Building Embedded Web Stories for WordPress

The story format promotes magazine-style visual storytelling by packaging content in an immersive viewport that works well on mobile & desktop. Brands have better engagement, conversion & content flexibility using the format. Not surprisingly, it is massively popular through Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and other social networks.

Although the format itself is appealing, the way most platforms implement stories has issues around accessibility and ephemerality. Additionally, some of these platforms limit story's full functionality to their native mobile apps, even if they have fully functional websites.

We love stories as a format for their unique distraction-free experience. So when we received an opportunity to collaborate with Google for Web Stories, we were more than thrilled.

The Challenge

WordPress powers over 40% of the web, yet there was no first-class way for publishers to create and embed Web Stories natively. The team needed a solution that felt at home in the Gutenberg editor while remaining accessible, fast, and SEO-friendly.

• Seamless integration with the WordPress block editor
• Full accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1)
• Optimized performance for Core Web Vitals
• Cross-platform compatibility across browsers and devices

Our Approach

We built a plugin that exposes Web Stories as native Gutenberg blocks, giving publishers the same flexibility they'd expect from any other WordPress content. Every interaction was designed for performance.

“The collaboration with rtCamp allowed us to bring Web Stories to millions of WordPress publishers worldwide in a way that feels native and effortless.”

The Results

• 500K+ active installs of the Web Stories plugin
• 4.5 star average rating on WordPress.org
• Used by top publishers including Condé Nast and TechCrunch
• Featured on the WordPress.org homepage