I’ve received over 5 million clicks from Google Discover in the last 2 years…
And I’ve analyzed all of my best-performing pages…
Here are the top 6 patterns I’ve found 👇
🏆 Pattern #1: They appeal to a very specific demographic
Content on Google Discover needs to first appeal to a specific person.
It needs to catch their attention where they’re screaming inside, “Hey, this is me!”
It’s a whole new level of “niching” down within your niche.
I like to start “broad”, then start niching down…
Examples of “broad” demographics:
· Blended Families
· iPhone enthusiasts
· Pet Owners
· Allergies
· Senior Citizens
· Locals (e.g., New Englanders)
· Glamping enthusiasts
· Men Baby Boomers
· Introverts
· Nature Lovers
And so now, I’d take one or more of these demographics and apply it to my niche.
For example…
Niche: Personal Finance
Demographic: Large Families
Headline: 13 Brilliant Costco Finds for Large Families on a Budget
And some demographics are connected to niche down even more…
Niche: Dogs
Demographic: Senior Citizens, Dog Owners
Headline: 5 Seniors on a Fixed Income Share Their Favorite Free and Dog-Friendly Activities
👋 If you get my free newsletter, I’ll soon be sharing a huge list of these demographics you can start targeting (link in bio).
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Here’s a ChatGPT prompt to help you get some ideas flowing on how you can start targeting unique demographics within your niche:
“I have a niche website about [insert your niche here]. Below is a list of demographics. Give me 10 listicle-style headline ideas that could target each demographic in my niche website. The headline should be enticing to want to click, creating a strong emotion such as intrigue or fear of missing out. It should really resonate with them for their demographic. Demographics:
Blended Families
iPhone enthusiasts
Pet Owners
Allergies
Senior Citizens
Locals (e.g., New Englanders)
Glamping enthusiasts
Men Baby Boomers
Introverts
Nature Lovers
[and list all the rest found in my newsletter]”
🏆 Pattern #2: People Love Listicle Content
There’s something going on in our brains that are wired to like or at least pay attention to lists.
Perhaps it came from our ancestors who would pass down important information around the campfire, such as the 5 Best Tips to Avoid Getting Eaten By a Lion While Gathering Berries
Now, we just need to modernize it…
Examples: 25 Ingenious Ways Messy and Lazy People Keep Their Home Office Organized
13 Brilliant Money-Saving Tips for Big Families on a Budget
12 Easy Camping Meals Little Kids Will Love
10 Sci-Fi Movies in 2023 with Unbelievable CGI
10 New Fashion Trends Professional Women Over 40 Are Wearing to The Office
Listicles work really well with my site/niche.
But I know other types of news/trends content can work just as well.
The key is to grab their attention with something new, interesting and relevant and create a sense of FOMO or some other strong emotion that entices them to want to click and check out your page.
I’m continuing to test new ideas to find patterns.
I believe each site has its own patterns of which types of content, topics and headlines that work best for them and their ideal audience.
🏆 Pattern #3: The Titles Have Attention-Grabbing Adjectives & Superlatives
Yes, these can be borderline “clickbait.”
But I always aim to deliver on what I’m promising in the headline.
Examples Adjectives & Superlatives:
· Incredible
· Remarkable
· Mind-Blowing
· Stunning
· Gorgeous
· Jaw-Dropping
· Expensive
· Cheapest
· Funniest
· Trendiest
· Easiest
📫 Sign up for my newsletter to get my full list later this week + I’ll show you my top 3 performing ones (sign up link in bio)
🏆 Pattern #4: The featured image is large and eye-catching
My featured images are 1200px wide.
Including all images within the content…
Don’t miss that last line ☝️
I resized all of the images within my page’s content to be 1200px and I saw an increase in Discover traffic shortly after.
Use a bulk image resizing plugin like Imsanity
I also of course, have the max-image-preview:large Google recommends.
And just like I do with Pinterest, I make sure these images are extra sharp, have a higher contrast and more vibrancy.
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📝 Later in my series on Google Discover, I’ll share some additional insights I learned about featured images for Discover that I don’t see anyone else talking about… so be sure to get on my email list.
🏆 Pattern #5: They’re Engaging Recurring Topics
They’re topics people want or need to engage with at some consistent level, such as once a week, month, quarter, or year.
This can include things like:
· traveling
· movies
· concerts
· holidays
· spring cleaning
· home decor
· wardrobe changes
· meal prep
· gardening
· house cleaning
· pets
· eating out
Examples:
15 Best New England Vacation Destinations for Young Families on a Budget
Top 10 Healthy Meal Prep Recipes for Busy Professionals
8 Creative Date Night Ideas for Spicing Things Up This Month
50 Fun Things to Do With Kids This Spring Break
(I’ll include more recurring topic ideas for you to swipe in my upcoming email)
🏆 Pattern #6: They Spark ….
This one is the main ingredient that makes a page pop in Google Discover…
I’m only sharing this one with those who are subscribed to my newsletter by this Friday, so be sure to get on the list (link in bio)
I’ll also include several examples + a ChatGPT prompt you can use to make this one work for your niche site.
🙏 I hope you enjoyed this 3rd part in my series on Google Discover. If you want more, be sure to follow me here and subscribe to my newsletter for my best stuff.
