Your Guide To Getting Into Google News

Everyone likes to read news articles to be in touch with what is happening in the world. Accessing Google News is a nice way to go about it. What is Google News? What is the procedure of getting into Google News? With the amount of saturation in the world of media, would it be possible to achieve this objective? This article will explain the process in a simple manner. We shall look at the standards specified by Google detailing the guidelines one has to follow for getting their website approved into Google News.

What is Google News?

This simple screen shot should explain what Google News is. Everyone who has used the internet is familiar with the Google search engine. As you type out your search requirements, you get to view this particular screen. Concentrate on the heading. You will get your answer.

In simple words, Google News is a search result featuring breaking news updates collected from more than 30000 websites. Launched in January 2006, Google News has become popular because of the informative content one can access. Using a unique Google algorithm, it gathers up-to-date news stories.

Before discussing the ways of getting into Google News, let us look at the advantages of Google News.

Advantages of Google News

The greatest advantage of Google News is that the websites listed in this news feed get a tremendous response from viewers. There is no need for the viewer to dwell deeper. Just accessing the Google News is enough for one to gather the requisite information.

One more advantage is that getting your website into Google News does not require much SEO tweaking. Meaningful and strong content is enough to do the job.

The Impact of Google News

Your website will automatically see a flood of traffic coming towards it. This can help in boosting the domain authority of your web page. Shares and backlinks will increase automatically. Hence, your website starts getting a huge amount of organic visibility.

The Approval Process

Let us see the Google News Site Approval process. Following these steps can help your website or blog get into Google News. It is not an easy task. These twelve steps play a vital role in sealing the Google News approval.

1. Have a proper Custom News Theme

The presentation is an important factor. Understand that your website has to pass the initial manual approval process. Having a specific theme such as a magazine or a professional news style theme is essential. There should be clear categorization of articles. Separate structures for topics like politics, sports, entertainment, education, social media, etc. should be evident in your User Interface. This can help in easy navigation. Have a look at CNN News website for inspiration and reference.

2. Multiple authors should do the trick

It is always better to rely on specialists to do the job for you. The horses for courses policy is the best one. Have a finance specialist to cater to the business and finance articles.

A sports specialist for sports related articles is essential. This can lend a professional touch to your website. This can make it easy for you to ace the Google News approval process.

3. Headlines matter

It is necessary to have an eye-catching headline. The headline should be such that it should convey the entire news in a short and crisp manner. This is an example of a good headline. It is not only eye-catching but also capable of creating user interest in the news article.

Ensure that your headline grabs the eye balls at the first instance. Having the following qualities can be helpful.

• It should have a professional touch and convey the relevant matter in as few words as possible.
• Insertion of relevant keywords is essential.
• It goes without saying that a glamor quotient is always beneficial for a headline to attract attention.

4. The frequency of publishing articles

Publishing articles at regular frequency is important. If you go through the Google News Publisher center guidelines, you will find that websites having a history of publishing 2 to 3 articles a day stand a higher chance of getting Google News approval.

5. Establish legitimacy

Having a website complete with the “About Us” and “Privacy Policy” features is necessary because it establishes a sense of legitimacy. Users and Google News explore such features regularly. It is always advisable to display transparency by including email addresses, phone numbers, and other contact information on the website.

6. Be Original

This is the golden rule. When you submit a press release to Google News, originality is a prime concern. Duplicate content is a certain refusal in Google News.

7. A genuine business model is necessary

Regular visitors to your website can add spice to the proceedings. This feature establishes that your website is a genuine business model. This is a positive feature for getting into Google News.

8. Updated content is a must

Stale news articles do not have any readers. Hence, one should concentrate on updating the news content on a regular basis. Google News is very particular about this aspect.

9. Structure is very important

Having a structured Google News WordPress Plugin in place is important. Google News gives great importance to the manner in which you present the information.

Specification of tags, category, publishing dates is essential. Images can also play a great role in clinching Google News approval. It is always better to engage your readers by including “Comment” sections.

10. Have a responsive design

Readers have specific preferences. Many people prefer to browse the internet on their smartphones and other devices like iPads. Having a responsive design can clinch the deal.

11. Having a unique URL helps

Every post you publish should have a distinct identity in the form of a unique URL. It is advisable to have a 3-digit number in your URL. This will act as a Google News Source name. Insertion of keywords is a good idea. This can give your ranking a tremendous boost and fulfill your objective of getting into Google News.

12. Sitemap and Keyword tags ease the process

Sitemaps can help the search engine crawlers to index your web pages. A Google News sitemap can be different from the normal sitemap because of its certain distinctive features. The timing of the post is an important factor. This helps the search engine crawlers to give importance to the recently posted articles over the older ones.

Adherence to the Google News settings is important. The WordPress users can utilize the services of Google News XML plugin whereas the others can include sitemap entries manually. The settings allow a maximum of 1000 URLs at a time.

Submitting Websites to Google News

You have seen the twelve steps to follow for getting into Google News. The question is how you submit your website for inclusion. Google Mews allows multiple applications but there should be a gap of 60 days before you reapply in case of a rejection. Hence, being thorough in the submission is vital.

Visit Google News Publisher center and follow the procedure.

• The first step is to enter the domain details at the requisite location.
• You need to download the verification file. Upload this file to your website and confirm the same. Adding a Meta tag to your homepage and verifying the same can also do the trick.
• In case you have websites linked to your Google account, you can always request for its inclusion in Google News
• Thenextt step involves including your personal details

Fill up the requisite form and submit it. You should get your approval within a period of seven days in case you satisfy all the requirements. Rejections do happen. You have the facility to reapply after the mandatory waiting period of 60 days.

The following screenshot will help clarify matters.

These are simple rules to follow. Doing so will help you get your website in Google News easily. One should also be aware of the things one should not do. Let us try and list it out for you so that you avoid them.

• There are certain articles one should refrain from posting. These include job updates, how-to guides, and notifications. Google News does not allow such postings. It is better if you have a dedicated career page on your website and use this information in the footer message.
• Google News does not encourage you to update an article after its posting.
• Avoid posting articles that have only images or videos.
• Exercise care when you revamp your website. It is advisable to do it in a non-intrusive manner so as not to affect its coverage in Google News.
• Segregate news content from non-news content. The inclusion of non-news content can amount to promotion or marketing. This can force Google News to remove your website from its “News” results.

Final Words

You have just seen the procedure for your website to follow for getting into Google News. The procedure is not easy but one can master the same.

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