{"id":4230,"date":"2026-03-04T00:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2026-03-04T00:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:55:35","slug":"how-to-increase-google-discover-traffic-with-technical-fixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=4230","title":{"rendered":"How to increase Google Discover traffic with technical fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

Google Discover caught my attention in 2021, when it was driving millions of clicks a month to publishers. I underestimated how pervasive it would become.\u00a0<\/p>

My feed cycles through soccer, television, Baltimore news, SEO, and world events \u2014 a reminder that Discover understands users at an almost uncomfortable level. <\/p>

It\u2019s not limited to one app. Discover appears in Chrome new tabs, the Google app, Android home screens, Google.com on most mobile browsers, and other Google surfaces.<\/p>

\"Google\"Google<\/figure> <\/div>

If Google Discover is everywhere, it\u2019s our job as SEOs to capitalize on this opportunity. Let me show you how.\u00a0<\/p>

Essential considerations before we begin optimizing for Discover<\/h2>

Discover traffic isn\u2019t a viable source for all brands, just as search isn\u2019t for all of them.<\/p>

Discover favors timely content<\/h3>

Content that performs well in Discover is almost always highly time-relevant and from authoritative sources, generally major publishers. It would be unusual to see evergreen content in Discover.<\/p>

Because of this, sites I\u2019ve worked with that get the most traffic from Discover often get less traffic from traditional search than they do from Discover.<\/p>

Discover traffic is declining<\/h3>

Many publishers are finding that Discover traffic is declining, as the Discover feed now includes a large volume of social posts and AI summaries of major stories from multiple sources. This displaces the articles that used to make up the feed.<\/p>

Before this change, writing articles about viral social media posts was a very effective strategy for driving millions of monthly clicks. This may be why Google is beta testing the ability to track traffic to social platforms.<\/p>

Good, relevant content still matters<\/h3>

No matter how technically optimized a website is, content that\u2019s good and relevant to users will outperform content that isn\u2019t, even when their interests are constantly changing. <\/p>

If your content doesn\u2019t get traffic in Discover, consider whether it\u2019s the kind of content Discover aims to surface. Likewise, if you experience a sudden drop in Discover traffic, review the content before exploring technical causes.<\/p>

Don\u2019t let any of this deter you from optimizing for Discover. These optimizations won\u2019t hurt traditional search, and you may end up getting Discover traffic you didn\u2019t expect \u2014 I\u2019ve often seen non-publishers experience brief spikes in Discover. Most of these suggestions are minor template-level changes that should be low effort.<\/p>

Dig deeper. How Google Discover qualifies, ranks, and filters content: Research<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

<\/p>

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.<\/p> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/div>

<\/p>

Technical optimizations for Discover<\/h2>

The three main things I look at first when auditing new clients are:<\/p>

  • Discover publisher profile.<\/li>
  • Images in articles.<\/li>
  • Publisher and author signals.<\/li> <\/ul>

    This is where your optimizations start.<\/p>

    Discover publisher profile<\/h3>

    Check your Discover publisher profile to ensure your website and social profiles are linked. You\u2019ll need a tool to find your publisher profile page. I use Damian Tsuabaso\u2019s, which is in Spanish but still straightforward. Insert your brand\u2019s name, URL, or entity ID, then search.<\/p>

    \"ESPN\"ESPN<\/figure> <\/div>

    Interestingly, Discover profile pages are linked directly to your entity\u2019s Knowledge Graph ID. The URL string in the profile page is a tokenized version of the KGMID (not in all cases). I expand on this further in this LinkedIn post.<\/p>

    When reviewing your publisher profile page, focus on two main questions:<\/p>

    • Does it reflect you as a publisher? <\/strong>New brands, or brands that have been acquired or rebranded, may have unclear publisher profiles. Fixing this requires clarifying your brand\u2019s entity and making Knowledge Graph optimizations.<\/li>
    • Are your brand\u2019s social media accounts appearing on the page? <\/strong>Publisher pages can aggregate social media posts across platforms, and those posts are increasingly occupying real estate. Getting social profiles added may take time because there\u2019s no dashboard for managing Discover profile pages.<\/li> <\/ul>

      To help link social accounts to your brand:<\/p>

      • Ensure your Organization schema includes sameAs elements that list your social accounts.<\/li>
      • Link to those accounts in your website footer.<\/li>
      • Link to your website from your social accounts.<\/li> <\/ul>

        Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up<\/span>. <\/p>

        The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. <\/p> <\/p><\/div>

        Start Free Trial<\/span> <\/p>

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        \"Semrush\"Semrush <\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/p>

        Images<\/h3>

        Google\u2019s documentation emphasizes that using images, especially large images, is important for visibility in Discover. It also recommends using the max-image-preview:large tag to display the best-resolution image as the article card preview.<\/p>

        I generally check the following:<\/p>

        • Confirm there\u2019s a max-image-preview:large tag. This may seem minor, but many CMSs don\u2019t include it in article templates by default, and I routinely see it missing.<\/li>
        • Ensure displayed images, especially the hero image at the top of the article, have a minimum width of 1,200 pixels. The rendered size will vary by browser, but the image file itself should be at least 1,200 pixels wide.<\/li>
        • Review the configuration of your Open Graph image tags. They\u2019re usually the preview image used in Discover. This image should match the hero image and be 1,200 pixels wide. I frequently see the Open Graph image set to a logo, which Google has discouraged. While that specific line was recently removed from the documentation, I\u2019d still avoid using a logo.<\/li> <\/ul>

          The Open Graph Protocol also allows you to define image dimensions. When feasible, use those properties and ensure they accurately reflect the image\u2019s true dimensions.<\/p>

          Publisher and author transparency<\/h3>

          You\u2019ve probably already considered E-E-A-T best practices, but implementing them supports overall content SEO performance.<\/p>

          For author transparency, I check that:<\/p>

          • The article\u2019s author is clearly defined on each article, including an image, byline, link to a bio page, and social links.<\/li>
          • The listed authors are the actual contributors, not a generic company-wide byline or an uninvolved executive.<\/li>
          • Author bio pages include a meaningful bio, credentials, links to social accounts, and links to other articles published on your site.<\/li>
          • Relevant schema.org structured data related to the author is included on both the article and the bio page.<\/li> <\/ul>

            For publisher transparency, confirm that you:<\/p>

            • Have an About Us page linked in your footer or main navigation.<\/li>
            • Use Organization schema on your home or About page.<\/li>
            • Have created robust terms of use and editorial policy pages related to your organization, and they\u2019re linked in the footer.\u00a0<\/li> <\/ul>

              Discover is just the beginning<\/h2>

              Discover is driven by relevance, timeliness, and authority, not checklists. <\/p>

              Technical optimizations won\u2019t make content succeed in Discover if it doesn\u2019t belong there. <\/p>

              The optimizations outlined above are essential for visibility, but the largest Discover opportunities are typically uncovered through broader content audits.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div>

              Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.<\/em> <\/p>

              Opinion#increase #Google #Discover #traffic #technical #fixes1772556935<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Google Discover caught my attention in 2021, when it was driving millions of clicks a month to publishers. I underestimated how pervasive it would become.\u00a0 My feed cycles through soccer, television, Baltimore news, SEO, and world events \u2014 a reminder that Discover understands users at an almost uncomfortable level. It\u2019s not limited to one app. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4031,8185,75,4724,155,341,441],"class_list":["post-4230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-discover","tag-fixes","tag-google","tag-increase","tag-opinion","tag-technical","tag-traffic"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}