Almost everyone I know prefers to get their news coverage from a reliable online platform, where they know they can find the most relevant information for the day. Google News is perhaps the most popular news outlet platform out there and ranking on it is a terrific opportunity for you to reach a new audience, get higher traffic to your website, and increase brand recognition and engagement rates.
With that said, the company is constantly updating and changing the rules that websites editors and owners have to follow in order for their content to rank and appear in Google News.
That’s why we’ve created this article to help you learn more about how you can get your website to the Google News top story. Along with that, we will provide you with additional advice on how to improve your page’s SEO and ranking.
Why is Getting to the Google News Top Stories so Important?
You will probably hear the Google News front page being referred to as the front page of the internet and the people who claim that aren’t far off. A ton of people choose to use the Google News app or webpage, not only because of the brand’s presence and authority but because it makes it extremely easy to find different perspectives for one and the same story.
Even people who don’t want to use the service get exposed to it, thanks to its integration as a tab on the Google search engine. As a result, almost anyone who uses Google gets access to the content on its news page. Because of that, almost all website owners are uploading RSS feeds, content URLs, and videos to Google News as a way to gain access to a new and larger audience. All they have to do to receive a top ranking is to cover interesting topics, have top-notch journalism, and live up to Google’s standards for user experience.
As of recently, not only news publishers, but basically all websites are eligible to appear in Google News. Essentially, this means that even a blog that covers stories about current events can appear to users who have an interest in them.
What makes Google News so special is that it largely benefits from the company’s incredible AI and search engine bots, who already crawl and index web pages for other reasons. Additionally, Google knows all the interests and search habits of its users and so it’s an expert at using this information to provide only content that’s truly interesting to them.
let the experts help you
AMPLIFY YOUR REACH
Unlock the power of targeted online strategies. Subscribe to our free newsletter for exclusive insider tips and timely insights, and stay in the loop to power your digital success.
How to Get an Article to Be a Google News Top Story
The first thing you need to know is that your content can get to Google News, even if you haven’t done anything to cause it. You can just simply upload an article to your website and there’s a chance that it will rank on Google News. That’s because all pages that are published under any news tag or in a news section of a website can automatically appear in News and Top Stories.
An additional requirement is that the pages need to be indexed and crawled by Google’s bots. If they find that the content is truly newsworthy, they can decide to show it in the platform’s relevant sections.
There’s no need to leave things to chance. There’s a way to build a solid presence in News while gaining a new audience and increasing the traffic to your website.
Website owners can add their publications and apply to be featured in the News section through the so-called Publisher Center. However, to do so, they first have to create an account for their brand/organization.
From there, the next step is to add the publication that they want to feature and verify that they’re in fact the owners of the website and have access to it. A company can apply with more than one article, as long as they’re listed as separate brands. Once the ownership has been confirmed, the website can submit its publication for approval. If it passes it, then the owner can create a profile and edit the way the content looks to readers by adding things like fonts, logos and images. Along with that, organizations with multiple editors and writers can create several profiles, each with a different level of access.
Once your first articles get published, there are several things you can do to get them to rank higher and potentially be featured as a Google News top story. Here’s what they are:
Work on Your EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)
As per Google’s quality evaluation guidelines, the news is a “your money or your life” topic, which essentially means that your content has to prove that it brings exceptional value to its readers. That can be accomplished by featuring articles written by experts in the field, where facts are backed by data and statistics or official sources. Along with that, it’s good for your company to have a reputation as a reliable online source and to provide accurate contact data about the people who stand behind the publication.
Comply with Google’s News Policy
If you want to have your content shared in News and Top Stories, you should comply with Google’s News Policies. That essentially means you should avoid spreading misinformation or promoting profanity, foul language, violence, and so on.
Focus on Fresh or Trending Topics
In order to get to Google’s top stories, your content should be relevant. Google News focuses mainly on new content. What ranks higher is articles that contain up-to-date information on topics that are currently trending and that users are showing an active interest in.
Create Original Publications
According to Google, one of the main ideas behind News is to be able to support and promote independent journalists and to provide readers with different viewpoints. You should always strive to create content that’s both informative and original, as that’s the only way to begin building a reputation as a trustworthy information source.
Have a Description and a Category
When setting up your articles, make sure that they have a good description that represents their content in an engaging way, and also don’t forget to categorize your publications carefully. Along with that, you can add labels to your website sections, domain, or even individual URLs, to help bots classify your content better. Typically, some of the labels that matter in News and Top Stories are satire, press releases, blogs, and opinions.
Use Permanent URLs
To ensure your content remains visible at all times, you have to utilize permanent URLs and take the necessary precautions if ever doing any migrations. Changes to links tend to confuse the algorithm and so that can lead to your content not getting exposure.
Key Takeaways
Ranking as a Google News top story is not easy and we can’t guarantee you will be able to make it there with every publication. However, if you follow the tips we gave above, you will be able to ensure that your content ranks well and is eligible to reach the top of the platform at any time.