{"id":2978984,"date":"2026-08-03T07:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T14:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2978984"},"modified":"2026-08-06T09:48:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:48:47","slug":"improve-your-story-performance-in-arcgis-storymaps","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/constituent-engagement\/improve-your-story-performance-in-arcgis-storymaps","title":{"rendered":"Improve your story performance in ArcGIS StoryMaps"},"author":8672,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37131],"tags":[398132,781051,30321],"industry":[],"product":[380802],"class_list":["post-2978984","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constituent-engagement","tag-arcgis-storymaps","tag-geospatial-storytelling","tag-performance","product-arcgis-storymaps"],"acf":{"short_description":"Great stories keep readers engaged from start to finish. These best practices help you prevents poor reader experiences.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":"

Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2022 ArcGIS StoryMaps is designed for performance, but authors need to make content choices based on their audience and story goals to ensure a good reading experience.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Avoid clustering resource-intensive content in one section of your story for low-bandwidth readers.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Remove extra layers from web maps and use the\u00a0Review map<\/a>\u00a0tool to improve map performance.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Test your story with a colleague before publishing.<\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Right","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Great stories keep readers engaged from start to finish, but slow-loading maps, browser crashes, and lagging videos can distract from your story. Improving story performance helps readers spend more time exploring your content and less time waiting for it to load.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

ArcGIS StoryMaps helps improve performance automatically, but as an author, you still need to make choices based on who will read your story, how they will access it, and the goals of the story. Will most readers access the story at work on a powerful computer with fast internet, or on a phone over a slow mobile network?<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

These best practices help you make those choices, so your story performs as expected and prevents poor reader experiences.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Story Structure<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

An effective story structure will set you up for faster loading times. ArcGIS StoryMaps automatically loads all your story text, then any pieces of visible content. The sidecar block loads the current slide, the next two, and the previous slide. This means that up to four slides\u2019 worth of media can be loaded simultaneously. Develop a story structure that spreads resource-intensive content throughout your story rather than condensing it together. A simple story structure that relies less on interactive blocks and more on in-line blocks will perform better for low-bandwidth audiences.<\/p>\n