Google Discover publishing checklist: Verify eligibility, images, and editorial fit

Run a pre-publication and maintenance review for Google Discover eligibility, large-image readiness, headline integrity, page experience, evidence, and measurement—without promising inclusion.

By

Interactive checklist

Work through the checklist

Check an item only after you can verify it. Open an item for instructions, evidence prompts, and notes.

12 items45–60 minutes per publishing templateIntermediate
0/12verified

Section 01

Eligibility and promise

Check the final URL, indexability, canonical, visible main content, and snippet controls.

CriticalMedium10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Google documents indexed, policy-compliant content as eligible for Discover, without a special tag or schema requirement.

Example

URL Inspection shows the intended canonical and no page-level restriction prevents a preview.

How to verify it
  1. Inspect the canonical URL in Search Console.
  2. Check robots, noindex, canonical, rendered main content, and important resources.
  3. Review max-snippet and nosnippet controls.
Evidence to record
  • Final status
  • Indexing state
  • Selected canonical
  • Snippet controls
Common mistakes
  • Adding invented Discover schema.
  • Testing only the homepage.
Useful tools
  • URL Inspection
  • Browser

Check misleading behavior, spam, unsafe material, and policy-sensitive claims before release.

CriticalAdvanced15 minutesVaries
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Discover eligibility depends on compliance with Google Search and Discover content policies.

Example

A health article separates evidence, professional review, uncertainty, and commercial relationships.

How to verify it
  1. Review the page against current Discover and spam policies.
  2. Check material claims, disclosures, sourcing, and user safety.
  3. Escalate regulated or high-risk advice.
Evidence to record
  • Policy review owner
  • Material risks
  • Disclosure state
  • Approval date
Common mistakes
  • Treating a disclaimer as a substitute for accurate content.
  • Hiding commercial relationships.
Useful tools
  • Policy checklist
  • Editorial review

Write a title that captures the page’s essence and can be understood before the click.

CriticalMedium10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Google recommends page titles that capture the essence and warns against clickbait, misleading, sensational, or curiosity-withholding tactics.

Example

“Googlebot’s 2 MB HTML limit: what is counted and how to test it” states the subject and task.

How to verify it
  1. Compare title, lead, headings, image, and conclusion.
  2. Remove exaggerated stakes and unsupported certainty.
  3. Confirm the page delivers the headline’s core answer.
Evidence to record
  • Subject visible
  • Boundary visible
  • Promise delivered
  • Reviewer
Common mistakes
  • Using “You won’t believe” framing.
  • Turning an observation into a universal rule.
Useful tools
  • Promise-drift review

Section 02

Image and page experience

Use a high-quality image that represents the page and can be selected as a large preview.

CriticalEasy5 minutesVaries
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Google recommends compelling large images at least 1200 pixels wide and enabled by max-image-preview:large or an equivalent delivery method.

Example

A 1200 × 675 original illustration shows the actual problem and action described by the article.

How to verify it
  1. Verify intrinsic image dimensions.
  2. Check the image appears in visible content or supported metadata.
  3. Confirm max-image-preview:large is allowed.
  4. Test the delivered file on mobile.
Evidence to record
  • Width/height
  • File format and bytes
  • Preview directive
  • Mobile test
Common mistakes
  • Upscaling a tiny source.
  • Using the logo as the primary article image.
Useful tools
  • Image inspector
  • Browser developer tools

Make the image specific to the page, record permission, and write useful alt text.

CriticalMedium10 minutesVaries
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

An attractive but unrelated image misrepresents the page; rights and accessibility remain required regardless of distribution surface.

Example

The asset ledger records creator, license, prompt/method, caption, and accurate alt text.

How to verify it
  1. Compare the image with the direct answer and headline.
  2. Save rights or creation evidence.
  3. Write alt text for the information a reader would miss.
  4. Remove text-heavy or generic stock imagery.
Evidence to record
  • Relevance check
  • Rights record
  • Alt text
  • Asset owner
Common mistakes
  • Keyword stuffing alt text.
  • Using a dramatic image that changes the claim.
Useful tools
  • Asset ledger
  • Accessibility review

Check loading, stability, readability, navigation, intrusive elements, and the route to the main answer.

HighAdvanced15 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Google recommends a good page experience for Discover, and poor mobile delivery can obstruct the content regardless of eligibility.

Example

The answer and image remain readable without a full-screen signup, layout shift, or clipped table.

How to verify it
  1. Test on a real or throttled mobile device.
  2. Open menus, tables, media, and disclosures.
  3. Record Core Web Vitals field data where available.
  4. Fix intrusive overlays and unstable media dimensions.
Evidence to record
  • LCP
  • INP
  • CLS
  • Mobile completion
  • Blocking overlays
Common mistakes
  • Optimizing a score while the main task remains hard.
  • Loading an oversized hero above a hidden answer.
Useful tools
  • PageSpeed Insights
  • Chrome DevTools
  • Search Console

Section 03

Editorial value and trust

Connect the page to a current interest, enduring need, or fresh analysis without manufacturing urgency.

HighMedium10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Google recommends timely content, current interests, and unique insights; ordinary evergreen usefulness can still be valid when the reader need is real.

Example

An update note names the new documentation and the decision it changes.

How to verify it
  1. Name the reader decision and the current evidence.
  2. Add an as-of date to time-sensitive claims.
  3. Remove stale urgency and generic trend claims.
Evidence to record
  • Reader decision
  • As-of date
  • New evidence
  • Update trigger
Common mistakes
  • Changing the date without material edits.
  • Calling a topic trending without a source.
Useful tools
  • Primary-source ledger
  • Update record

Include a test, framework, worksheet, comparison, evidence table, or bounded synthesis.

HighAdvancedVariesVaries
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

A page earns attention by changing what a reader can understand or do, not by rearranging existing summaries.

Example

The article includes a reproducible diagnostic table and stopping rule.

How to verify it
  1. Identify what current results do not resolve.
  2. Choose one original contribution.
  3. Expose the method, boundary, and failure state.
  4. Remove novelty claims based only on wording.
Evidence to record
  • Original layer
  • Method visible
  • Boundary visible
  • Failure state
Common mistakes
  • Calling a summary original research.
  • Hiding a tiny sample behind a broad conclusion.
Useful tools
  • Research brief
  • Evidence ledger

Make the writer, relevant qualification, publication state, corrections path, and update trigger easy to find.

HighMedium10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Visible provenance helps readers evaluate claims and makes stale material easier to repair.

Example

The author name links to a full profile; the update note names the material change; sources sit beside claims.

How to verify it
  1. Verify author link and bio.
  2. Check published and modified dates represent real events.
  3. Open every material source.
  4. Record the owner and trigger for the next review.
Evidence to record
  • Author visible
  • Dates accurate
  • Sources resolve
  • Owner
  • Trigger
Common mistakes
  • Updating timestamps without changing the page.
  • Using a source list that does not map to claims.
Useful tools
  • Author page
  • Claim ledger
  • Corrections policy

Section 04

Measurement and maintenance

Export complete Discover report dates separately from Web search and analytics.

HighEasy10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Discover traffic is less predictable and should be treated as supplemental to keyword-driven visits.

Example

The record saves 28 complete days of clicks, impressions, CTR, pages, countries, and devices.

How to verify it
  1. Open the Discover performance report when available.
  2. Save complete periods and active filters.
  3. Export page, country, and device dimensions.
  4. Keep absent report availability as a recorded state.
Evidence to record
  • Clicks
  • Impressions
  • CTR
  • Pages
  • Countries
  • Devices
Common mistakes
  • Treating no report as proof of a penalty.
  • Combining Discover with Web traffic.
Useful tools
  • Search Console Discover report
  • Spreadsheet

Save the URL, release time, title, image, template, content revision, and intended decision.

HighMedium10 minutesFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Without a version record, a traffic change cannot be matched reliably to what readers and systems received.

Example

Version 2 changes only the image and records the review date while the headline and body remain stable.

How to verify it
  1. Create a version ID.
  2. Save the before and after state.
  3. Record concurrent campaigns and site changes.
  4. Declare the review window before publishing.
Evidence to record
  • Version
  • Release time
  • Changed fields
  • Confounders
  • Review date
Common mistakes
  • Changing title, image, body, and template together.
  • Selecting the review window after seeing a spike.
Useful tools
  • CMS revisions
  • Release log

Recheck the parts most likely to become stale or misleading.

MediumEasy20 minutes monthlyFree
Instructions and evidence
Why check this

Product documentation, images, rights, facts, and platform policies change after publication.

Example

The owner replaces an outdated interface screenshot and adds a dated update note without changing the canonical URL.

How to verify it
  1. Open every primary source.
  2. Recheck time-sensitive claims and image rights.
  3. Review policies and preview controls.
  4. Correct, update, merge, or retire with a recorded reason.
Evidence to record
  • Review date
  • Broken sources
  • Changed claims
  • Image state
  • Next trigger
Common mistakes
  • Refreshing dates instead of content.
  • Silently changing a conclusion affected by an error.
Useful tools
  • Maintenance register
  • Link checker
  • Corrections process

Progress and notes stay in this browser unless you download or import a file. This checklist makes no ranking or indexing guarantee.

Google says indexed content that meets Discover policies is automatically eligible; no special tags or structured data are required, and eligibility does not guarantee appearance. Use this checklist to improve the integrity and technical readiness of a page—not to manufacture a Discover promise.

Before you start

Select one URL and its publishing template. Record the title, canonical, featured image, image rights, author, publication date, update state, and Search Console Discover availability. Complete the editorial checks before the traffic review.

Primary documentation

Measurement note: Discover traffic can change independently of keyword-driven visits. Progress and notes stay in this browser unless exported.

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