STRUCTURED DATA · SEO GLOSSARY
Web Story SEO
Optimising Google Web Stories — a tappable, full-screen visual content format (similar to social stories) built in AMP HTML — to rank in Google\'s dedicated Web Stories carousel in Google Search, Google Discover, and Google Images. Requires valid AMP HTML markup, `StoryPage` structured data, a poster image, and a publisher logo.
Definition
Google Web Stories is a visual, mobile-first content format derived from the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project. Web Stories are tappable, full-screen vertical experiences built with AMP HTML — each story consists of multiple "pages" (slides) combining images, video, text, and animations. Google displays Web Stories in a dedicated carousel in mobile Google Search results (for web story-type queries), in Google Discover, and in Google Images. Web Story SEO optimisation: **Valid AMP HTML** — Web Stories must be built with valid AMP HTML, using the `<html amp lang="en">` attribute and the AMP boilerplate CSS. Building with Google\'s Web Stories WordPress plugin, the Web Stories for WordPress plugin, or a dedicated web story builder (MakeStories, Newsroom AI) handles AMP compliance automatically. **Poster image** — each Web Story must include a `poster-portrait-src` attribute on the `<amp-story>` element pointing to an image that\'s at least 640×853px in portrait orientation (3:4 ratio). This is the thumbnail shown in story carousels. **Publisher logo** — a square logo (1:1 ratio, minimum 96×96px) included as `publisher-logo-src`. **StoryPage schema** — Web Stories can include `StoryPage` structured data for each page, though basic indexation doesn\'t require it. **Canonical link** — the canonical URL should point to the Web Story\'s own URL (not a duplicate HTML version). **Metadata** — Web Stories need a `<title>` tag in the `<head>` (this becomes the story title in search), and Open Graph tags (`og:image` = the poster image, `og:title`, `og:description`). **Story index page** — link to your Web Stories from an index page on your site to help Google discover them; include Web Story URLs in your sitemap.
Why it matters for SEO
Web Stories appear in dedicated SERP carousels that have high visual prominence on mobile — a story carousel can dominate the top of a mobile search result for the right query types. For publishers in verticals where visual storytelling is effective (travel, food, news, lifestyle), Web Stories can be a meaningful incremental traffic source. The format is less suited to B2B SaaS or technical content, where users prefer text-based comprehensive resources over visual story slides.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
The audit checks for AMP validity on Web Story URLs discovered in the crawl (the `<html amp>` attribute and AMP boilerplate), poster image presence and minimum dimensions (640×853px), publisher logo inclusion, and canonical tag correctness on story pages. For sites that include Web Stories in their sitemap, it verifies that the story URLs return 200 responses and have the AMP attribute present.
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
structured data
Structured Data
Machine-readable annotations added to HTML — usually JSON-LD — that explicitly describe what a page is about to search engines and AI systems.
Read definition →onpage
Google Discover
Google\'s personalised content recommendation feed — shown in the Google app and Chrome on mobile — that surfaces articles based on a user\'s search history and interests, without a search query.
Read definition →onpage
Open Graph
A set of `<meta>` tags in the `<head>` that control how a page appears when shared on social media and in chat apps — title, description, image, and URL.
Read definition →technical
Mobile-First Indexing
Google\'s approach of crawling and indexing the mobile version of a page as the primary version for ranking purposes.
Read definition →structured data
Rich Results
Enhanced search result formats that Google displays beyond the standard blue link, title, and description — including star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, product panels, recipe cards, How To steps, event dates, and job listings — enabled by valid structured data (JSON-LD schema) in the page\'s server-rendered HTML.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Web Story SEO.
The free DeepSEOAnalysis audit checks web story seo and 100+ other signals. Full report, no signup.
Run a free audit →