Optimising for Google Discover

Many of you reading this may be unfamiliar with Google Discover. Or, rather, you may know that it exists but aren’t sure how to optimise for it.

In recent years, Google Discover has become an increasingly important mobile experience tool that helps searchers find information that they previously didn’t know. Using it as an SEO tool for your business is also entirely possible, and many marketers have taken notice.

Artemis has repeatedly made it clear that we, as an SEO agency in Sussex, take content relevance very seriously. Our clients can vouch for how much we care about site content and ensuring it’s following Google’s best practices correctly, even with growing amounts of poor-quality AI content flooding websites nowadays.

However, a rarely-touched-upon area worth exploring is understanding what happens when searchers don’t know what information they need. With its continuous evolution based on ever-advancing AI capabilities, optimising your content for Google Discover is a must for brands seeking to tap into this powerful discovery engine in 2024.

Understanding Discover 

Formerly known as Google Feed, Google Discover is the search engine’s content recommendation platform available exclusively on iOS and Android mobile devices.

Using advanced machine learning models, Discover uses the data that Google has gathered about you to create a personalised content feed (of sites, articles, videos, ads, products, and other content) that it believes will be relevant to you.

Discover goes far beyond responding to queries by anticipating user behaviour and delivering content instantly to drive traffic and create a positive (and personalised) user experience. The personalised content feed it dispenses to you will be based on

• Search history
• Browser history
• App activity
• IP address and location (depending on your privacy settings)

2024 will likely see Discover’s capabilities grow even more accurate and sophisticated at predicting user interests thanks to advancements in AI/ML. As Google gets better at comprehending language nuances, context, and intent, Discover too will improve at surfacing helpful, relevant content to each individual. Similarly to how AI-powered recommendations have been deployed by social media platforms, Google Discover’s custom feeds will create even more immersive experiences for searchers.

How Brands Can Optimise for Google Discover

Businesses already finding the SEO landscape challenging may be wondering how on earth it’s possible to optimise for a sophisticated AI-powered tool that is evolving rapidly.

The answer is simple (in principle, anyway), and that’s to maintain an important focus on creating engaging, purposeful, and high-quality content. Create content that resonates with – and is relevant to – your target audience, and, bilaterally, Google will deliver it to searchers based on their interests, browsing history, and other criteria listed above.

The key difference between optimising for Google Discover and traditional SEO efforts is that the focus is on the user, not so much the search query. Traditional SEO would involve targeting specific queries and providing the most relevant results based on search intent, while Google Discover creates a ‘queryless’ experience by delivering content that it believes matches the users’ interest without looking at search specifics.

Actioning an Adaptive Content Strategy

Increasing visibility in Discover requires an adaptive, evolving approach to content creation. Yes, fundamentally, ‌content should be high-quality and engaging, but it doesn’t stop there.

The following steps can help brands become more visible in Discover:

• Adding structured data to articles
• Publishing about trending, locally-relevant topics
• Using high-quality visuals
• Optimising for page experience
• Demonstrating E-E-A-T principles

The lattermost point is especially poignant when creating interesting, trustworthy, reliable, and authoritative content that Google could consider for recommendations. Google will not put any content forward, which is why it’s vital to prioritise creating content that aligns with your brand, demonstrates expertise, and addresses the needs of your audience. Doing this will build your overall authority over time, yielding stronger long-term results.

The Key is Giving Users Value

At its core, succeeding in Discover requires a relentless focus on understanding your audience and delivering content that provides true value. Monitor what resonates and what doesn’t while remaining flexible in your strategy.

Most importantly, ensure your content is well-researched, accurate, and informative, rather than sensationalist, prosaic, misleading, or potentially harmful. Producing regular streams of high-quality content on your website will remain crucial, as will updating older content for freshness.

At Artemis, we understand that many scaling businesses are starved for time and resources to dedicate to SEO in order for it to be worthwhile. This is why we want to extend our hand to you, where we can alleviate you of that hardship. SEO strategies – including activities to optimise for Google Discover – require careful planning and precise execution, and for time-restricted businesses, it’s hours that you can ill afford to give up. Therefore, why not let us outline the ways in which we, as on-page and technical SEO experts and content specialists, can handle all of the intricacies, while you focus on what matters most – running your business?