Imagine that your articles and posts are automatically presented to the right users at the exact moment they are most interested in them.
For you as a blogger, this means an incredible opportunity to expand your reach, gain new readers and increase traffic exponentially. With the right strategy and optimization, your blog can appear regularly in Google Discover and thus continuously record high visitor numbers.
”The potential of Google Discover is enormous. A single post can generate thousands of hits when it appears in the Discover feed.
Norbert Kathriner
Be inspired by the possibilities and start using the advantages of Google Discover for yourself. The path to more visibility, more traffic and more success is right in front of you – and Google Discover can be the key!
Before you start, make sure that the following requirements are met in order to use the potential of Google Discover or to be included:
- Domain at least six months old: Your website should be at least six months old, as brand new domains rarely receive Discover traffic.
- Stable technical foundation: Your website must be mobile-optimized, load quickly and function technically flawlessly.
- Basic SEO optimization: Make sure that basic SEO practices are already implemented, including the use of schema markup.
- High-quality content: Your previous posts should be well-researched, informative and relevant.
- Visual quality: Use high-quality images that are at least 1200 pixels wide.
- Established trust: You should already have an about page, privacy policy and contact options on your website to build trust with readers and search engines.
Create high-quality and consistent content
Create first-class content that inspires your readers and offers them real added value!
Quality over quantity
Google Discover prefers high-quality content that provides users with relevant and useful information. Therefore, you should make sure that you provide your readers with valuable content that piques their interest and helps them achieve their goals. It is better to publish fewer high-quality posts than many posts with little added value.
Actuality
Keep your blog updated and publish new posts to ensure your blog remains relevant to readers. Make sure you pick up on current trends and topics and incorporate them into your articles.
By providing up-to-date content, you can increase the likelihood of your posts appearing in Google Discover and bring a greater number of visitors to your blog.
Consistent themes
Choose a specific topic and stick to it. By focusing on a specific topic, you can build up your expertise in this area and gain the trust of your readers. By consistently addressing relevant topics, you can appeal to your target audience and increase your visibility in Google Discover.
As a blogger, you do not need to submit your website for Google News, but you do need to register for the Publisher Center and organize the individual section pages into so-called labels. This makes it very easy for Google to find and crawl links to the news articles.
Important: The URLs of the section pages should not change. If they change, Google will no longer find a valid URL under the label.
”Discover works amazingly well because Google knows a shocking amount about all of us. From our location data to our online purchases to the websites we visit, Google has tons of data on all of us that they can use to predict our interests and passions - and match us with related content.
Norbert Kathriner
Technical SEO optimization
Optimize your website to make it faster, more mobile and more user-friendly
Mobile optimization
Google Discover needs mobile-friendly websites. Make sure that all functions, content and media are easily visible and operable on small screens.
A good mobile user experience is not only appreciated by Google Discover, but also by your users. Therefore, it is essential that your website is mobile-optimized to maximize traffic from Google Discover.
Page Speed
The speed of your website plays a crucial role in optimizing it for Google Discover. Make sure your site loads quickly, as a slow load time can affect both the user experience and visibility in search results.
Optimize the code of your website and minimize the number of HTTP requests to shorten the loading time. Use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to measure the performance of your site and receive suggestions for improvement.
A fast loading time not only increases your chances of appearing in Google Discover, but also improves the overall user experience on your website.
Structured data
Use schema markup to label your content correctly. Using structured data is an effective way to improve the findability of your content in Google Discover.
Structured data allows search engines to better understand what is displayed on your website and can help your content to be seen as more relevant.
Use schema markup to identify important information such as the title, author, date and description of your articles. This makes it easier for Google Discover to index your content and display it in the search results. Make sure that you implement the structured data correctly and check it regularly to ensure that it is working properly.
News articles can only rank if the Google crawler can easily read the layout and format of the news page.
Requirements for the page layout:
- The article pages must be in HTML format and the body text must not be embedded in JavaScript, as this would delay the indexing process too much.
- The headlines of the articles and the time of their publication must be easily recognized by the Google crawler.
- The template should be as simple as possible. Integrate as few disruptive elements (or advertising) as possible within the text. There must be no additional text between the title and the text of the article.
- The author and date must be clearly distinguished from the text of the article.
- To be considered in Google News, articles must have a clear and visible date and time and ideally be placed between the headline and the article text. Google recommends specifying the data twice: once in a format that is visible to users on the page, and additionally as structured data within the source code.
Image size
Make sure that your images are at least 1,200 pixels wide and are actually displayed with 1,200+ pixels.
XML news sitemap
With an XML news sitemap, you determine which content is sent to the various Google News channels. The XML sitemap is a must-have for news optimization. This increases the likelihood that your article will be found and displayed in the Google universe in a short time.
”Discover Traffic is a lifeline for publishers who were affected by Google's Helpful Content Update (HCU) at the end of 2023, which reduced many publishers' traditional search traffic by 80% or more.
Norbert Kathriner
Building authority and trust (EEAT)
Show your team’s expertise, increase your surface area (number of channels) and build trust!
About page, privacy policy and contact form
To build trust with your readers and Google Discover, it’s important to create a compelling about page. On this page you should provide information about yourself, your expertise and your goals.
You should also create a privacy policy to give your readers security when handling their personal information. A contact form makes it easy for readers to get in touch with you and ask questions or give feedback.
Value proposition
Build trust by introducing the editorial team, publishing editorial guidelines and describing the goals and history of your company.
Presence on external platforms
Maintain active profiles on relevant social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Get involved in specialist forums and online communities to show your expertise and passion for your subject area.
Through regular interactions on these platforms, you can expand your reach and draw the attention of potential readers to your blog.
Author bylines
If possible, use author bylines in your articles. By assigning a unique author to each article and providing a short biography or information about the author, you show readers who is responsible for the content.
In addition, this can lead to readers associating the content with certain authors and specifically searching for further articles by the author.
Use of visual elements
Captivate your readers, increase added value and create curiosity through information gaps!
Headlines with an information gap
Headlines with an information gap are an effective way of arousing users’ curiosity and getting them to open your blog post.
A good headline should provide enough information to arouse the reader’s interest, but not give too much away to arouse their curiosity.
For example, you can ask a question or make a statement that addresses the topic but doesn’t reveal all the details.
Integration of videos and infographics
Integrating videos and infographics into your blog posts can make your content more appealing and easier to understand.
Videos offer a way of explaining complex topics or presenting instructions visually. Infographics are ideal for presenting complex data or information in an easily digestible way.
Optimization of image descriptions
When integrating images, you should also optimize the image descriptions to give users context and improve the visibility of your content. Use Schema.orgor og:image tags to let the bot find the image you want to appear as a thumbnail next to your article.
Use relevant keywords in the image descriptions to ensure that your images are displayed for the relevant search queries.
Use of social media and external sources
Share your content on social media and build a strong network!
Sharing blog posts on social media platforms
An effective strategy for optimizing your niche blog for Google Discover is to share your blog posts on various social media platforms. By sharing, you will achieve a greater reach and attract potential readers to your blog.
Choose the social media platforms that your target group uses the most and make sure you add engaging descriptions to your posts to pique users’ interest. Use relevant hashtags to make your posts visible to a larger number of users.
Links to relevant external sources
By including links to trustworthy sources, you can convince your readers that your information is well-founded and meets current standards.
Image links or links embedded in JavaScript cannot be crawled. Therefore, make sure that all articles on your section pages only contain HTML links.
Integration of social media widgets
Integrating social media widgets into your blog gives your readers the opportunity to share your content with their own social networks.
In addition to increasing reach, social media widgets offer users an intuitive way to interact with your content and provide feedback by leaving likes, comments or shares. Promote the integration of your content in social media to increase visibility.
Secured and newsworthy content
Make your blog a reliable source for your readers!
Have you asked yourself how you can make your content safe and newsworthy? Here are some important tips to keep in mind.
It is (unfortunately) important to avoid problematic content. Not only does this mean that you should avoid content that violates Google Discover guidelines, but you must be careful not to put your reader in an embarrassing situation if they read your article in public.
Especially for a niche blog, your credibility is crucial. It is therefore essential to avoid misleading or manipulative content.
Make sure that your information is correct and transparent. Avoid adding exaggerated claims or false information to attract users.
Google Discover prefers trustworthy and informative content. Be careful not to deceive your readers and make sure that your content is serious and credible.
Update your content regularly to ensure it is relevant and up to date. Also check the sources of your information to make sure it is reliable and credible.
”Classic Google search is all about impressing an algorithm. With Discover, you still need to be in the algorithm's favor, but you need to impress people first and foremost.
Norbert Kathriner
The momentum
Drive traffic to your stories from various sources!
Last but not least, momentum seems to be an important factor in which stories appear on Discover. Interestingly, tests have shown that the increased visibility of your website doesn’t just have to come from Google – trends from external sources are also picked up.
Evaluation of clicks from Chrome users
When Google sees that many Chrome users click on a story in an external source such as Facebook, they are happy to include it in Discover and distribute it further.
So Google wants to play it safe with Discover. “This article is doing extremely well on Facebook!”, Google seems to think. “Let’s jump on the bandwagon and show our users too! If it hasn’t caused a scandal on Facebook, we’ll probably be fine too!”
If an article of yours does well on a non-Google platform, you can expect Discover to take notice.
Conclusion:
Google Discover is the key to more visibility and traffic
Google Discover can become the most valuable of all traffic sources for your blog if you use the right strategies and work patiently at it. Always remember that users scrolling through their Discover feed will only see a headline, the article’s post photo and the name of the publication. By far the most important: the “information gap”.
