Hey Reader,

I'm back from Oxford and already looking at a fairly social August, with friends staying throughout the month. I'm also starting to look ahead to the last few months of the year and thinking about what needs to be in place now to make that easier. More on that next week. As for today, a super quick action you can take to get in front of your existing readers.

Google has expanded their Preferred Sources feature. It started small last year, tucked into the news carousel. But now it's live inside AI Overviews and AI Mode too, which is where a lot of searches are happening these days.

​Preferred Sources lets your readers personalise their search results, meaning they can choose you specifically, instead of leaving it entirely up to the algorithm.

If someone's read your blog before and wants to see more of it, they can mark your site as a preferred source.

Next time Google's building an AI answer or a Top Stories list on something you've covered, your site gets bumped up and clearly labelled, ahead of anything else the algorithm thinks is relevant.

Google says people are twice as likely to click on a preferred source than anything else on the page. If you're blogging even occasionally, it's worth making it easy for returning readers to pick you.

Google have added a link format and downloadable buttons that you can add to your website or other platforms, so someone can add you easily without hunting for the setting.

Format: https://google.com/preferences/source?q=yourwebsiteurl.com

Example: https://google.com/preferences/source?q=marketingmalone.com

Readers can also do it straight from search themselves, there's a small icon next to your listing they tap to mark you as preferred.

Worth knowing before you get too excited: this mostly plays out in Top Stories and AI Overviews, not your regular Google ranking. It won't move you up a normal search result on its own.

But AI Overviews now show up for all sorts of everyday questions, not just news, so if you're publishing useful, specific content, there's a decent chance you're already being cited in one.

This helps most if you've already got a blog and an audience of people who've read your content before and recognise your name. If you're not blogging for your business yet, consider this another good reason to start.

Talk soon,
Elaine XO

Elaine Malone Marketing Malone

PS. I've got space for two new clients from August onwards. If your website, SEO or content needs sorting before autumn hits, have a look at what I offer: marketingmalone.com/services​

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​Elaine, 600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246