Google News works like magic when it is about getting traffic.
It can bring thousands of clicks to your site, leading to increased sales and desired results.
Every webmaster wishes to get their website content on Google News.
There are just a few essential tips to keep in mind, and you, too, can be a part of this massive source of targeted traffic.
Firstly, you need to understand what types of content are published in Google News to determine your chances.
The most frequently asked question is - does the site have to be a News site to be in Google News? Well, not really. Google treats content as News that has noteworthy information or tells about recent or important events.
So, Google News loves sites or blogs that consistently come up with informative content on a timely basis. This way, if your site has newsworthy content to interest your audience, say about your industry or business, your chances of being indexed are higher, even if your website is not a news site.
Take a look at the Macrumors site, which is not entirely a news website but is listed in Google News.
In the case of Google, honesty is the only policy as they strictly adhere to standard journalism practices. However, you don’t need to be a professional; it is about your thought process.
Unlike copywriting practices that are done to promote a business before the target audience, journalism requires a straight focus on the story and not on promotion. So, be honest with what you report along with the style and the substance of the article.
Publisher Center is a very useful tool to get surfaced in Google News.
Share your content with Google News with RSS feeds, website URLs, or videos, using the Publisher Center tool. It uses a specialized web crawler to find your site and helps your article be recognized as News.
Please note, surfacing or ranking in Google News is not guaranteed by the Publisher Center.
Though it is not necessary to use the Publisher Center tool, it provides certain benefits.
Google News is programmed to list fresh news articles.
As said earlier, News is what is happening around, and therefore it has to be fresh.
Anything published should be based on current affairs so that it matches the level of originality of your site.
Prefer producing only recent and high-quality content in your feed that complies with Google News content policies. This way, your site automatically becomes eligible for the Google News app and website.
Many people embed thumbnails or the same image in multiple sizes, or slightly different cropped images in their feed. Little do they realize that they may all appear in the article and ruin the quality of their post.
The same goes for the articles. To identify new articles Google’s system uses the <guid> tag in the feed.
If an article is updated on your website and it generates a new <guid> tag, the two different versions of the articles in the edition are displayed, giving an impression of duplicity. In order to avoid this, make sure no new ID is generated for article updates in your feed.
Google drops sites from the search results that are unsafe for browsing. This drop is temporary until the site again becomes safe from browsing.
Sites that regularly face issues related to malware, site downtime, and site security, then you risk your site getting dropped from Google News.
Make sure to regularly check your site for safe browsing using the Google safe browsing tool, monitor your site uptime using these free services, and get an SSL certificate for your website.
While embedding media to the content, make sure you adhere to the feed guidelines.
Google News strictly cares for its readers, and therefore, they ensure they provide quality for better user experience.
So, always check for broken slideshows and the missing media in Podcasts, articles referring to audio, and articles referring to a video.
A well-formatted article is easier to read, retains the interest of the reader, and creates a good feeling. It is all possible because the article is displayed correctly.
Now, how can you format your article?
To boost the possibility of being added to Google News, you must post multiple news stories every day. For this, you would need writers to create new stories professionally and submit them the same day.
The writers also have to be trained and should be aware of the journalistic approach that Google News follows for stories. Additionally, there has to be an author page on your site to introduce each one in the writer’s team.
Besides, for bylined articles, it must have a short bio of the writer at the end, along with professional achievements and an email address.
This is the part of Google’s requirement where they ask every news site for a list of authors responsible for reporting stories on their website. Google also asks to submit contact details for each author while applying.
After you have read all the tips, it is time to implement them and get the desired results. However, before proceeding any further, it is crucial that you first create a route map and the way of approach.
Be patient and carefully observe other news sites and their activities. While the listed tips will help you achieve your target, your observance will be an added benefit.
