How to Get Your Website Added to Google News and Drive Real Time Traffic
● Let’s look at some of the best practices for getting added to Google News and how you can get real-time traffic.
Adhere to the Principles of Good Journalism
● If you look at recent additions to the Google News syndication platform, you’ll notice that Google is no longer 100% focused on news-related “current events”- type content.
● It’s evolved over the years, leveling the playing field for bloggers, content creators and news media experts. This evolution may not be obvious from the headlines, but the content reveals this expansion.
● However, the principles of good journalism haven’t been discarded. Google still cares about the style and substance of articles. Good journalism is all about being honest and as objective as possible.
● Why do you think Google crawls, indexes and publishes content from CNN, BBC, Techcrunch, The Wall Street Journal and others?
● One of the reasons is because these sites adhere to strict standard journalism practices. They’re transparent and they adhere to the same professional standard.
● Your reporting must be original, honest and well-structured. Standard journalism is all about investigation. So, you should be able and ready to investigate a story and authenticate it, before reporting it.
● For your story to strike a chord with editors, who will in turn syndicate it at Google News, PBS recommends that you present information from the most to the least important content points.
● There’s an established application process to get your stories featured on Google News. But, before you apply, follow these guidelines:
1. Don’t copy from other sites. Write original news articles.
● First and foremost, you need to make sure that your stories are original.
● Google is a credible company, trusted by millions all around the world. Imagine Google reporting a story that’s false.
● What do you think would happen to its credibility?
● And, speaking of credibility, Google is equally concerned with Author Rank.
● There’s no better way to become a reputable author than to write for other news and magazine sites.
● If you’ve never written for trusted news sites, such as Forbes, Inc. or Business Insider, you need to begin.
● Google knows that reputable authors and columnists don’t copy news stories from other sources.
● Instead, they go all out to get an original story. Famous authors who publish original stories over a period of time are given credit so that they can build “rank” and improve their reputation, no matter what online publication they choose to write for.
● One way to get your story added to Google News quickly is to use a co-author who has a high Author Rank.
● In Google’s view, such an author brings a higher level of authority to your site and the resulting story is more likely to be original and credible.
● To get started reporting news, you need original stories. The resource guide below will give you more guidance: The Origin of Stories: How Journalists Find and Create News in an Age of Social Media, Competition and Churnalism
2. Write keyword-rich headlines that communicate the story topics.
● Your headline makes a promise to the reader. If you get it right, your news story will likely be picked up by Google and other journalists who can amplify the content’s reach.
● According to Poynter, you should “try to keep your headlines straightforward and unadorned. Use concise and familiar words, if possible.”
● You may be tempted to use numbers in your news story headlines. After all, users love numbers. But, if you’re going to use a “listicle” headline type, it should provide specific insights and steer clear of “linkbait” territory.
● Just like blog posts, your news story headline determines whether your story will be syndicated by Google or not.
● Here are some tips to help you write newsworthy headlines: i). Don’t repeat words: The purpose of getting your website or story added to Google News is to get clicks and views from the huge user base. You don’t have to repeat words or keywords in the headline, as though you’re actively doing SEO.
● Here’s a weak news headline:
“How experienced investors can mentor about-to-quit investors”
● Avoid this repetition of words like the plague. ii). Use active voice: A news headline is a quick way to demonstrate what’s inside the story.
● Don’t bore users or discourage journalists from picking your story. Avoid using a passive voice.
● In passive voice, the subject is receiving the verb. For example:
❏ Passive voice: Mary was hit by a car.
❏ Active voice: The car hit Mary.
● Active voice starts with the subject. With active voice, you can say more with fewer words. Brevity is an essential newswriting tactic that captivates the audience.
● Using active voice in your news headline also helps to trim down unnecessary words. If you check Digg’s homepage, you’ll see that most of the syndicated stories have headlines written with an active voice.
● The passive-voice version of the above news headline is obviously weaker:
❏ An Episode of ‘Top Chef’ Was Produced with Help From the CIA iii). Write in present tense: This is another important point to keep in mind when writing a story headline with the hope of getting it syndicated on Google News.
● Even if the story itself or content is written in past tense, the headline should indicate what’s happening right now. After all, that’s why it’s called “news.” iv). Know which words to capitalize: Have you noticed that not all words in a news story headline are capitalized? As a rule of thumb, capitalize the first word of the headline. You must also capitalize proper nouns.
● On the Google News homepage, both title case and first word/proper noun capitalization standards are used.
● If you use title case, don’t capitalize articles.
3. Write news-related articles, not evergreen content.
● In adding sites to Google News, Google can only include sites that follow their Webmasters Guidelines.
● If there’s nothing timely about your topic or story, it’s not news. It’s as simple as that. In journalism, “timing is everything.”
● For your site to be accepted, you’ve got to write news-related articles consistently. Evergreen content just won’t work with Google News.
● Aside from that, Google also has specific types of content that they accept. In Google’s words:
“We generally do not include how-to articles, advice columns, job postings or strictly informational content such as weather forecasts and stock data.”
4. Write at least 2 news articles each day.
● Are you the only one managing your site? If you want to get added to Google News, you may need to make a change.
● The majority of the news media sites that are syndicated on Google News are multi-authored. In other words, more than one person writes for the site.
● You need more writers who can source for fresh stories, write about them and submit them within hours.
● You may find you have to train good writers. You could start by hiring freelance writers, then train them on the journalistic approach that Google News and other media platforms require for every story.
● You should also work to teach your writers how to follow your brand guidelines. Let them know the elements that should be present in a news story – the headline, the appropriate voice, the requirement for sources and the rules of citation.
● Ideally, create an author page on your site, where you introduce each writer on your team.
● Google will ask you for a list of authors who report stories on your site. In fact, you’ll be required to submit contact details for each author, when you apply.
5. Establish authority with your blog.
● Google is understandably strict about the content it considers to be news. Not every article is news-related.
● Most of the time, it’s not about the story, but the context or angle by which the author covered it.
● Since Google is passionate about timely, up-to-date stories, you need a way to prove to Google that you’ve adhered to its guidelines.
● You need to establish authority with your blog. Authority, on the web, boils down to how many user-friendly sites link back to yours.
● Let’s say that your 3-month old blog has been reporting timely, up-to-date stories as they unfold.
● Another site (say, Mashable) has more authority than your blog.
● Mashable publishes more timely content, because it’s got the budget for a sufficient number of authors. If you’re a small business, you can’t beat that.
● Building authority with your blog isn’t a straightforward thing. And, it definitely will not happen overnight.
● You need to get off of your site. You should be everywhere.
● While you’re building your Author Rank, by contributing to other trustworthy sites, always reference your story in a natural way.
● Ideally, use your branded keyword or story headline as anchor text to link back to your site.
● The more authority sites you contribute to and get links from, the more authority your blog will get. Your blog will build momentum gradually. Be patient!
● Social media is equally vital, so spread the love. Get active on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and, most importantly for Google News, Google+.
● Don’t try to copy or mimic another author’s writing style. Find your own voice. Stick to it.
● That’s the only way to stand out from the crowd and get your news-related articles added to Google News.
● When your content is unique and compelling, more people will click your headline, visit your site and take action.
● But, when your news is like everyone else’s, you’re not making an impact. To the audience, there’s nothing in it for them. Consequently, they’ll leave.