When we talk about search engines, we are analyzing one of the main behaviors that people have on the Internet: I have an interest or need, and I write it to the search engine so that it gives me answers about it. That is, there is a proactive behavior of the user, who uses the search engine to solve the need that arises at any given moment.
But there is another key behaviour that users display when using the internet: discovery . Instead of proactively searching, content is discovered for us, usually in feeds, as is the case with social networks. And in this regard, Google has only accumulated failures or semi-failures: Google+ ended up closing in August 2019 after failing to engage users in an attempt to capture this “discovery” share with a social network format. Before that, Google Now also passed without much fanfare.
But with Google Discover, the search engine leader is making its latest big move to carve out a niche for itself in the world of discovery. And while Search is a huge revenue stream for Google, the proactive behavior of users when searching has a beginning, when the search is executed, and an end, when the interest is resolved. But in discovery behavior there is enormous potential for user retention: feeds, like on social media, are capable of keeping us hooked without us having any specific interest. And our time, on the Internet, is business.
What is Google Discover?
With the introduction made, we already know that Google Discover is Google's bet for the discovery of content on the Internet. We could define it as a system of recommended and personalized content that is displayed in a feed.
Representative image of what Google Discover is and how it looks on the smartphone
Appearance of the Google Discover feed. Each piece of content is presented in cards that only allow sharing actions or giving feedback to Google about the content shown.
Google Discover has nearly 1 billion active users worldwide, which speaks to the potential it has for achieving visibility. Currently, it is only available on mobile devices. On Android it is native, and on iOS it can be used with the Google app or in Chrome.
As we said, Google Discover is a content feed , which is how a social physician phone number list network normally works. But Google has a great advantage when it comes to offering a personalized feed: it knows users better than anyone else. That is why it is able to use its AI to show personalized content that is highly relevant to users.
What information does Google take into account to show us relevant content? Although Google has not revealed how Discover works, we know that it puts the algorithm to work with all the information it knows about us:
Our search and web browsing history.
Installed apps and how we use them.
Location and our movements and routines, as well as our favorite places.
Our purchase history.
However, it is capable of converting this information into our “interests”. It is true that as users we can give indications about whether the content it shows us seems relevant to us, and even by selecting categories or entities of interest to us, helping the algorithm to learn from our feedback.
What type of content appears in Discover?
A study by Search Engine Journal has revealed that most of the content appearing is news, but this is not exclusive to this type of content.
Graphic image of what content is the most viewed in Google Discover
The Search Engine Journal study analyzed more than 11,000 URLs from more than 60 domains, concluding that news is the most viewed and visited content, although it is not the only type of content that can be discovered.
While the study concludes that Google Discover is a fundamental tool for digital news media, given that they are currently managing to obtain even more traffic from Discover than from Search, beyond news there is room for blog content, evergreen content.
Representative image of the distribution of clicks in Google Discover
Beyond news, blog post formats are the most relevant in Google Discover.
Blog posts are highly relevant when it comes to appearing in Google Discover. Now we'll uncover some key factors that can help determine which content ends up appearing in feeds.
How to appear in Google Discover?
Google still hasn’t shed any light on the decisive factors for appearing in Google Discover, and no one can promise to appear in the Discover feed , nor are there any “ultimate tricks.” However, as has been the case in SEO historically, conclusions can be drawn about the performance of content appearing in Discover and the correlation with different factors.
Starting with the fact that the majority of URLs that appear in Google Discover are news, it is therefore a fundamental factor to appear in the Google News directory . This does not mean that it is a necessary requirement, since at pinchaaqui.es, as an SEO agency , we have been able to verify how our clients attract relevant volumes of traffic from Discover without being registered in Google News, but it is certainly a factor that helps.
Another factor that has proven to be key in our experience is the content in question. Trending content has a greater chance of appearing in users' Discover feeds, which goes hand in hand with the fact that news is the most relevant content.
On the other hand, we can highlight other relevant factors to appear in Google Discover:
AMP. Using AMP appears to be associated with a higher frequency in Google Discover. Google is prioritizing AMP content in search , especially considering that we are talking about content for mobile consumption.
Images. Due to the format of the content cards that appear in the Google Discover feed , it is advisable to use quality images, 1200px wide, always controlling the optimization and compression of the assets.
User recurrence. If users return to our content and have good browsing experiences, this will be an additional signal that will help us increase visibility.
Interaction. Of course, the CTR, as well as the evaluation that users make of our content once it appears in Google Discover, will determine the evolution of our visibility in the feed.
Why is it important to consider Google Discover in your strategy?
As we have seen, Google Discover has a large, active and growing community of users, with the advantages of AI that only Google can have, and yet it becomes a channel for attracting traffic and visibility with enormous potential, which, depending on the sector, is already representing more traffic volume than Google Search itself.
Representative image of Google search and its relationship with Google Discover
Google Discover results for a client of pinchaaqui.es thanks to the content strategy. Visibility in Google Discover usually shows significant peaks. In this particular case of data from 28 days of the project, Discover traffic is close to Search figures, being a project in the first phase of implementation.
However, for the moment, Google Discover still has many secrets waiting to be revealed. But as we have been explaining in this article, we can orient our content strategy in such a way that we can take advantage of the potential of the new Google feed .
