Google Discover SEO: How to Optimize for Visibility

Google Discover is a content recommendation feature designed to surface personalized content for users based on their interests and browsing habits. With over 800 million active users, Google Discover can be a game-changer for websites looking to drive organic traffic. However, unlike traditional search engine optimization (SEO) where users perform keyword searches, Google Discover is about presenting relevant content to users before they even search. This unique approach requires specific SEO strategies to ensure that your content appears in Discover feeds.

In this article, we’ll cover the fundamentals of Google Discover SEO, offering actionable tips to optimize your content and increase your chances of appearing in Google Discover. This guide is particularly useful for businesses, bloggers, and marketers who want to capitalize on this growing platform.

1. Understanding How Google Discover Works

Unlike traditional search, where users actively input queries, Google Discover recommends content based on users’ browsing history, search activity, and app usage. It’s curated and personalized, making it a passive discovery tool rather than an active search engine.

Key factors that influence Discover content include:

• User interest: Google Discover tailors content based on what users frequently search for or engage with.
• Engagement metrics: Content that has high click-through rates (CTR), shares, and engagement is more likely to appear.
• Content freshness: Discover favors new and trending content, making it crucial to keep your site updated with fresh material.

Utility for the user: Knowing that Discover is interest-based, businesses can optimize their content to align with the interests of their target audience, increasing visibility on this platform.

2. Focus on High-Quality, Engaging Content

To rank well in Google Discover, you need to prioritize high-quality content that engages users. Discover is known for recommending visually appealing, informative, and timely articles that align with users’ preferences.

How to create high-quality content:

• Use strong visuals: Google Discover places a heavy emphasis on visual content. Articles with high-quality, eye-catching images are more likely to be featured. Make sure to use large, high-resolution images with each post.
• Write for relevance: Your content should address trending topics or provide timely, evergreen information. Google Discover rewards fresh content, but timeless articles can also gain traction if they are relevant to users’ interests.
• Keep the user in mind: Make sure your content is helpful, valuable, and aligned with the interests of your audience. User engagement metrics like time on page, clicks, and scroll depth signal to Google that your content is worth promoting.

Utility for the user: Creating engaging, well-written content with high-quality images increases the likelihood of your content being featured in Discover, driving more organic traffic.

3. Optimize for Mobile-First Users

Google Discover is predominantly used on mobile devices through the Google app or Chrome mobile. As a result, ensuring that your site is mobile-friendly is crucial for appearing in Discover feeds. Google’s mobile-first indexingmakes it important to have a responsive design that provides a seamless experience across all devices.

Key actions:

• Use a responsive design: Ensure your site is optimized for mobile devices with fast load times and easy navigation.
• Improve mobile speed: Test your website using Google PageSpeed Insights and make necessary adjustments to ensure fast loading times on mobile.
• Prioritize user experience (UX): Make sure buttons are easy to click, text is readable, and the layout adjusts smoothly for different screen sizes.

Utility for the user: A mobile-optimized website not only increases your chances of being featured in Google Discoverbut also improves overall user engagement, reducing bounce rates and increasing time spent on the page.

4. Use High-Quality Images and Metadata

Google Discover is highly visual, meaning that your images can play a critical role in attracting clicks. Each post in Discover is accompanied by an image, and Google emphasizes large images over smaller ones for a better user experience.

Key actions:

• Use large, high-resolution images that are at least 1,200 pixels wide.
• Ensure you have Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) enabled, as Discover prefers AMP pages for faster loading times.
• Include descriptive metadata: Optimize your meta descriptions and title tags to be clear and compelling. While this won’t directly guarantee a spot in Discover, it can improve your CTR once your content is surfaced.

Utility for the user: Proper image usage and metadata optimization make your content more appealing in the Discover feed, increasing the likelihood of clicks and shares.

5. Build Topical Authority

Google Discover often showcases content from sites that are recognized as authorities in their niche. To become an authority, you need to focus on creating in-depth, topic-focused content that demonstrates your expertise in a specific area.

How to build authority:

• Create content clusters: Write multiple in-depth articles around a specific topic and interlink them. For example, if your niche is SEO, you could create a cluster of articles around topics like “on-page SEO,” “backlinks,” and “technical SEO.”
• Keep updating: Fresh content is key. Regularly update your blog or website with new and relevant posts that reflect current trends.
• Earn backlinks: Backlinks from reputable websites help establish your authority, which can improve your chances of appearing in Google Discover.

Utility for the user: Building topical authority not only boosts your chances of ranking in traditional search but also positions your content as relevant and trusted for Google Discover.

6. Monitor Your Content’s Performance in Google Discover

Tracking how your content performs on Google Discover can help refine your strategy. Google Search Console provides a Discover performance report that shows which pages of your site are appearing in Discover, how many impressions they receive, and their click-through rates.

Key actions:

• Use Google Search Console to monitor the performance of your content in Google Discover.
• Analyze which types of content are driving the most traffic and tailor future posts to align with these trends.
• Test different headlines, images, and topics to see what resonates best with your audience.

Utility for the user: Monitoring your performance allows you to refine your content strategy for better results in Google Discover, ensuring that your efforts align with audience preferences.

7. Focus on E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

Google increasingly relies on E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to rank content, and this extends to Google Discover. Google favors content from reputable sources, particularly for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance, and news.

Key actions:

• Cite reliable sources and ensure that your content is factually accurate.
• Showcase author credentials: Display information about your content creators’ expertise, which can boost credibility.
• Use HTTPS for your website to signal trustworthiness to Google.

Utility for the user: Prioritizing E-A-T in your content improves your chances of being featured in Google Discover, particularly for sensitive or high-stakes topics.

Optimizing for Google Discover involves focusing on quality content, mobile usability, visual appeal, and relevance to user interests. By creating engaging, topic-focused content with high-quality images and optimizing for mobile, you increase your chances of being surfaced in users’ Discover feeds. Regularly updating your content, monitoring its performance, and building your authority in your niche will further enhance your Discover SEO strategy, leading to higher engagement and more organic traffic.