How can e-commerce websites optimise for Google Discover

Discover is Google’s personalised content recommendation engine, designed to deliver content directly to users based on their interests, without requiring them to perform a search query.

Discover is accessible on mobile devices (soon coming to desktop), primarily through the Google app or mobile browsers, and offers several content types, including blog posts, news articles and videos.

Google Discover offers e-commerce websites a unique opportunity to reach new audiences and drive sales through personalised content.

This makes Google Discover an essential component of a comprehensive e-commerce marketing strategy and it is largely untapped currently, with businesses still focused solely on organic search.

Importance of Google Discover for e-commerce

By appearing in users’ Discover feeds, e-commerce businesses can reach potential customers who have shown interest in related topics or products.

How can e-commerce businesses optimise for Google Discover

1) Create a blog with high-quality content

Focus on creating high-quality, engaging content that aligns with your target audience’s interests.

Although evergreen, SEO-optimised content can resonate on Discover, you’ll have more success with engaging headlines that have a curiosity gap and encourage users to click in.

For example, this Daily Mail travel piece resonated incredibly well on Google Discover according to our 3rd party tools: I slept in the world’s largest cave, discovered by accident in 1990 and so big it has its own jungle, river and WEATHER… and could house a 60-storey skyscraper.

E-commerce brands would traditionally write an article headlined Phong Nha Ke-Bang: Guide to the caves and town or 5 best caves in Vietnam or 7 things to do in Vietnam.

Instead, the Daily Mail article is well-optimised for Discover with a highly engaging headline, and image but also great copy that’s interesting to read and offers a different perspective to what’s already on the internet.

In Google’s own words: “Discover is a part of Google Search that provides a personalised, feed experience – bringing the best of the web to our users in ways that help them stay informed, get inspired, and stay on top of their interests.”

This is why Discover is a great channel for e-commerce brands to reach their target audience.

2) Utilise imagery

Google Discover favours content with large images (at least 1200 pixels wide). You also need to enable the max-image-preview:large meta tag.

Incorporating visual elements such as high-resolution images and videos can also enhance content engagement and retention.

3) Great headlines

As mentioned above, headlines should be catchy and informative to attract user attention without resorting to clickbait tactics.

The headline should accurately reflect the content to maintain user trust and comply with Google’s guidelines.

Try to create a curiosity gap to encourage the user to click into the story.

How content appears in Discover

All content is eligible for Google Discover if it is indexed by Google and complies with their content policies.

Google explicitly say content the following types of content won’t surface:

• Dangerous content
• Deceptive practices
• Harassing content
• Hateful content
• Manipulated media
• Medical content
• Sexually explicit content
• Violent extremist content
• Violent & gory content
• Vulgar language & profanity

Technical SEO

Using images that are at least 1200px wide and enabling the max-image-preview:large meta tag are the only technical considerations you have to adhere to for your content to be eligible for Google Discover.

However, having incredibly competitive Core Web Vitals and page load speed enhances your content’s chances of being surfaced.

You can read more about optimising for Core Web Vitals here.

Why should e-commerce websites optimise for Google Discover?

1) Increased visibility and traffic

Surfacing on Google Discover will boost an e-commerce website’s clicks.

This increase in clicks can lead to higher brand exposure and attract new audiences who may not have discovered the brand through traditional search methods or other marketing funnels like Instagram.

2) Building brand loyalty

By consistently delivering high-quality, personalised content through Google Discover, e-commerce brands can build brand loyalty.

This personalised engagement helps establish the brand as a trusted authority in its niche, fostering a more loyal customer base.