12 Effective Ways to Appear on Google Discover

Google Discover is a platform that provides personalized content to users based on their interests. This platform utilizes algorithms based on users’ previous search history, interactions with Google products, and other information Google has about the user to deliver a content feed. Content is typically visible on the Google mobile app, accessed from mobile devices through Google.com, and on certain Google-supported home screens, such as the Google Pixel Launcher. Google Discover is highly personalized, so different users will see different content in their feeds.

Here are effective ways to increase your visibility on Google Discover:

1. Publish High-Quality Content

The quality of your content is key to appearing on Google Discover. If your content is weak, does not meet the user’s intent, or does not comply with Google’s Webmaster guidelines, it won’t be visible on Google Discover.

Creating high-quality content increases the likelihood of users and search engines perceiving your site as a valuable and trustworthy resource. Here are some tips for creating quality content:

• Be User-Focused: Ensure that your content caters to the needs and interests of your target audience. This can help users spend more time on your site and encourage them to share your content.
• Be Unique and Original: Duplicate content is generally penalized by search engines. By creating your own unique and original content, you add value to users and search engines.
• Inform and Entertain: Good content provides information to users while entertaining them. Providing information increases the likelihood of readers learning from your content, while being entertaining encourages them to read more.
• Use Proper Writing and Grammar: Good writing and grammar help your content appear professional and trustworthy. Additionally, it makes it easier for readers to understand your content.
• Consider SEO: Implementing good SEO practices enhances the discoverability and ranking of your content. This includes keyword research, optimizing meta descriptions and headings, and using appropriate alt text.
• Utilize Visual Elements: Visual elements can enhance the appeal of your content and help users understand information better. This can include infographics, videos, and high-quality photographs.
• Provide Up-to-Date and Accurate Information: Regularly update and verify your information. Outdated or misleading information can decrease user trust in your site.
• Encourage User Interaction: Encourage comments, questions, and feedback. This can increase engagement on your site and encourage users to share your content.

2. Pay Attention to SEO Optimization

Naturally incorporating keywords, optimizing for natural language processing, adding visual and alt tags, creating external and internal links, and using creative and informative headlines can increase your chances of appearing on Google Discover.

3. Build EAT

Google recommends websites that adhere to the principles of Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EAT). This means writing with expertise, showcasing your skills, providing links to reliable sources, receiving backlinks from established sites, and ensuring honesty and security on your website and author.

EAT is an acronym established by Google for search engine optimization (SEO). EAT stands for “Expertise,” “Authority,” and “Trustworthiness.”

The EAT principles provide a guide for content creators and site owners to measure how trustworthy their content and sites are in the eyes of Google and users.

• Expertise: The author of the content or the site should have sufficient knowledge and experience in a specific subject. This demonstrates that the content creator is an expert in the field and capable of providing information on the topic.
• Authority: The author of the content or the site should be recognized as an authority or leader in a specific subject. This is often demonstrated through external links and references that show the author or site is reputable and respected in their field.
• Trustworthiness: The author of the content or the site should be honest and transparent to gain user trust. This can be based on factors such as having site security certificates, a commitment to protecting users’ personal information, and having publicly available contact information.

These principles are particularly important for topics classified as “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL). YMYL topics are those that have a significant impact on users’ health, finances, or lives, such as medical or financial advice. However, the EAT principles are generally applicable to all content and sites.

4. Use High-Quality Images

Google Discover often recommends visual content. Using high-quality images that are relevant to your content can increase your chances of being featured.

5. Optimize for Mobile

Google Discover primarily operates on mobile devices, so it’s important to ensure that your content loads quickly on mobile devices.

6. Write Evergreen Content

Both new and evergreen content can increase your visibility on Google Discover. It’s important to write time-sensitive content that will be valuable throughout the year. This way, you’ll continue to receive traffic as long as your content remains useful.

“Evergreen” content refers to content that is not time-sensitive and maintains its value over a long period. The term “evergreen” is derived from the concept of trees staying green throughout the year. Evergreen content typically covers topics such as general information, tips and advice, educational materials, and frequently asked questions that will remain relevant over time.

For example, a blog post titled “Best smartphones in 2023” is time-sensitive content because the information will become outdated and irrelevant in 2024. However, a blog post titled “How to choose a smartphone?” is considered evergreen content as it covers a general topic and includes tips and information that will remain valid over time.

7. Ensure Your Content is Indexed and Crawlable

If Google cannot verify or index your content in the Google Search Console (GSC) or if Google bots cannot crawl your content, it will never appear on Google Discover. The easiest way to ensure your content is quickly indexed is by submitting an XML sitemap.

8. Sign Up for Google My Business

Registering your website with Google My Business and creating a Google Knowledge Graph can increase your visibility on Google Discover.

Google My Business is a free tool that helps your business become more visible in Google search results and Google Maps. To register your business with Google My Business, you can follow these steps:

• Create a Google Account: You need to have a Google account to sign up for Google My Business. If you don’t have a Google account yet, you’ll need to create one first.
• Sign in to Google My Business: Go to the Google My Business website (www.google.com/business) and click on “Get Started” or “Manage Now” button.
• Enter Your Business Information: Enter the name of your business, address (if you have a storefront business), and category. If you have a service-based business where customers don’t come to your location (e.g., a home-based business), you can hide your address and specify the areas you serve.
• Specify Your Location: If you have a physical location and want customers to visit you, you’ll need to specify your business location on Google Maps.
• Enter Your Contact Information: Add your business phone number and/or website.
• Verification Process: You’ll need to verify your business with Google My Business. Google typically sends a verification code to your business address via mail. However, in some cases, you can verify via phone, email, or Google Search Console.
• Enter the Verification Code: After receiving the verification code, sign in to your Google My Business account and click on the “Verify” button. Then enter the verification code.

Once you complete these steps, your business will be listed on Google My Business. Now you can enhance your business profile by adding hours, uploading photos, and providing more information about your business. Your business profile will appear in Google search results and Google Maps.

9. Educate Your Audience about Google Discover

Users can choose which content or sites they see on Google Discover. Therefore, inform your audience why they should follow you through your content or newsletter. In news websites, having a “Subscribe to Google News” button is crucial as it informs users about Google Discover and allows them to stay updated with your news articles.

10. Write Viral Content

Publishing shareable content is another way to appear on Google Discover. So, in addition to evergreen or newsworthy content, include some viral content, share it on social media channels, and encourage your audience to share the content.

Viral content is content that is rapidly shared by a wide audience and often gains significant popularity in a short period of time. There is no definite formula for creating viral content, as predicting what content will go viral is often challenging. However, there are some strategies and tips to consider when creating viral content:

• Provide Information: Content that provides valuable information tends to be shared. This can be practical advice, interesting facts, or a guide on how to do something.
• Evoke Emotional Reactions: It’s important for your content to evoke an emotional response. This can be joy, surprise, curiosity, or any other emotional reaction. Emotional reactions increase the likelihood of people sharing the content.
• Tell Stories: Stories often have a viral tendency because people connect with stories and enjoy sharing them. A compelling story makes your content memorable and encourages more shares.
• Use Visual Elements: Visual elements make your content more appealing and shareable. This can include videos, infographics, memes, or any other type of visual content.
• Touch on Controversial Topics: Controversial topics often have a viral potential because people share them to express and engage in different opinions.
• Encourage Interaction: It’s important for your content to encourage interaction. This can involve asking questions, prompting people to share the content, or leaving comments.
• Pay Attention to Timing: Timing is crucial for viral content. Publish your content at times when your target audience is most active.

11. Competitor Analysis

If you’re still struggling to get your high-quality content published on Google Discover, open Google Discover on your device and customize it to receive recommendations based on your niche. Then analyze the pages already ranked on Google Discover, check what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and find ways to surpass them.

When conducting competitor analysis for news websites, you may need to focus on specific points in addition to following general competitor analysis principles.

• Content Analysis: Examine what topics your competitors cover, what types of news they publish, and which areas they focus on the most. Understanding where your competitors excel and which areas they receive less attention can be valuable.
• Publication Frequency: Determine how often your competitors publish content. This can help you establish your own publishing strategy.
• Social Media and SEO Strategies: Study which social media platforms your competitors use and what SEO strategies they implement. Identifying the keywords they target and the level of engagement they receive on social media is important.
• User Experience: Evaluate the user experience of your competitors’ websites. Factors such as site design, navigation, site speed, and mobile compatibility play a significant role in the success of a news website.
• Audience Feedback: Read feedback from your competitors’ audience. This can help you gain more insights into your own target audience and understand what your competitors are doing right and where they may be making mistakes.
• Partnerships and Sponsorships: Determine which brands your competitors collaborate with and what types of sponsorship agreements they have. This can help you identify your own partnership and sponsorship opportunities.
• SWOT Analysis: Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This can assist you in strategic planning.

12. Avoid Clickbait Tactics

Using tactics such as making excessive promises in headlines, images, or snippets and not delivering on them, directly lying in headlines, or withholding information about what readers will find in the article can lead to your website being perceived as untrustworthy both on Google Discover and the regular Google Search platform.

The term “clickbait” refers to the practice of using exaggerated or misleading headlines, images, or meta tags to encourage users to click. However, these tactics often lead to content that fails to meet users’ expectations, which can reduce user satisfaction and cause Google to evaluate your site as low-quality or untrustworthy.

Google recommends that headlines, images, and meta tags accurately represent the content of the article. This allows users to understand what to expect and leads to higher user satisfaction and a higher likelihood of engagement.

For example, an article with a headline like “10 Secrets to Making the Perfect Cake in 10 Steps” should deliver on those steps and ultimately achieve the expectation of making a perfect cake. If the article only provides general cake baking tips and lacks the necessary details to achieve the goal of a “perfect cake,” it can be considered clickbait because the headline exaggerates what the content actually delivers.

Such tactics can diminish users’ trust in your website and may result in Google ranking your site lower. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that your content is accurately and honestly represented.

Conclusion

Implementing these steps to increase your visibility on Google Discover can help your site reach a broader audience and attract more traffic. Applying all of these strategies can enhance your content’s chances of appearing on Google Discover. However, since the exact workings of Google’s algorithm are not fully disclosed, no strategy guarantees specific results. Results often require trial and error and continuous optimization.