Jagran New Media’s OnlyMyHealth & HerZindagi Explore Google’s New Storytelling format

In the rapidly evolving landscape of storytelling, a new platform from Google is allowing publishers and creators to tell visually appealing stories. It is a new way to tell stories on the open web, simply called “Web Stories”.

Jagran New Media’s Health and Lifestyle sites, OnlyMyHealth.com and HerZindagi.com are proud to collaborate with Google in exploring this new engaging format. With Web Stories, Jagran New Media sites have been producing high quality, visually stimulating, ‘tappable’ stories in Hindi that are allowing users to interact with full screen visuals, videos and text.

At Jagran New Media, Web Stories is especially becoming a favourite for stories that need to be ‘seen’. Travel, fashion, food, genres where text alone cannot do justice, Google’s Web Stories allow for a complete immersive experience. At the tap of a finger, a user can navigate the entire Web Story carousel and enjoy videos, pictures and audio experience- all in one. The resultant content pieces are appealing and easily sharable.

HerZindagi.com, JNM’s women’s lifestyle site has utilized the feature to showcase original content in meaningful bite size slides. Its Web story on the sights and sounds of Pushkar Fair, for example, is a representation of all that is possible to do with the exciting medium of Web Stories. The site has also found the format preferable to share stories on fashion trends, jewellery designs, makeup techniques, skin care regimes, bridal couture etc.

Try out the Web Stories experience through HerZindagi’s specially crafted Hindi stories here.

OnlyMyHealth.com, JNM’s health site has also explored new formats using Web Stories tool. Sticking to the principles of credibility and trust, OnlyMyHealth has been creating engaging stories on fitness, diet and weight management, also incorporating advice by accredited doctors and experts as videos. A good example to share is its story on nutritional components in popular dishes, a perfect amalgam of accurate information served with great visuals and animations.

Health stories are now so much more interactive on OnlyMyHealth’s Hindi Web Stories.

Speaking about the feature, Bharat Gupta, CEO, Jagran New Media says, “One of the key challenges of publishers today is to present a rich story with context, continuity and visual appeal. Web Stories on Google has solved this problem by enabling us with an exciting, simple to use template that is both interactive & immersive, and offers rich media environment to enable publishers with better story telling. Early adoptions have shown very encouraging engagement numbers. We are excited for the full roll out & wish Google Team all the best!”

Megha Mamgain, Heading Health and Lifestyle verticals at Jagran New Media says, “We have been working with Google to kickstart the Web Stories ecosystem and have found that our readers have responded positively to the snackable, full screen experience. On the one hand the format works very well in holding the otherwise fleeting attention of the user and on the other, allows for use of spectacular imagery and videos. We have observed a bounce rate as low as 30% and time spent of close to 4 minutes, testimony to the fact that Web stories are compelling users to stick on till they reach the last slide of the story. I also see Web Stories as a good journalistic tool that allows photographs, videos and audio reportage to be combined to bring out a comprehensive coverage.”

While JNM sites are choosing to use custom tools to design its Web stories, incorporating all technical specs specified by Google, Web Stories are simple and easy to use. The format is mobile focussed, and despite the rich visuals, it is fast loading. With the familiar tap and go interface, Web Stories promise to be a fun, interactive way users and creators will look at stories now.