Google Discover Optimization in 2025: A Practical, Repeatable System

Google Discover behaves more like a personalized magazine than a search result. You don’t “rank” for keywords; you earn inclusion by matching interests, demonstrating trust, and shipping fast, visually compelling stories. Below is a practical system you can apply across any site to increase Discover eligibility and consistent traffic.

1) Content Selection: What to Publish (and What Not to)

Prioritize

• Timely angles: Fresh takes tied to ongoing trends, earnings, product launches, policy shifts, sports narratives.
• Evergreen with a news hook: Update an existing guide with a new dataset, price changes, or regulations.
• Listicles and explainer cards: Compact, scannable formats perform well on mobile feeds.

Avoid

• Thin rewrites of wire copy, scraped aggregates, or purely AI-spun posts. Discover de-prioritizes low-value duplication and weak E-E-A-T signals.

2) Story Packaging: Titles, Dek, and First Screen

• Title (60–70 chars): Outcome-first, not keyword-stuffed. Example: “Mortgage Rates Slip Again: What a 0.25% Cut Means for Buyers in 2025”.
• Dek (opening sentence): One crisp promise of value. Keep under ~160 characters.
• Lead media: A 1200px+ wide, high-contrast image that is unique to your story. Faces and product close-ups often outperform abstract stock.

Tip: Produce two title variants and A/B via your CMS experiment framework. Keep meaning identical; vary framing and specificity.

3) Visual Requirements That Matter

• Large images enabled: In your CMS, serve large images via max-image-preview: large (HTTP header or meta tag) and ensure the Open Graph image matches the lead image.
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3 crop with strong focal point; avoid text-heavy thumbnails.
• Format/weight: AVIF/WebP at ~120–250 KB for the lead image to keep LCP fast.

<meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/media/story-hero-1600.jpg">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">

4) Page Experience & Core Web Vitals

Discover rewards fast, stable pages:

• LCP < 2.5s: Preload only the LCP image. Defer non-critical JS.
• INP < 200ms: Keep main thread free of long tasks; limit heavy widgets.
• CLS < 0.1: Reserve space for images/ads; pin heights with aspect-ratio or width/height.

Mobile-first: 90%+ of Discover impressions are mobile. Test on mid-tier Android hardware, not just flagship devices.

5) E-E-A-T Signals on Each Article

• Byline + author profile: Include credentials, beats covered, and 2–3 relevant prior pieces.
• Sources: Name original datasets, filings, or first-party interviews; link sparingly but clearly.
• Editorial transparency: Date published/updated, corrections policy, and contact path visible.

Site-level trust: An About page with masthead, a real address, and a straightforward advertising/affiliate disclosure.

6) Structure & Readability

• Subhead rhythm: H2 every 150–250 words; 2–4 bullet points per section where helpful.
• Data blocks: Use tables, key-number callouts, and small charts. Summarize in plain English directly below visuals.
• Internal recirculation: At least two contextual in-text links to related analyses; one end-of-article module with 3–5 relevant stories.

Schema: Add Article/NewsArticle JSON-LD with headline, image, datePublished, dateModified, author, publisher. Keep it accurate—no fake dates.

7) Freshness, Cadence, and Updating

• Cadence: A predictable output beats bursts. Aim for daily or weekday cadence in your niche.
• Update discipline: When facts change (prices, figures), update the existing URL; revise the headline and hero image; refresh dateModified. Do not spin near-duplicates.
• Story lifecycle: Break a developing story into (1) flash update, (2) same-URL expanded article within 2–6 hours, (3) end-of-day explainer with charts.

8) Sitemaps, Feeds, and Technical Hygiene

• Sitemaps: Separate news/posts images; set accurate lastmod. Remove orphaned/soft-404 URLs.
• Feeds: Maintain a clean RSS/Atom for Discover crawlers; include full-size image and canonical.
• Canonical consistency: One indexable canonical per story; avoid parameterized duplicates, AMP forks, or tag-page collisions.

9) Compliance & Safety

• Ads: Avoid shift-inducing ad slots, interstitials, and auto-play audio. Keep ads clearly labeled.
• YMYL sensitivity: For finance/health, double down on citations, disclaimers, and author expertise. Avoid speculative claims or opaque affiliate pushes.

10) Measurement and Iteration

Track these Discover-specific KPIs per article and per template:

• Impressions → Clicks → Engaged sessions (≥30s)
• Saved/Followed (if your app has it)
• Scroll depth and time to first interaction
• Image CTR by variant (hero A/B tests)

Diagnostics questions

• Did the story publish into an active trend?
• Is the hero image distinct from competitors on the same topic?
• Does the first screen answer “why care” without scrolling?

11) Reusable Publishing Checklist

• Outcome-first title and clear dek.
• Unique, large hero image (1200px+) with strong focal point.
• max-image-preview:large + correct OG/Twitter tags.
• Clean Article schema; accurate publish/modified timestamps.
• LCP image preloaded; CLS-proof layout.
• Author bio + source attributions.
• Contextual internal links and end-card recirculation.
• No duplicate near-identical URLs; canonical verified.
• Post-live metrics reviewed in 24 hours; title/image iterated if underperforming.

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Bottom Line

Discover favors fresh, visually strong, trustworthy articles that load fast on mobile and feel substantive at a glance. Treat packaging (title, dek, hero), trust signals (author, sources), and performance (LCP/INP/CLS) as first-class citizens. Ship consistently, update the same URL as facts evolve, and iterate based on real engagement—not hunches. This system compounds.