Are you a digital marketer, SEO'er, or business owner? No doubt, getting many clicks and traffic to your website weighs heavily on your mind. For sure, there are several tactics that will get you your desired traffic. But there is no denying that such strategies are highly contested and might translate into nothing tangible in the long run.
Google News is one great avenue to get tons of clicks presently. And as expected, news publishers, content creators, and bloggers are keying into this channel. However, you must post news-worthy content with consistence to feature on Google News. There is, even more, to note about this click-generating strategy. This article discusses what Google News is, how it operates, and how you can rank your website higher using this tool.
What is Google News?
Google News serves as a news aggregator by Google to present different articles from many sources. Some of these sources include magazines, newspapers, and even news publishers. Simply put, it is a platform designed to present the world's news in an organized manner.
Its purpose is to give people increased access to news. It does not only help readers with news content, it is also a useful platform for news publishers. For instance, it offers about six billion clicks to publishers worldwide every month. Hence, it promotes the websites of news publishers. Let us see how Google News works.
How Google News operates
Knowing how this news aggregator works can help both readers and publishers. News publishers will also be able to know how to increase their site's ranking. The following explains how Google News functions. As a reader, they will help you to see how to find articles easily. And as a publisher, you will see additional ways on how to increase your Google ranking.
1. Story clusters
If a reader searches for a topic, Google News will display several articles under that topic. Those articles are known as story clusters. And this is helpful to readers. Google determines the articles that will be under a story cluster. It does this by looking at how well the article discusses the topics. If you are a publisher, and Google displays your article first under a story cluster, you can but only imagine the benefits.
2. There are no human editors
On Google, there are no editors that rank articles. Instead, Google makes use of ranking algorithms. This is a system of selecting stories and ranking them in response to keyword queries. In other words, there is nobody that ranks articles for Google.
3. Ranking factors
Several factors make your article rank high on Google's story cluster. For example, is the article well related to the story cluster at hand? If so, the chances that your article will be at the top of the story cluster is very high. Also, make sure that your article covers recent events.
Another factor that can affect an article's rank is its local relevancy. For instance, in the case of local events, publishers in those areas can get high ranks if they cover that event. These few factors determine how Google will rank your articles under story clusters.
4. Reputation of the publication
Another factor that affects how Google ranks articles is the reputation of the article's source. A good reputation in Google News will lead to high rankings. So, if you are a publisher, make sure you are writing from a good source.
All these are just some of the ways Google News functions. There are a lot of other features of this impressive platform. However, some features differ depending on the editions. Yes, Google News has different editions for different countries. Some of these editions are Google News US and Google News UK.
Now that we have seen how Google News work, the next thing that pops into one's mind is how to make the most of the tool. Let us consider how you, as a news publisher, can rank your site on Google News.
How to get your website ranked on Google News
Getting your website to rank higher on this news platform is not so easy and it requires a bit of effort. However, by abiding by the right principles, you can rank higher in no time. The best way to do this is to adhere to good journalism principles. Google values the contents of an article as well as the writing style. And this is all the things that good journalism promotes.
Good journalism is all about what you write. In order to rank high in Google, your articles would have to be true, unique, and straightforward. All these mixed with the perfect writing style will rank your website higher. The following will give you more knowledge as to how to get your site ranked higher on Google News.
1. Your headline should be rich in keywords
For your website to rank higher, you should have a keyword-rich headline. This implies that your headline should be clear, accurate, and related to your story. If not, your article will not be appealing to readers. And Google will likely not pick any article that will not attract readers. Hence, your article will not appear in search results. Let us see some tips that will help you produce a great headline.
Avoid passive voice. From merely looking at a headline, readers can get an idea of the article's content. So, making use of passive voice for your headline will only discourage readers. As a result, no news platform will pick your article. So, make sure that you always use an active voice.
Do not capitalize every letter. You must know which letters to capitalize and which letters to not capitalize. The first letter of a headline should be in a capital letter. Likewise, the first letter of proper nouns should be in a capital letter.
Avoid repetition of words. There is no need for you to repeat words in your headline. And this is because your goal is to get your site or article on Google News.
Do not write your headline in the past tense. If your story is in the past tense, it does not matter. However, do not write your headline in the past tense. Always ensure that your headline is indicating the latest ongoing.
If you follow these suggestions above, you are a step closer to your goal.
2. Write unique and accurate articles
Google will not syndicate an article that is identical to another. So, when you write articles, ensure that it is unique. Do not copy another article, because no search engine will syndicate it. If your source is from an already existing article, make sure you do not copy word for word. And ensure you add other latest information to make your article brand new. In addition to writing unique articles, make sure your article is accurate. Ensure that your article is from a credible source. It does not matter where your information is from. What matters is that the information is from a trustworthy source.
Google will not syndicate an article based on rumors. If they do, it will damage the reputation of the company. So in addition to the accuracy of an article, Google also cares about the reputation of the article’s author. That is, the 'author rank'. This is because reputable authors will not write articles based on rumors. Instead, they will write unique and accurate articles. To increase your author rank, it is best to write for reputable news sites.
When you write unique and accurate articles for reputable sites, your reputation increases. This will make things easy for you when you are writing for yourself. Once you have achieved that, keep on writing amazing articles. Then you will witness the growth of your site on Google News.
3. Be consistent
A feature that all famous news sites possess is consistency. By writing more than one article a day, they have ranked high on Google. Such news website includes BBC, New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNN. To meet this goal of consistency, many of these sites have more than one author. They have many authors who would research and report stories for the growth of the site. Likewise, you may have to get more authors to meet this goal.
In addition, you might have to train those authors, especially if they are freelance writers. You can do this by telling them to follow your brand's guidelines. And if they are new to the job, you might have to tell them how to write headlines and story contents. You can consider creating an author page on your website. Here, you can introduce the writers that are on your team. The more writers you have, the more articles you will produce each day. Seeing this, search engines would be happy to syndicate your articles and site.
4. Write articles that are news-related
News-related articles, rather than evergreen contents are essential. This is because timely articles often get to the top of Google News. So, to get to the top, your article must be timely, in other words, news-related.
Another thing to note is that some content will not work with Google. Some of these include job postings, stock data, weather forecasts, and evergreen contents. However, in the blogging community, evergreen contents are vital for getting organic traffic. So as a reward, Google displays these contents in the organic result. But such content is not news. As a result, Google will not syndicate it. Hence, news-related articles are very essential in getting your site ranked on Google.
Bottom Line
As a publisher, ranking your article or website on Google News can be challenging. This is especially so if you have little ideas on the rules and procedures to follow when using the platform. But this is not an insurmountable feat as shown in this article. By following the right steps, you can achieve your SEO marketing objectives and even convert the right kind of leads.
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