Google’s homepage has been a relatively sparse and slick operation since its conception. Apart from the seasonal changes to the page and commemorations and celebrations of history/world events, it’s a relatively calm, safe haven compared to the rest of the internet.
Well, things are changing and Google’s decided to start presenting personalised content to users, based on the info and data it’s collected on them. Users will also have the opportunity to customise their settings and decide what sort of stuff they see. It’s not certain yet, but guesswork indicates that they’ll probably use search history, browsing history, location, Google shopping…and basically, everything.
This gives businesses lots of incentive to work on even more engaging content – like you work to rank in search, ranking in Discover might become a priority. Google is pretty much the front page of the internet and the start-journey for most users, so if your content can reach people through Discover then it makes sense to get on board.
Interesting Content
If your business creates entertaining and interesting content then…keep doing it. Google Discover is going to present new places and chances for you to get in front of users when they might not be actively looking for your content. But if you’ve got some good ideas and can execute them in entertaining ways then users can stumble across your enjoyable content.
Hyper-targeted Content
People are weird and wonderful and there’s no place more evident than people’s browsing histories. It’s safe to say that most people probably wouldn’t want people to even see their browsing habits – ‘does my dog smile?’ isn’t the coolest thing to be attached to.
But it’s niche interests and searches that can help businesses to create hyper-targeted content for more niche elements of their audiences. Google Discover might be better at delivering relevant content than users are at finding it. Producing more content based on longtail searches might be a good idea.
News
Breaking trends and news are usually good ways for businesses to jump on what’s hot, seasonal and relevant and piggyback their content along with it. Your business might not have links to major broadcasters etc, but if you’ve produced some valuable insight or perhaps done some relevant research into a new trend, then you could find your content gaining traction where it would have struggled to otherwise.
Google Discover might decide that your content is actually even more valuable and interesting than some of the bigger brands.
What is it that Google wants, it’s ”the most relevant, highest quality information”, so if you can concentrate or carry on making entertaining, relevant and helpful content for users, Google should reward it with the value it deserves. It’ll probably take a fair while for everyone to work out how Google Discover functions and what it wants, so there’ll be teething problems etc. Use the launch as a chance to experiment with ideas and try to find what works for your business and the content that users are responding to.
For more help and advice with creating your own content, get in touch with DOWO today.