Unlocking the Power of Google Discover: Practical Workshop - Search 'n Stuff 2025

This talk is part of the Search 'n Stuff conference in Antalya, Turkey, and presents a hands-on workshop designed to explore how the traffic acquisition strategies used by digital media can be applied to other projects and brands unfamiliar with Google Discover. Participants work through a practical checklist covering the main ranking factors that influence Discover visibility. The session helps attendees not only understand how this traffic channel works for publishers but also test their skills by applying techniques related to headlines, imagery, and entity optimization to boost content performance.

Transcript

1. Clara Soteras Unlocking the Power of Google Discover: Practical Workshop
3. Hello! I am Clara Soteras • SEO for News Publishers & Digital Strategy Consultant ◦ Google Discover, SEO Strategy, Workflows and Product • Head of Innovation and Digital Strategy • Associate Professor Journalism • SEO for News Professor in business schools • Judge for Journalism and Judge for Search Awards • Proud to be part of MujeresEnSEO and SEO in Catalan association • I served as Director of SEO and Product at hola@clarasoteras.com clarasoteras.com
4. My book My last project ‘SEO Playbook for News Publishers’. NOW AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH! If you found this workshop useful and want to dive deeper into SEO strategies for news publishers, you’ll be able to purchase it at the end.
5. Giveaway🎉 for a Copy of SEO Playbook for News Publishers by Search'n Stuff Fill this form!
8. No.
9. Let’s put some key points into context in order to understand how we can optimize traffic over the coming months.
10. https://sparktoro.com/blog/new-research-so-far-ai-is-not-disrupting-search-or-making-a-dent-in-google/ Provide context for the data. 1 1
11. The AI hype shows no signs of slowing down, but… https://datos.live/blog/chatgpt-search-by-the-numbers-how-is-it-performing-in-the-search-space/ Provide context for the data. 1 1
12. From March 2025, AI Overviews expands to 200+ countries and 40+ languages. 2 https://blog.google/feed/were-bringi ng-the-helpfulness-of-ai-overviews-t o-more-countries-in-europe/
13. From March 2025, AI Overviews expands to 200+ countries and 40+ languages. 2
14. From March 2025, AI Overviews expands to 200+ countries and 40+ languages. 2
15. From March 2025, AI Overviews expands to 200+ countries and 40+ languages. 2
16. https://www.similarweb.com/corp/reports/gen erative-ai-publishers-uk/ From March 2025, AI Overviews expands to 200+ countries and 40+ languages. 2
17. Latest update before my trip to Turkey: as of October 2025, AI Mode is now available in over 40 countries and more than 35 languages, including within Europe. 2 https://blog.google/products/search/ai-mode-expands-languages-locations/
18. https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/ctr-aio Zero-click searches are not new. Let’s not forget this isn’t new 3
19. Have you noticed this in your projects? It’s likely influenced by AI Overviews, which emphasizes informational content.
20. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4
21. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4
22. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 Publishers have a high volume of traffic from Discover. +70 % - 80 % in some cases.
23. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 Google Discover in Turkey. Images courtesy of Bengü Sarica.
24. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 https://www.newzdash.com/page/google-discover-monitoring-discoverpulse In 2024, Discover has surpassed search as the world's top traffic source for the first time. And now Discover is coming to the desktop.
25. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 Source: Chartbeat (4.500 publishers, January-July 2025) What Is Google Discover, and How Can You Boost Your Traffic? (Clara Soteras, MOZ, 2024) https://moz.com/blog/boost-traffic-google-discover • Countries with the highest use of Google Discover in the media • Predominance of European, Asian, and South American countries.
26. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 Source: iOS vs. Android (Statcounter) https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide/#monthly-202506-202506-map 74 % of users worldwide use Android.
27. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 In Europe, Android’s market share is above 65 % and in Asia is 84 %, which is why this channel is more prominent in some countries (StatCounter data, August 2025). In the US, iOS holds a 57 % market share versus 43 % for Android.
28. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 Mobile Operating System Market Share Turkey https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/turkey/#monthly-202508-202508-bar The use of Google Discover in Turkey is also high, as over 77 % of users are on Android.
29. But publishers have a powerful tool... 4 SUBREGION GD_PV TOTAL_PV GD_PCT Southeast Asia 836,203,073 2,014,466,066 41.51% Central Asia 11,492,333,943 29,173,487,597 39.39% South America 860,159,603 2,524,396,682 34.07% Central America 504,858,098 1,841,702,845 27.41% Balkan 936,626,097 3,531,504,783 26.52% Southern Europe 7,778,613,378 33,827,252,642 23.00% Developed APAC 2,196,792,557 10,659,972,458 20.61% Brazil 2,303,445,953 13,130,832,803 17.54% Western Europe 3,366,751,009 19,516,711,576 17.25% Eastern Europe 1,862,118,037 12,867,264,948 14.47% Canada 967,132,883 7,068,455,199 13.68% Middle East 1,302,101,050 10,113,669,056 12.87% British Isles 7,312,163,691 60,994,968,169 11.99% North America 9,856,161,607 93,133,846,193 10.58% Scandinavia 590,408,130 7,352,954,012 8.03% Oceania 686,068,687 8,924,481,107 7.69% Data from Chartbeat (January - August 2025)
30. What is Google Discover? 5 Personalized content feed available for mobile device users. It was launched in 2018 and began attracting the attention of digital media in 2019. Content appears based on users’ interests and data related to their activity (registered in their Google account): • Searches • Videos • Interaction with news • Location history • Followed topics
31. • Search: Users enter queries in the search engine to get the information they want. • Discovery: The algorithm automatically delivers updated content considered interesting to the user, similar to how social media feeds work. What is Google Discover? 5
32. • Google Discover officially displays AI-generated summaries. https://www.seroundtable.com/google-dis cover-ai-summaries-official-39773.html https://techcrunch.com/2025/0 7/15/google-discover-adds-ai-s ummaries-threatening-publish ers-with-further-traffic-decline s/ What is Google Discover? 5
33. • Discover traffic is very volatile and has been impacted by recent updates. • For media outlets, Discover accounts for at least 30% of organic traffic and can reach 50 to 60%. This depends on the outlet, the section, and the time of year. Guidelines Google Discover https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appea rance/google-discover What is Google Discover? 5
34. Just a few days ago, Google announced that we can now follow individual content creators much like publishers, and if they have a verified entity, we’ll be able to recognize and follow them. Updates from Google Discover https://blog.google/products/search/discover-u pdates-september-2025/ What is Google Discover? 5
36. Search for your entity and follow creators, publishers, and brands. Tool created by Agustín Gutiérrez y Damián Taubaso What is Google Discover? 5 https://profile-builder-discover.streamlit.app
37. Follow me on Google Discover! :) (Or your brand, your product, your name…) What is Google Discover? 5 https://profile-builder-discover.streamlit.app
38. You’re probably wondering… How can I optimize my content for Google Discover?
39. • Understand topical authority: work with entities rather than keywords. • People, cities, objects, topics… • Entities are anything that can have a Knowledge Panel. How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
40. • Avoid clickbait but opt for emotional and eye-catching headlines. • Use H1 and OG tags with questions, numbers, and lists. • Headlines that might get hidden… • The headline shown on Google Discover is the OpenGraph title, as well as the image! • Emotional headlines with adjectives or formulas like: “You won’t believe it,” “You’ll be surprised,” “What you don’t expect,” “Secret information,” “According to an expert,” “Limited time offer.” How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
41. • Images larger than 1200 px + max-image-preview:large. • Always JPG format, never PNG. • You can play with images that hide the entity. • Close-ups, collages, showing emotions, faces… • Images containing the character that gives authority to the topic. • Take into account the users’ location. How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
42. • Take into account the users’ location. How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
43. • E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness): develop the authors’ bios, showcasing their specialization, social media, and knowledge of the section or topics they write about. How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
44. • Place the article on the homepage or the page with the highest authority (the one Google crawls the most). • Achieve a CTR above 10%. • Buzz factor: high traffic volume in a limited time. • Work on interlinking. • Use embeds (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube…). • Work with AMP (not a requirement) or ensure good Core Web Vitals (CWV). How do I optimize for Google Discover? 6
45. Do you think it’s not possible to create content for ecommerce, brands, and other businesses?
46. ELECTRONICS ONLINE STORE ELECTRICALS AND HOME TECHNOLOGY ECOMMERCE AUTO PARTS STORE Do you think it’s not possible to create content for ecommerce, brands, and other businesses?
47. Working on the product and the brand… https://theaudiencers.com/how-conde-nast-is-growing-the-happy-middle-of-the-audience-funnel/
48. Unlocking the Power of Google Discover with a Turkish Food Checklist ;)
49. Turkish Food Checklist for Google Discover https://ja.cat/turkishfoodchecklistf orgooglediscover Open this document and make a copy to start working.
50. My book My last project ‘SEO Playbook for News Publishers’. NOW AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH! If you found this workshop useful and want to dive deeper into SEO strategies for news publishers, you’ll be able to purchase it at the end.
51. Let’s get down to business THANK YOU! hola@clarasoteras.com clarasoteras.com