Competitor website analysis tools can help you gain insights into your competitors’ strategies and improve your own website’s performance. Launched in 2016 under the name Google Feed, Google Discover is currently arousing the enthusiasm of companies wishing to boost their visibility and the quality of their traffic. To generate qualified leads and develop their business, a growing number of players are implementing various natural referencing techniques to achieve excellent positioning on the results pages and take advantage of this new product from the Mountain firm’s search engine. View. If, like these many companies, you want to optimize your chances of positioning yourself on Google Discover, we advise you to put into practice some advice related, among other things, to optimizing the content of your website or blog.
Google Discover: what is it?
Despite the launch of a few updates that have had negative impacts on the visibility of many websites, as well as on the quality of its results pages (addition of a fourth advertisement, etc.), Google continually proves that its main objectives are to improve the user experience and to offer companies the opportunity to grow efficiently.
Five years after the launch of the new SEO experts, highlighting French media such as Express or Le Monde, the search engine was inspired by social network news feeds to create a new feature: Google Feed.
In December 2016, this product was made available to Google Chrome users on Android and iOS. Two years later, in September 2018, the feature was renamed Google Discover, after a major update was launched to improve its interface, UX and algorithm.
In a simple way, Google Discover is a feed accessible to Internet users from the Google Chrome browser. Unlike the newsfeeds of social networks like Instagram or Facebook, its results are not subject to manipulations which, in the majority of cases, have a negative impact on their relevance.
The feed offered by Google Discover is similar to that of Pinterest, in that it provides content based on the interests, but also the habits of the user.
In the event that a user does not set his interests on Chrome, Discover can provide him with more or less relevant article suggestions based on his queries and the sites he has visited.
To describe this new feature of Google Chrome, the search engine said that it allows users to discover new content and find inspiration, without having to do any research.
For information, to continually provide suggestions for relevant articles to Internet users on Discover, the Google algorithm analyzes their position, language, IP address, each content they have consulted and any applications present in his smartphone. The search engine also takes into consideration the advertisements on which it has clicked, as well as the contacts in its directory.
In an effort to help users access primarily information that might be of interest to them, Google offers them the opportunity to give their opinion on the suggestions and to follow the topics that interest them.
With just a few clicks, Internet users can tell the search engine’s algorithm whether a piece of content has sparked their interest or not. To learn more about customizing this feature dedicated to the mobile version of Chrome, we invite you to consult this Google Discover help.
What is the Lifespan of Content on Google Discover?
According to Google, the Discover feature allows Internet users to access fresh and evergreen content. In other words, this new service offers articles published a few days or hours ago, but also content uploaded a few months or even years ago.
However, you should know that Google’s algorithm favors fresh content, especially in areas such as sport, e-commerce or natural referencing.
If you are posting content about the results of the last day of a football league, your article can easily earn a place in a football fan’s Google Discover feed, but it can also be quickly replaced by another cooler item, after a few days or hours.
Why Position Content on Google Discover?
If Google Discover arouses the enthusiasm of many companies, it is first of all because of the exceptional number of Internet users who consult it.
Although newer than Pinterest, this feature of the Mountain View firm’s search engine has managed to attract more Internet users than Ben Silbermann’s social networking website. In 2018, Google Discover had around 800 million monthly active users, compared to Pinterest’s 300 million.
By regularly positioning your articles on this feed offered by the search engine, you can therefore greatly optimize the traffic of your website or blog.
In addition to the number of users, the operation of Google Discover allows you to significantly improve the quality of traffic to your site. Indeed, as we mentioned earlier, the Google algorithm chooses each content broadcast on a mobile user’s feed, according to their centers of interest and their habits.
In other words, your articles are essentially highlighted on the Discover feed of users who are genuinely interested in your offer or in the topics covered by your website or blog. The chances of turning them into qualified leads and customers are therefore high.
It is important to note that a user is more inclined to click on a link if the content of the latter is in perfect harmony with his centers of interest and allows him to make an unexpected discovery.
According to a study carried out by Google and Ipsos, 76% of consumers like to make discoveries on the web and 85% of users do not hesitate to take action after discovering an offer that effectively meets their expectations.
Thanks to Google Discover and its ability to provide relevant content to consumers, without them having to formulate queries, you can surprise your prospects with your products and significantly increase your chances of conversion.
How to Position Articles on Google Discover?
If Google Discover offers you the possibility of quickly reaching your potential customers, increasing your traffic and optimizing your conversion rate, be aware that it is not always easy to position content on this new channel.
Of course, to improve your chances of highlighting content on the Discover feed of your potential customers, you must implement classic SEO techniques. However, we do not recommend focusing primarily on keywords and semantic enrichment.
To make content appear on Google Discover, here are some tips to put into practice.
Look At The Profile Of The Targets
According to Google, it is essential to produce quality content to obtain a place on Discover. If this search engine recommendation encourages websites to design articles that are semantically enriched and positioned on strategic keywords, you should know that these types of content cannot guarantee their access to the home page of the mobile version of Google Chrome.
To optimize your chances of appearing on Google Discover, you must offer semantically optimized articles that are in perfect harmony with the profiles of your targets. Before embarking on the writing work, you must therefore inform yourself about your prospects by focusing, among other things, on their interests, their habits and the different stages of their journey on the web.
To do this, you can use tools such as Google Analytics, YouGov Profiler or Facebook Audience Insights.
Once you have collected all the data concerning your prospects, it is necessary to simulate their activity to determine the topics that could interest them and inspire you with the articles present on your Discover feed for writing your content.
Comply with Google EAT Requirements
Launched around the second half of 2018, Google EAT brought about profound changes in the way of optimizing a page or content for SEO.
Since the deployment of this major update, the search engine algorithm is based on three criteria, namely expertise, authority and credibility, in the evaluation of a page and the ranking of links on the SERPs.
Although the Google EAT update was launched to improve the relevance of links placed on the SERPs in the first place, it should also be taken into consideration when making any content for Discover feeds. Indeed, the search engine relies on your expertise, your authority and your credibility to determine if content on your website deserves to be displayed on the home page of the mobile version of Google Chrome.
To improve your chances of positioning an article on Discover, make sure that the information it delivers is relevant and highlights your skills in your field of activity.
Then, it is essential to work on its popularity, by obtaining quality backlinks. If your content is mentioned many times by high-profile players in your industry, it gains authority in the eyes of Google and its chances of appearing on your prospects’ Discover feeds are particularly high.
Finally, improve the credibility of your website or your blog by carrying out certain operations: reinforcement of protection systems against piracy, implementation of legal notices, secure payment solutions, creation of a Google My Business account, etc.
Share Content On Social Networks
Google’s recommendations for Discover do not mention any correlation between an article’s success on social media and its chances of appearing on feeds. However, some on page seo services specialists have noticed that content with a high number of views, comments, shares and reactions often appears on the home page of the mobile version of Chrome.
To put the odds on your side, we advise you to share your articles on social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
Note that the distribution of your content on social networking websites allows you to define whether its theme and the information it provides arouse the interest of your audience. In the event that it does not generate any engagement, we strongly recommend that you make changes.
Avoid Intrusive ads
Like social media engagement, user experience is something Google may consider when selecting articles to display on Discover feeds.
To improve the experience provided to Internet users, we advise you to ban intrusive advertisements from each page of your website.
If you want to offer sponsored content, you must clearly mention its presence to your readers and use specific tags to help Google in its analysis.
Use Excellent Quality Images Or Videos
Apart from the quality and relevance of content, Google recommends the use of excellent quality images and videos to boost the chances of positioning articles on Discover.
To optimize your article and gain a place on the feeds of your potential customers, we advise you to choose a featured image of at least 1200px wide and to compress it, in order to speed up the loading of your page.
For information, an excellent quality image can encourage the Google algorithm to display your content on Discover and increase your CTR. Indeed, by choosing an illustration of 1200px wide, you benefit from a large format map on the flows of your prospects, which can increase the click rate of the link of your article by 5%.
Take Care Of The Title Of The Content
Just like the featured image, the title of your content must be of excellent quality to improve its chances of appearing on Google Discover and to generate interest from users.
For your title to be impactful and meet the requirements of the search engine, it must highlight the essence of your article and be free of commercial formulations, directly encouraging the click.
Prioritize Transparency
Other information that could help your content earn a spot-on Discover feed includes date published, author name, publisher name, publishing company, and contacts.
This information is important, as it builds user confidence. They allow your website to gain reliability in the eyes of Google and, at the same time, to increase its EAT score.