Google Discover has been around for quite a few years now and it has been serving users with a personalised feed based on their activity. While tons of brands have managed to find their way onto the Google Discover feed for certain users, there hasn’t been much guidance from Google on how this can really be achieved.
Recently, Google released some documentation and guidance on quality for Discover. Below, we look at what these guidelines were and offer advice on how you can appear in Google Discover as an affiliate.
What is Google Discover?
If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Google Discover then you should know that this is the content feed that appears on the Google mobile home page, alongside the mobile apps. This feed is different from Google Search as it is curated in line with an individual user’s interests and search history, just like a social media feed.
Because of the nature of Google Discover, it has been difficult to determine the best route to make it onto a target audience’s feed and Google hasn’t been very forthcoming with information so far.
What did the official quality guidelines say?
Google did release some information earlier this year regarding Discover, but this wasn’t seen as legitimate advice that could be put into action. However, just recently, they have rolled out some official quality guidelines that affiliates and SEO experts should be taking note of.
So, what did they say?
One of the guidelines noted that any content that is indexed by Google and meets the policies set out by Google is automatically eligible to appear in Discover. They also noted that there are no special tags, or any kind of structured data required to show up.
Additionally, the guidelines suggested that the automated systems that surface the content will look at E-A-T across multiple pages on the site. If you aren’t familiar with E-A-T, make sure to check out this article.
Finally, the guidelines noted that any larger images need to be at least 1200px wide. They also need to be enabled using AMP or the max-image-preview:large setting. This is a crucial step that you must not ignore.
How can affiliates appear in Google Discover?
If you are hoping to get your content shown in Google Discover, then you need to stick to the guidelines set out by the brand. That’s not all though as there are some tips and tricks that we have picked up along the way that affiliates could benefit from.
Try to avoid creating content that will heighten a users’ emotional state and do not use clickbait headlines, despite what you might have heard. You should also try to create content about current events, but this must be done on a timely basis.
Finally, you’ll need large images, so your logo isn’t going to be as effective as you think. When adding the images, don’t forget to use the guidelines set out above.
Google Discover brings a lot of opportunities and with more guidance from Google on how it works, affiliates have the chance to really get their content seen. Use our tips and your traffic should grow organically over time.
