Google has updated its Google Discover feed guidelines to highlight the key elements that need to be included in the feed so that it can be properly optimized.
Google Discover feed
Google Discover’s Follow Feed feature provides Chrome Android users with relevant content and is an important source of traffic tailored to users’ interests.
The Google Discover Follow feature is a component of Google Discover, a way to capture a steady stream of traffic alongside Google News and Google Search.
Google’s Discover Follow feature allows users to get updates on the latest content on a site they are interested in.
Participation in Discover Follow is via an optimized RSS or Atom feed.
When the feed on a site is properly optimized, users can choose to follow a site or a specific category of a site, depending on how the publisher configures their RSS/Atom feeds.
Audiences who follow a site will see the new content populate their Discover Follow feed, which in turn will bring new waves of traffic to participating sites that are properly optimized.
According to Google:
“The Follow feature allows users to follow a website and get the latest updates from that website on the Follow tab in Chrome’s Explore.
Currently, the Follow button is a feature available to signed-in English users in the US, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, Canada and Australia using Chrome Android.”
Only sites with properly optimized feeds that comply with the Discover Follow feature guidelines will receive traffic from the Discover Follow feature.
Updated guide for Google Discover Follow feature
Google has updated its Discover Feed feature guidelines to reflect the meaning of the feed elements
The new guide says:
“The most important content for the follow feature is your feed-
-Item and yours -Items per item. Make sure your feed includes these items.”
Presumably, the lack of these two elements can lead to Google not being able to understand the feed and display it to users, resulting in a loss of traffic.
Website publishers who participate in the Google Discover Follow feature should verify that their RSS or Atom feeds do not include the items
Google Discover optimization
Publishers and SEOs are familiar with optimizing for Google Search.
However, many content publishers may not be aware of how to optimize for Google Discover to enjoy the high traffic that comes from properly optimizing for Google Discover and the Google Discover Follow feature.
The Follow Feed feature, a component of Google Discover, is one way to ensure the site gets a steady stream of relevant traffic beyond organic search.
Because of this, it’s important to ensure your RSS/Atom feeds are properly optimized.
Read Google’s announcement of the updated guidelines and read the full guidelines for following feature feeds here.
Featured image from Shutterstock/fizkes
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