There are many excellent ways to drive traffic to your website, but one that many people overlook is using Google News. While you should also be giving plenty of consideration to the result search results page, you can also look at Google News. You’ll probably know from your own internet use how much you visit the news section of Google, especially since the results are positioned right at the top of the primary results page if it’s topical and related to the search that has been made.
While some people believe that you have to be a historic/traditional news outlet to get featured on Google News, this isn’t the case. Let’s not forget that one of the primary advantages of the internet is that it makes a democracy out of content; it’s not just in the hands of traditional publishers, but newcomers too. And that can be very handy for people who want to get visitors to their site.
In this blog, we’re going to take a look at how to appear in Google News.
Deliver the News
If you’re going to appear on the Google News page, then, well, you’ll have to deliver the news! There’s some confusion as to whether you have to be solely a news website to get featured. While of course it would help your chances if you were solely a news website, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case — there are many more general websites on there. What is important is that you have news-worthy content. That means content that’s relevant to the audience, and which has a specific angle — such as information about a new law, for example.
The key thing is that you take a journalistic approach to the content, rather than writing something that is promotional or too lighthearted.
Set Your Article Up For Google News
It’s not just about the words or the theme before the article. You’ll also need to make it ready for Google News. The requirements for making it onto the Google News page are different compared with getting onto the main search results page. One of the most important aspects is to have static URLs. This will allow Google to find it more easily. If you have dynamic URLs, then Google will have to work harder — and there are no guarantees that it’ll find it. The type of language is important too — pure HTML is the one to go.
News is all about speed, the top results will be the ones that are the most relevant. You’ll have plenty of competition, especially if it’s a popular topic, and if you’re using Javascript for your page, then it won’t be as fast as pure HTML pages. It’s a subtle difference but one that can make a big difference.
Keep It Coming
If you’re going to establish yourself as a website that delivers the news, then, well, you need to deliver the news. One article isn’t going to help you all that much. News does come and go pretty fast, after all. So make sure you have a plan to post regularly. Every couple of days would be OK, but if you could post multiple pieces a day, then that’s even better. To do this, it’s a good idea to have multiple contributors. There are other advantages to having multiple authors, but it’ll be the ability to publish a lot of content quickly that’ll have the biggest impact.
Would You Read It?
It’s important to remember that even if your news article does appear on Google News, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll have a positive impact on your website. People need to have faith that what they’re clicking is going to be of value. So don’t assume that people will like your article just because it’s there. Before you publish it, ask yourself whether it’s valuable. A good place to start is to figure out whether you would read it if you see it on a results page. If the answer is no, then it’ll need more work.
Submitting Your Content
To submit your content, first, you’ll need to fill in the details of your website on the Google Publisher Center. From there, it’s all about submitting your content, images, and any ad information. You’ll click it through for review, at which it will be manually reviewed by the Google Team. It can take a couple of weeks, but once you’re set up, you’ll be able to see your content in the Google News results pretty quickly. There you have it – now you know how to appear in Google News!
