How To Become A Google News Publisher

Google News is the go-to platform for millions of users worldwide for local and international news. It is the largest news aggregator in the world. It collects fresh news articles from around the web and serves it to users depending on relevancy, location, interests, and more.

Appearing in Google News provides a lot of benefits for website owners such as more website traffic and additional monetization options. It also opens up your website to a broader audience since it is available on various devices across different countries. And unlike Google Search, websites are served to a user through a feed rather than a search results page.

Although Google collaborates with the news industry to make sure that only high-quality news appears on the platform, Google News is not limited to major news companies. As long as your website is a news website, whether it’s current events or industry news, you can appear in Google News and enjoy its benefits.

Google News Eligibility

I’ve received a lot of questions before from readers on how they get their website to appear in Google News. A few years ago, your website needs to be verified by Google News first before your content appeared on the platform. However, Google removed that requirement. Now, all you have to do is produce high-quality content if you’re a publisher. Sounds easy right?

Well, to be more specific, the content that you have to publish needs to meet Google News content policies. Once you meet these criteria, your website is automatically considered to appear in the Top Stories section or News section.

This method is quite difficult though because it would be hard to know if your website is really appearing in Google News.

Another method is to submit your website to Google Publisher Center.

Getting in Google News through Google Publisher Center

Google Publisher Center is the combination of the old Google News Producer and Publisher Console. Google doesn’t require a website to be submitted in Google Publisher Center but it does have benefits such as control over your brand and content that appears in Google News.

Do take note that submitting your content and RSS feeds on Google Publisher Center won’t mean that your content is guaranteed to appear in Google News. Also, keep in mind that the website you are going to submit to Google Publisher Center should be a verified website in your Google Search Console account.

Step 1: Fill in the details needed

Once you go to Google Publisher Center, simply click on Add Publication and enter the name of your website. The next screen will ask you for basic information about your websites such as description, website URL, and location. It is also important that you place the Google Analytics tracking ID in this section so you could track how much traffic you are getting from Google News.

Step 2: Submit your content

The Content section allows multiple ways to submit your content in Google News and customize your Google News feed by dividing them into multiple sections. You can either:

• Submit RSS feed
• Enter specific page URL
• Submit YouTube video or playlist; or
• Personalized feed from Google News

Step 3: Upload images

The Images section is where you upload your website’s square logo and wide logos. Make sure that the images you upload are high-quality and fit the specifications indicated.

Step 4: Ads management (optional)

This step is useful for websites that are running ads through Google AdSense. You could also control in this section how much ads Google sells on your website for users coming from Google News.

Step 5: Submit for review

The Review & Publish section will indicate if there is any missing information. Once you’re done filling in all the necessary details, you can now submit your website for review. 

Keep in mind that approval may take 2 to 4 weeks according to Google. I think this depends on the number of websites they are reviewing. In my case, SEO Hacker got approved in 2 weeks and content that I published immediately started appearing in Google News. While you’re at it, why don’t you drop by SEO Hacker’s Google News page and follow us!

How do I know How Much Traffic I got from Google News?

In the Google Analytics account of your Google Publisher verified website, go to Acquisition, and check Referral traffic sources. If you are getting clicks from Google News, you should see news.google.com.

How to Get More Traffic from Google News

What most people don’t know is that Google News also uses an algorithm to rank websites in Google News. It uses the following factors:

• Relevance of Content
• Prominence
• Authoritativeness
• Freshness
• Location
• Language

Users also have their own “For You” sections and Google News uses the users’ interests for rankings and usability.

I also wrote an article before on How to Optimize for Google News and I highly recommend that you check that out as well so you can get more success in Google News.

Key Takeaway

Google News is a great initiative by Google for both users and web publishers. Achieving success may take time similar to growing traffic from organic search results but you should take any opportunities that you can get for you to be able to grow.

In SEO, content is king. And it is more truthful in Google News. Always publish high-quality original content that is relevant to your audience and you will surely start getting higher placements in Google News.