In today’s digital landscape, online news consumption has become the norm, with 86% of U.S. adults accessing news online, a figure that continues to grow. As of September 2024, Google continues to dominate the search engine market, holding 90% of market share worldwide, making Google Search and Google News the largest drivers of traffic to news sites.
According to the News Media Alliance:
“Google Search combined with Google News accounted for the majority (approximately 75%) of referral traffic to top news sites.”
For news publishers, ranking well on Google is essential. However, ranking in Google News and Google Search varies significantly based on location and content recency, making manual tracking nearly impossible. The solution lies in Search Engine Results Page APIs (SERP APIs), which provide a reliable way to track rankings across different regions and over time.
In this post, we’ll explore SEO strategies for news websites and how leveraging data from SERP API tools can boost efficiency and improve your rankings in Google News.
SEO Tips for Google’s News Tab
Google displays news articles in several key locations:
- Top Stories in Google Search
- Google News Tab
- Google News App, (on Android, iOS, and news.google.com; mirrors the Google News tab rankings)
- Google Discover
Top Stories surfaces relevant results for breaking news, while the News Tab and News App serve a broader range of articles, giving users more context. Top Stories and News Tab results are not personalized, but they do vary based on location, language, and timing. Google Discover is personalized and presents content based on individual user history, including both news and other media.
To appear in these sections, it’s essential to meet Google’s specific guidelines for news articles:
- Publish newsworthy content: Only content that meets the standard of “news” will be considered.
- Follow Google’s technical requirements for news articles: Ensure structured data, URL redirects, and publication dates are optimized. Leverage Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to verify marketup.
- Create a Google News Sitemap: This helps Google identify eligible articles for Google News, specifically indexing content published within the last two days.
- Use a clear URL structure: URLs with relevant keywords can improve ranking likelihood.
Best Practices for Google News Sitemaps
Submitting a Google News sitemap through Google Search Console ensures that Google crawls your articles promptly, which is crucial given Google News’s emphasis on content recency. Automating sitemap creation and submission with each publication increases the chances of your articles appearing in search results soon after publication.
Key best practices for Google News Sitemap:
- Limiting the sitemap to articles published in the last 48 hours
- Submitting only 1,000 URLs per sitemap, while updating it regularly
- Clearly identifying which URLs are new or updated
Adhering to these guidelines boosts your chances of fast indexing and ranking. A SERP API can further assist in tracking these rankings and adjusting strategies to optimize compliance with best practices.
Google Top Stories: Optimization and Rank Tracking with APIs
Top Stories in Google Search presents a curated selection of breaking news content.
Top Stories relies on a complex algorithm to rank content, considering:
- Relevance to the search query
- Prominence of coverage
- Authoritativeness of the source
- Freshness of content
- Location of both source and searcher
- Language of the content
For Top Stories, freshness is one of the most critical ranking factors. Articles not indexed promptly risk missing high-visibility opportunities. Ensure your site’s HTML <time> element reflects the correct publication date to help Google recognize the most recent updates.
By using SERP APIs, you can automate the monitoring of keyword rankings, track performance across regions, and ensure that you capitalize on breaking news opportunities.
Google Discover Ranking Recommendations
Google Discover, introduced in 2018 for mobile, shows personalized search results before users even enter a search term. It includes news articles, videos, and other content, tailored based on individual search history.
Ranking in Google Discover is more complex and unpredictable due to its personalized nature, but the following tips can increase your visibility:
- Prioritize Evergreen or Timely Content: Content that remains relevant over time performs better.
- Focus on Engagement: Higher user engagement metrics, like time on page and scroll depth, improve Discover visibility.
- Optimize for Mobile: Discover is primarily mobile-based, so ensure your content is mobile-friendly.
- Use High-Quality Images: Visual appeal is key; Discover prefers articles with high-quality, engaging images.
- Leverage Structured Data: Schema markup provides Google with additional context, aiding Discover placement.
Improve Your Google News Ranking with SERP APIs
Monitoring news content performance on Google is simplified with a news SERP API, which offers real-time data on article rankings across locations and devices. This data enables you to make timely adjustments and ensure ongoing visibility.
At Traject Data, we cater to news publishers’ unique SEO needs, offering SERP APIs that scale as your requirements grow. Our services include:
- Comprehensive Search Engine Coverage: Access rankings from Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other engines for a full view.
- Accurate, Real-Time Data: Trustworthy insights allow you to make informed SEO decisions.
- Seamless Integration: Easily integrate our APIs with your existing workflows, allowing for rapid action.
Ready to enhance your news SEO strategy with reliable search data? Try Traject Data’s SERP APIs for free and gain an edge over the competition.
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