Get Your Website Featured in Google News: Tips and Guidelines

Overview of Google News and its benefits for publishers: Google News is a news aggregator that helps users discover and stay up-to-date with the latest news from around the world. As a publisher, being a part of Google News can bring numerous benefits, including increased visibility, improved search rankings, and access to valuable resources.

How to Join Google News as a Publisher

Step 1: Determine if you are eligible to join Google News

In order to join Google News as a publisher, your site must meet certain guidelines. These include having original content, a clean layout, and updated articles. It's important to ensure that your site meets these requirements before submitting it for review.

Step 2: Create a Google News-specific sitemap

A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site and helps search engines understand its structure and content. In order to be accepted as a Google News publisher, you will need to create a sitemap that is specifically tailored to Google News guidelines.

Step 3: Submit your sitemap to Google News

Once you have created your Google News-specific sitemap, you can submit it to Google News through the Google News Publisher Center.

Step 4: Wait for Google News to review your submission

After you have submitted your sitemap, the Google News team will review it to determine whether your site meets the requirements to join the program.

What to Expect After Submitting Your Site to Google News

• The review process: The Google News team will manually review your submission to ensure that it meets the guidelines for inclusion in the program. This process can take several weeks.
• Timeframe for acceptance: The timeframe for acceptance can vary, but it is generally several weeks.
• Factors that can affect acceptance: There are several factors that can affect the acceptance of your site, including the quality of your content and whether your site meets the eligibility requirements.

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Reasons Your Site May Not Be Accepted as a Google News Publisher

• Ineligibility due to guidelines: If your site does not meet the eligibility requirements for Google News, it may be rejected.
• Low-quality content: Google News places a high emphasis on quality, and sites with poor-quality content may be rejected or removed from the program.
• History of violating Google News guidelines: If your site has previously violated Google News guidelines or has a history of producing spam or low-quality content, it may be rejected.

How Being a Google News Publisher Can Help You Get Indexed and Boost Your SEO

• Increased visibility and traffic: Being featured in Google News can bring more visibility and traffic to your site, as your articles will be shown to users who are searching for news on Google.
• Improved search rankings: Being a Google News publisher can also help improve your search rankings, as Google News articles are often given priority in search results.
• Access to Google News Publisher Center: As a Google News publisher, you will have access to the Google News Publisher Center, which provides tools and resources to help you optimize your site for Google News.

Tips for Optimizing Your Site for Google News

1. Use high-quality, well-written content: Google News prioritizes sites with well-written, informative, and engaging content. Make sure to proofread your articles and ensure that they are well-structured and easy to read.

2. Use relevant and unique titles: The title of your article should accurately reflect its content and be unique to your site. Avoid using clickbait titles or sensational headlines.

3. Use descriptive and relevant tags: Google News uses tags to understand the content and context of your articles. Use tags that accurately describe the topics covered in your article and are relevant to your audience.

4. Use clear and consistent formatting: Use headings, bullet points, and other formatting elements to make your articles easy to read and navigate. Use a consistent style across your site to improve the user experience.

5. Use high-quality images: Google News prioritizes sites with high-quality images that are relevant to the content of the article. Make sure to optimize your images for SEO by using descriptive filenames and alt text.

6. Use a clean and mobile-friendly design: Google News favors sites with a clean, easy-to-use design that is optimized for mobile devices. Make sure your site is responsive and loads quickly on all devices.

7. Use news sitemaps and RSS feeds: Use news sitemaps and RSS feeds to help Google News discover and index your articles. Make sure to follow the guidelines for news sitemaps and RSS feeds to ensure that your content is eligible for inclusion in Google News.

By following these tips, you can improve your chances of getting your site included in Google News and reaching a wider audience.

Table: Comparison of Google News and Google Search

Note: The above table is just an example and the information provided may not be accurate.

what is news sitemap and how to create it ?

A news sitemap is a file that lists all the news articles on your site and helps search engines understand the structure and content of your site. It is similar to a regular sitemap, but it is specifically tailored to the guidelines of Google News. Here are some key differences between a news sitemap and a regular sitemap:

• Content: A news sitemap should only include news articles, rather than all pages on your site. This helps Google News understand the focus of your site and determine which articles to feature in its search results.
• Formatting: A news sitemap should be formatted according to the guidelines set by Google News. This includes using the correct tags and attributes for each article, such as the publication date and the article's title and summary.
• Frequency: A news sitemap should be updated regularly to reflect the addition of new articles to your site. Google News prefers sites that regularly produce fresh and up-to-date content.

To create a news sitemap, you can use tools such as the Google News Sitemap Generator or the Google News XML Sitemap Plugin for WordPress. These tools can help you automatically create a news sitemap that follows the guidelines set by Google News. Alternatively, you can manually create a news sitemap using a text editor or XML software.

Here is a comparison of a news sitemap and a regular sitemap:

Note: The above table is just an example and the information provided may not be accurate.

example of a news sitemap code, using the XML format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.example.com/article1.html</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>Example News</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:genres>PressRelease, Blog</news:genres>
      <news:publication_date>2022-01-08T12:00:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>Article 1: The Importance of Quality Content</news:title>
      <news:keywords>content, quality, SEO</news:keywords>
      <news:stock_tickers>GOOGL</news:stock_tickers>
    </news:news>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.example.com/article2.html</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>Example News</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:genres>Opinion, Blog</news:genres>
      <news:publication_date>2022-01-07T12:00:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>Article 2: The Benefits of Being a Google News Publisher</news:title>
      <news:keywords>Google News, publisher, SEO</news:keywords>
      <news:stock_tickers>GOOGL</news:stock_tickers>
    </news:news>
  </url>
</urlset>

In this example, the <urlset> element contains two <url> elements, each representing a news article on the site.

The <loc> element contains the URL of the article, and the <news:news> element contains information about the article, such as the publication, genre, publication date, title, and keywords.

explanation of each line in the example news sitemap code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

This line declares that the file is an XML document and specifies the version of XML and the character encoding used.

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">

The <urlset> element is the root element of the news sitemap. It specifies the namespace for the sitemap, which tells search engines which set of rules to follow when parsing the sitemap. The xmlns attribute specifies the namespace for the sitemap as a whole, while the xmlns:news attribute specifies the namespace for the <news:news> elements, which contain information about each news article.

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.example.com/article1.html</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>Example News</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:genres>PressRelease, Blog</news:genres>
      <news:publication_date>2022-01-08T12:00:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>Article 1: The Importance of Quality Content</news:title>
      <news:keywords>content, quality, SEO</news:keywords>
      <news:stock_tickers>GOOGL</news:stock_tickers>
    </news:news>
  </url>

The <url> element represents a news article on the site.

The <loc> element contains the URL of the article, while the <news:news> element contains information about the article. The <news:publication> element contains information about the publication, such as the name and language.

The <news:genres> element specifies the genre or categories that the article belongs to.

The <news:publication_date> element specifies the date that the article was published.

The <news:title> element contains the title of the article, and the <news:keywords> element contains a list of keywords that describe the article.

The <news:stock_tickers> element specifies any stock tickers that are mentioned in the article.

Here is an example of an RSS feed for a news site:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Example News</title>
    <description>Latest news and updates from Example News</description>
    <link>https://www.example.com/</link>
    <language>en</language>
    <atom:link href="https://www.example.com/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
    <item>
      <title>Article 1: The Importance of Quality Content</title>
      <description>In this article, we discuss the importance of producing high-quality content for your website and how it can help improve your SEO.</description>
      <link>https://www.example.com/article1.html</link>
      <guid>https://www.example.com/article1.html</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2022 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
      <dc:creator>John Doe</dc:creator>
      <category>Content</category>
      <category>SEO</category>
      <media:content url="https://www.example.com/article1_thumbnail.jpg" medium="image">
        <media:title>Article 1 thumbnail</media:title>
        <media:description>Thumbnail for Article 1</media:description>
      </media:content>
    </item>
   

here is an explanation of the elements in the example RSS feed

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">

This line declares that the file is an XML document and specifies the version of the RSS feed and the character encoding used.

The xmlns attributes specify the namespaces for the dc, media, and atom elements, which contain metadata about the feed.

  <channel>
    <title>Example News</title>
    <description>Latest news and updates from Example News</description>
    <link>https://www.example.com/</link>
    <language>en</language>
    <atom:link href="https://www.example.com/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>

1. The <channel> element contains information about the feed as a whole.
2. The <title> element specifies the title of the feed, which should be descriptive and unique.
3. The <description> element should contain a brief summary of the content of the feed.
4. The <link> element should contain the URL of the homepage of the website.
5. The <language> element should specify the language of the feed.
6. The <atom:link> element should contain the URL of the RSS feed itself, using the rel="self" attribute to specify that it is a self-referential link.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>My News Website</title>
    <link>https://www.mynewswebsite.com/</link>
    <description>The latest news and updates from My News Website</description>
    <item>
      <title>New Study Shows Link Between Social Media Use and Mental Health</title>
      <link>https://www.mynewswebsite.com/articles/social-media-mental-health</link>
      <description>A recent study has found a correlation between excessive social media use and negative mental health outcomes. Experts weigh in on the findings and offer tips for using social media in a healthy way.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2019 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://www.mynewswebsite.com/articles/social-media-mental-health</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>: This line of code specifies that the file is an XML document and gives the version and encoding information.

2. <rss version="2.0">: This element specifies that the document is an RSS feed and gives the version of the RSS specification that it follows.

3. <channel>: This element contains information about the source of the RSS feed, such as the title, description, and link to the website.

4. <title>: This element contains the title of the RSS feed, which in this case is "My News Website".

5. <link>: This element contains the URL of the website that the RSS feed is associated with, which in this case is "https://www.mynewswebsite.com/".

6. <description>: This element contains a brief summary or description of the content in the RSS feed, which in this case is "The latest news and updates from My News Website".

7. <item>: This element represents a single item or piece of content in the RSS feed. Each <item> element may contain sub-elements such as a title, link, and description.

8. <title>: This element contains the title of the article, which in this case is "New Study Shows Link Between Social Media Use and Mental Health".

9. <link>: This element contains the URL of the article on the website, which in this case is "https://www.mynewswebsite.com/articles/social-media-mental-health".

10. <description>: This element contains a brief summary or description of the article, which in this case provides an overview of the study's findings and some expert opinions on the topic.

11. <pubDate>: This element contains the date and time that the article was published, which in this case is "Tue, 22 Jan 2019 16:00:00 GMT".

12. <guid>: This element contains a unique identifier for the article. This can be used by feed readers to determine if an article has already been seen, and to avoid showing duplicates. In this case, the <guid> is the same as the <link> for the article.

How Being Featured in Google News Could Harm Your Website

It is possible for your website to be negatively impacted if it is featured in Google News. If your website is included in Google News, it can potentially drive a large amount of traffic to your site. However, if your website is not able to handle the increased traffic, it may crash or become slow and unresponsive, which can be frustrating for users and may discourage them from visiting your site in the future.

Additionally, if your website is featured in Google News, it may be held to higher standards in terms of the quality and accuracy of the content you publish. If your website is found to be publishing false or misleading information, it may be removed from Google News, which can negatively impact your website's visibility and reputation.

Overall, it is important to ensure that your website is able to handle increased traffic and that you are publishing high-quality, accurate content in order to avoid any negative impacts from being featured in Google News.