Are you unhappy with your SEO results, despite the best efforts? Or do you believe that there is someplace else on the internet that you should aim to rank in order to get found by potential customers? In this case, you have reached the right content piece, because we are about to show you how to perform content optimisation for Google Discover.
What Exactly Is Google Discover? Is It a New Search Tool?
Google Discover reflects the Alphabet’s company new approach to content delivery. In the sense that, if users allow Google to learn more about their preferences and their location, they can be served with content that may be of interest to them.
Thus, Google Discover has little to do with searching for information, being a content curation tool. Right now it is available strictly on the mobile platform. In order to be able to access Google Discover, users need to turn on Web & App Activity in their Google account settings. In a short time, Google will be able to suggest relevant content to them based on their:
- Location
- Search history
- Activity in other apps
- Interests.
Why Should You Perform Content Optimisation for Google Discover?
As the explanation above shows, Google Discover is different from Google Search. As a consequence, it has different ranking criteria than those for SERPs that you are already trying to meet through your SEO efforts.
Thus, if you want to get your content included in Google Discover, you need to apply different tactics. In other words, you need content optimisation for Google Discover, following the best practices for this specific Google service.
As you will see below, this list of recommendations will not negatively impact your usual SEO strategy. You will simply refine your content even more to suit the interests and needs of your target audience.
List of Tips for Content Optimisation for Google Discover
1. Focus on both Evergreen and Hot Topics
Google Discover topics that rank high in recommendations fall into two key categories:
- Evergreen content
- Hot topics of the moment.
This type of content optimisation for Google Discover allows you a lot of freedom to plan your blog calendar, while being able to squeeze in topics that are happening at a specific moment. In this way, you will serve your audience in the best way possible: by showing your expertise in topics that always remain of interest and indicating that you are up to date with what is happening in your field of activity.
2. Create Engaging Videos
You probably don’t want to hear it, but video continues to rank as king of content and will continue to gain more and more importance. This means that your strategy for content optimisation for Google Discover must include videos.
We know that many people still see video making as specialised work. However, you don’t have to write, direct and produce an Academy Awards film, but a 3-4 minutes long video shot with your own phone camera and edited with a user-friendly app. If you don’t believe us, check TikTok and YouTube and discover hundreds of thousands of highly popular videos created by children and teenagers. You can definitely do it, as well.
3. Optimise Your Blog Posts for AMP
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) were created by Google in an effort to make mobile browsing faster. Using the AMP builder (available for free), you can easily create AMP content – which is different from your website.
At the same time, you can apply the best principles of AMP to your own blog, starting with the simple, clean and fast loading interface and ending with the properly formatted text, with plenty of white space.
4. Focus on Writing Emotionally Appealing Headlines
Various observations and experiments conducted by SEO specialists indicate that one surefire way to optimise content for Google Discover starts with the headline of your articles.
Emotionally charged headlines appear to perform better on this Google service than those appealing to reason and logical arguments. However, we suggest striving to maintain a balance in your content and actually delivering what the headline promises. For instance, an instance of personal data loss when a storage unit malfunctions should not be described in the headline as a “horrible tragedy”.
5. Spice Up Your Graphics
Cool graphics, explanatory graphic, funny graphics – whatever works for your brand and content, create it and use it. Consumers are looking forward for high quality graphics accompanying content AND helping them understand abstract data.
The trend of creating your own original visuals instead of purchasing stock images will only grow from year to year. People want authenticity from their favourite brands. And this authenticity must be reflected in every aspect of brand communications. Thus, in addition to written content optimisation for Google Discover, focus on the visual side, as well.
6. Tell Followers that They Can Find You on Google Discover
Besides letting Google learn about their preferences, users can also manually add topics of interest for the Discover service. For this reason, you should let your social media and blog followers know that you are also creating content findable on Google Discover.
Thus, they can add your topic and blog to their list of preferences and start getting your posts suggested by Google. As always, just asking to be followed goes a long way. Your followers are already showing interest in what you post, so they will not mind making a small effort to find more useful content when they browse Google Discover.
7. Ask Questions in the Headline
The question and answer format continues to stay popular, both for consumers and for Google. One of the effective ways of performing content optimisation for Google Discover is writing headlines in the form of a question.
Of course, the rest of the article must provide a clear and detailed answer. This kind of content format is helpful for reaching out to potential customers in several ways. Q&A pages will also rank for:
- Featured snippets
- Voice searches using digital assistants.
8. Make Sure You Follow Google Content Policies
Google does not like fluff content. In their guidelines, the Alphabet company specifies in the Google News Guidelines and in the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Thus, content optimisation for Google Discover must take into account the following principles:
- Originality
- Purposefulness
- Freshness
- Providing answers to user queries.
Therefore, before you start writing a new blog post, ask yourself:
- Does it serve a useful purpose?
- Does anyone want to know about this?
- Is it helpful for my readers?
9. Look at Your Competitors’ Content Strategy
Last, but not least, make sure that you get inspiration from your competitors (they are doing the same, be assured of that). Subscribe to them on Google Discover and see what kind of content pieces get suggested.
Next, analyse these posts and identify what they have in common, in terms of:
- Topic
- Format
- Writing style
- Graphic presentation.
Soon, you will learn useful lessons and start applying them in creating your own content.