What's Google News? How To Get On Google News In 2023?
A possibly game-changing Google News app was among the main revelations at Google I/O2018. It supplanted Google Play Newsstand (good riddance) and combined many of the features of your Google Feed into a very comprehensive news app.
I couldn't wait to get my hands on it because I'm a news junkie. Unlike more spectacular debuts such as Duplex, the Google News app was available practically instantly in every market. After a few hours with it, I'm pleased to say that it works well and represents a huge step forward for news applications.
Do you want to increase search traffic to your website?
You must publish your work on Google News. The fact is that getting featured on Google News isn't as difficult as it may appear. And you don't have to be a journalist from a major media outlet to accomplish it. The objective is to:
- Create newsworthy, high-value material.
- Optimizing your website so that Google can simply understand it.
What Exactly Is Google News?
Google News is a news content aggregator that was launched by Google in 2018.
To put it another way:
- Google News provides a continual flow of content from hundreds of news publications and periodicals throughout the world.
- The fact that Google News is powered by the Google algorithm is what makes it so strong. That means you may take advantage of Google's algorithm, which organizes all of the world's news into one location.
- Simply select the topics and newspapers that interest you, and Google will supply you with the most recent articles.
- It obtains this material from thousands of indexed publishers worldwide.
- It also does not only display the major media sites. Google regularly highlights smaller blogs and content sites with noteworthy posts.
- That's how you go in and take advantage of the situation!
The Ultimate News Aggregation
Google News elevates news aggregation to new heights. It combines hundreds of reliable news sources and puts related items together to provide readers with a broader view of a particular subject. Before any conspiracy theorists start whining, the standard for a "trusted" news source isn't all that high. You may manually follow and subscribe to more specialized publications if you don't notice any "alternative" sources.
Google News takes news aggregation to the next level. It contains hundreds of reliable news sources and organizes related items together to provide readers with a broader view of a specific issue. Before any conspiracy theorists start whining, the standard for a "trusted" news source isn't that high. If you don't notice any "alternative" sources, you can manually follow and subscribe to additional niche publications.
Why Do Websites Want To Be Featured On Google News?
Google News is projected to have 280 million users globally.
That's a lot of people. You can constantly put your site in front of thousands of visitors every day if you have the correct content. Some websites rely entirely on Google News for traffic.
That's how strong it is!
What's more, the finest part?
The traffic is well-targeted.
You can be certain that the traffic you draw is relevant to your business because Google News users look at material based on their interests.
That implies you're placing your material there...
- In front of the appropriate audience.
- At the appropriate moment.
That can't get much better than that!
But this isn't the only incentive to subscribe to Google News...
Over 60% of individuals prefer Google News over other news sources.
What does this imply for you?
The degree of confidence that Google News users have when clicking on a site indicates that you have a good chance of converting traffic into leads and sales.
Some websites go a step further by ONLY creating noteworthy material for Google News as their primary top-of-funnel approach.
As a wise website owner, Google News provides a chance to expand your business through an entirely new channel.
Broadcast News And Embedded Media
Google News' new Newscasts feature is one of the more creative ways to present articles. Newscasts are similar to Instagram Stories. They're slideshows of multiple stories from various sources, each with a title and a small snippet. I found the function to be a little overwhelming - I'd rather have more control over how rapidly items are displayed.
Fortunately, there is a Mini card option in the settings that disables the animated Newscasts and instead presents the news as a list. The snippets have vanished, but videos continue to play in the tiny icon window. Pages that contain podcasts or other audio files will also include a play button on the card itself, allowing you to listen without having to open the page.
Both the conventional cards and the mini-cards have a wonderful appearance and feel, so it truly boils down to personal opinion.
Is It Necessary To Submit My Website To Google News?
When Google News originally debuted, you had to submit your site to be listed. That is no longer true.
Google has gotten intelligent enough to locate your stuff on its own. However, submitting your site to Google's Publisher Centre is advised since it delivers several additional benefits.
A team of Googlers carefully reviews all new applications for inclusion in Google News. So take your time and carefully follow each step.
Log in to your Google Account and select "Add Publication" from the Publisher Centre menu.
Fill out the form and press the "Add Publication" button.
You must now authenticate your website with Google Search Console.
Click "Publication Settings," then scroll down to "Primary website property URL" and click "Verify in Search Console".
Finally, for Google News to seem appealing to visitors and readers, you must customize and create your brand.
You must also configure the parts that will serve as tabs in the Google News app.
Fill out each section by clicking on the "Google News brand and customization" tab.
This guarantees that Google:
1. Correctly categorize your website.
2. Get your most recent material quickly.
3 Ways To Get Your Website Listed On Google News
Now that you've gotten everything out of the way, you're ready to discover how to constantly appear on Google News.
All you have to do is put each of these seven suggestions into action.
1. Construct a Google News Sitemap
An XML sitemap should be included on every website.
Consider an XML sitemap to be a comprehensive road map for your whole website. It assists Google in correctly finding and indexing every page, ensuring that nothing gets missed.
To get into Google News, though, you must first construct a news-specific sitemap.
You may develop a sitemap that simply contains your most recent articles, much like you have an XML sitemap that highlights every page on your site.
This emphasizes your most recent and relevant material, so Google knows what to spotlight.
More particularly, your Google News sitemap should include information that has been published within the last 72 hours.
The "latest story" is all that matters in the news. When your article appears in Google News, it is only shown for roughly 2-4 days.
Google only wants to provide its users the most recent news.
How Does One Make a Google News Sitemap?
The Rank Math plugin is my go-to tool since it offers a Google News-specific feature.
- Install Rank Math on your site if you haven't already.
- Then, select "Dashboard" from the drop-down menu.
- Scroll down to see the News Sitemap. Turn this on.
This is a paid feature that requires a premium license, but it is definitely worth it given the number of features you receive.
- Now click on "Sitemap Settings", then "News Sitemaps".
- Configure your News Sitemap by entering your publication name precisely as it appears in Google News. Click the "Save" button.
- Rank Math adds the NewsArticle structured data to each article on the sitemap automatically. This increases the number of highlighted snippets in the SERPs.
- Now, copy the URL for the News Sitemap and paste it into Google Search Console.
- RankMath provides an extra tool to ensure that your news material is distributed as widely as possible.
- Finally, choose any post and then select the "Advanced" option on the Rank Math widget.
- Scroll all the way down to the News index section.
- Add the "Index" label to each new news post. This informs Google News Bot (not Google Search Bot) that your content is a news piece.
So, even if Google misses the URL in the sitemap, it may still discover and index it naturally. It also benefits other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo!
Don't forget to read my full Rank Math review to learn all this amazing plugin can do for you.
2. Obey Google News' Strict Guidelines
Google News follows its own set of rules.
If you want to be on Google News, you must be familiar with and follow them. That's all there is to it.
What are the policies?
There are three sorts of recommendations that must be followed:
- General principles
- Technical specifications
- Quality standards
Don't worry, this appears to be more complex than it is. The following explains each sort of guideline and how to guarantee correct compliance.
1. General Content Requirements
The general rules for Google News are all about providing high-quality content.
There are three things you must keep in mind:
- Content Type - The content must be timely, relevant, and newsworthy.
- Original & Readable - Make certain that the information is absolutely unique and easy to read.
- Trustworthy - Your article should provide a clear opinion based on professional knowledge and reliable data.
You are transitioning to a more journalistic approach as a Google News Publisher. That implies your material should be of the same caliber as a journalist in that profession.
2. Technical Recommendations
Google discovers and processes your material using an algorithm.
That implies various technological aspects must be in place for Google to properly process your content.
The good news is that you already have most of the technical parts in place because you set up your Google News Publisher account and utilized Rank Math for the remainder.
- You only need to verify that the URLs are optimized and informative of the content.
- The anchor text for internal and external links is correct.
- HTML content is given (no PDFs, javascript, etc)
3. Quality Standards
Google only wants to show its users high-quality news.
The bottom line is that you must provide truthful and high-quality material to your viewers. You won't get anywhere without it.
- Google is quite adept at determining what is real and what is not.
- Ensures that your material has sufficient depth.
- This includes variety.
- Has a strong point of view based on facts?
- Makes use of pertinent facts and statistics.
- Simply consider if this article would be published by a reputable news source.
- Answering this question will help you stay on track with the quality standards.
3. Use Proper Content Formatting
One of the most ignored aspects of article creation is formatting.
The fact is that properly structuring your material might be the difference between hundreds of views and none at all on Google News.
The basic formatting rule is to make information simple to scan and read.
Begin by establishing a solid page structure by employing proper headers and subheadings.
This makes your articles scannable and aids viewers in understanding the overall flow.
Adding figures and bullet points to make your material more consumable is also part of formatting.
If you want to quote someone, use quotation marks.
Large blocks of text should be avoided, and there should be enough white space. There should never be more than three sentences per paragraph.
This reduces the scary nature of your information and makes it easy to read or skim through.
Remember to include multimedia (pictures, videos, gifs, and so on) throughout your material to help readers visualize what you're saying.
Conclusion
After a few hours of use, I'm really delighted with how effectively the new Google News app performs. I'm hoping that as Google's "reinforcement learning" improves the tailored experience, I'll see fewer of the irrelevant content that the Google Feed used to try to cram down my throat.
Google Headlines is a terrific method to quickly acquire the day's news - it even includes local weather at the top of the screen. It's a natural progression of news feeds, and because it was created in collaboration with publishers, it's beneficial to both content providers and users.
Google News will always provide something to read for news addicts. This might be good or harmful, but happily, Google is tackling this issue as well with its digital well-being features.
Google News is available on Android, iOS, and the web in 127 countries. A link to the Play Store listing is provided below.
