You have heard about Google Discover and want to know more about what it is?
So let’s discover together what’s really Google Discover ! 🙂
Google Discover is what displays for some of us who use the Google app on Android or who do searches via google.com on their iPhone/iPad, a list of articles based on interests and their researches.
Also, if for example you do a lot of research on cooking recipes to cook or on seasonal gardening techniques, it is very likely that these article topics will be displayed to you if Discover is displayed on your smartphone.
Here is a picture of what’s Discover on a smartphone :
Rather nice feature if you are looking for reading based on subjects that interest you. Less friendly choice if you don’t like the idea of being a little monitored and that your research information is used in this way.
In any case, Google Discover, like Google News for example, is a way to discover content, but also, why not, when you run a blog or a website, to share it. So let’s take a look at Discover today.
Google Discover differences with traditional searches
If in a few minutes you search Google.com on your phone for a tutorial on how to do your own homemade laundry detergent, then Discover won’t intervene. This will be the most classic and usual operation of Google the search engine which will be activated. You will get a list of results (SERP) unrelated to Discover.
On the other hand, if you open your Google app or use Google.com on your phone web browser and Discover is enabled, you will likely see a list of suggested articles under the Google search bar. And these articles will be based on your Google activity (if the feature itself is enabled). Indeed, Google Discover will display an article suggestion that is completely personalized. Depending on several items, such as your searches and interests but also for example, on your location.
Fortunately, Discover can be disabled at any time by the user. Just as it will be possible to measure the appearance of certain themes concerning the articles which are displayed. Indeed, if you have and wish to keep this suggestion of articles but certain subjects or sites do not ultimately interest you, you can decide to have them appear less often or not at all.
Many people use Discover everyday without knowing that it’s Google Discover. And other people who only use Google on desktop, don’t see Discover. Because although it was announced that Discover could appear on desktop screnns, today, it’s not done yet.
Discover and traffic to a website or blog
Website or blog owners can therefore consider this communication channel as a new source of traffic to use. However, as Google indicates in Google Search Central, no action is required for a site or blog to appear there. If your content is indexed by Google and otherwise complies with Discover’s content guidelines, then it may appear there without you taking any action.
Your site simply needs to be considered to meet the EAT criteria. This acronym means: Expertise, Authority and Reliability. In short, your website should be clean, regularly updated with a very strong emphasis placed on the quality of its content.
Make your content appear on Discover
Still on Google Search Central, we can read that to increase your chances of having your content appear on Discover, you will need to respect and apply certain rules (which are also valid for optimizing your content for SEO).
These instructions are easy to understand since it involves, for example, titling your articles in a manner consistent with the content without trying to call for clicks by cheating (don’t use words on your titles only to get clicks on it, if content is not what’s promised in your title…). Using quality photos and images with a minimum of 1200 pixels in width… The same goes for the content in the body of the article itself. The idea is therefore not to cheat on the title or the content. If you publish, you must do so with a clear objective: Inform the Internet user or the reader, with a story, clear and true information.
Also, we can understand with these recommendations which are without wanting to be since we cannot act directly but rather indirectly to increase our chances of seeing our content appear in Discover, that we must still have a site or blog already installed and with content (several dozen articles and traffic). Since authority and reliability are measured in particular via the history of a website or blog. As for expertise, ditto! It will not be asked if your site was launched yesterday and you have only one article online.
Discover is therefore a potential communication channel to broaden your audience and gain some traffic. So taking an interest in it can become the way to further improve and adapt your content!
