or 15-second pre-roll. 

Publishing is good, repurposing is better  

Any good publisher must have a deep roster of content with professional footage they have captured, but if you’d like to augment your existing videos choose user-generated content from a slew of companies, ourselves included. 

The algorithm always wins  

Better still, remember when you have a deep content library, surfacing contextually relevant content that’s targeted to your viewers’ interests and viewing behavior by using data-driven recommendations always helps them enjoy and learn from their stay in your publishing home.

This is just the starting point for publishers who would like to start building out their web stories strategy, and we’ll continue sharing our tips and tricks on where to begin.

If you have other questions on this topic, please feel free to reach out to us on LinkedIn and Twitter where we answer publisher questions on similar topics. Thanks for reading!

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