Google News looks for original, timely content on current events with commentary and hot topics. It excludes how-to articles, advice columns, job postings and some informational content. Exceptions can be made for breaking news in weather or obituaries. Best practices for inclusion in Google News include using large, captioned images near the title, having at least 250 words with 1-2 links, an enticing 70 character maximum title with keywords, and a 150 character description summarizing the story. Proper formatting and sharing content on social media can also help get content included in Google News search results.

1. Google News & How To
Make It Work For You
1
By: Alex Miranda

2. What does Google News look for?
• Do you discuss current events?
• Is your content timely?
• Do you offer commentary?
• How hot is your topic?
• How relevant is your content to the topic.
• Not aggregated. Must be original content.
• Timing is everything.
2
By: Alex Miranda

3. What is not included
• How to articles
• Advice Columns
• Job Postings
• *Informational Content – Weather forecast, stock data, obituaries
3

4. What is not included (Exceptions)
• Weather – If it is breaking news and written as a news story, it will
then be included.
• Obituaries – From time to time an obituary will make it through. If
the obituary is breaking news. It will be included. (It cannot be in the
obituary category)
4

5. Best Practices
5

6. Images
• Use JPEGS
• Larger sized images
• Description within the captions
• Have images near title
• Inline and non clickable
6

7. Images
7

8. Images
8

9. Title
• 70 characters max
• Make it stand out
9

10. Title
• Make sure the title entices click-through. 80% of people read
headline copy only
• Think of words users are typing to find you. Help people find what
they are looking for.
• Whenever possible, use trending words in the title.
• Don't include a date or time in your article title.
10

11. Title
• Use keywords within the title. (Only if possible)
• It generates clicks from searchers looking for info.
11

12. Summary Description
• Google automatically grabs first 150 characters for description.
• Make sure it immediately summarizes the story.
12

13. All in One SEO
• Always use it.
• Allows you to customize your title or description.
13

14. Article Body
• At least 250 words.
• 1 link per 100 words.
http://www.ncadvertiser.com/30259/around-town-new-canaan-events-inlate-february-early-march/
14

15. Article Body
http://www.ncadvertiser.com/28185/donate-blood-saturday-at-newcanaan-library/
http://www.ncadvertiser.com/26938/new-canaan-nature-centerplans-winter-fair/
15

16. News Specific Errors
Article Fragmented - Consist of isolated sentences not grouped
together into paragraphs. don't use frequent <br> and <p> tags within
your paragraphs.
16

17. News Specific Errors
Article Too Short - This applies to most pages that contain news briefs
or multimedia content, rather than full news articles.
17

18. News Specific Errors
No Sentences Found - page appears not to contain punctuated
sequences of contiguous words.
18

19. News Specific Errors
Title Disallowed - The title that we extracted from the HTML page
suggests that it is not a news article.
19

20. News Specific Errors
Title Not Found - We were unable to extract a title for the article
from the HTML page.
Sometimes even if there is a title, this will happen. If it does. Mark as
fixed on Webmaster tools.
20

21. .
21

22. Why Get It?
•
Great if you are consistently reporting or are an expert on a niche
topic.
•
Profile picture lends instant credibility.
•
Claim your content.
•
Photos are eye grabbing. Higher click-through rates.
•
Help readers discover your other content on the web.
22

23. •
Google News is piloting the display of author information in news
search results to help users to discover great content.
•
It is not guaranteed.
23

24. How Do I Know I have It
•
Go to: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
•
Add your article URL
24

25. How Do I Get it?
•
Go to: https://plus.google.com/authorship
•
Must have a Google+ account. Add a photo to your profile
•
Have an email address on the same domain as your content
•
Edit the about section on your Google+ profile and the
contributor links
25

26. How Do I Get it?
26

27. Adding To WordPress
• If you’re the publisher, add the code below to your header script (This is the
NCAdvertiser Google+ URL. Make sure you use your URL)
<link href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/107552986030593043206/" rel="publisher" />
27

28. Adding To WordPress
• If you’re the author, add your Google+ URL to your contact info in your user profile.
(This is my Google+ URL. Make sure you use your URL)
Ex: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AlexMirandaSEO/
28

29. Share
• Do not just publish your news story, share it.
• Use Twitter, Google+ & Facebook
• Use #hashtags to share with a targeted audience.
29

30. Alex Miranda
WordPress SEO Guru
alex@marknetgroup.com
30