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2. 4 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR BLOG READY FOR GOOGLE NEWS

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4. THE JUNE 2010 REPORT RELEASED BY THE PARIS-BASED
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
CONFIRMS CURRENT NEWS TRENDS: TRADITIONAL NEWSPAPERS
HAVE BEEN DECLINING SINCE 2008 AND THEIR CONSERVATIVE
ESTIMATE THAT "ABOUT 5% OF ALL INTERNET VISITS ARE RELATED
TO READING NEWS ONLINE." WHETHER YOU INTEND TO HAVE YOUR
BLOG PICKED UP BY GOOGLE NEWS OR YOU'RE JUST REALIZING
THE BENEFITS OF GETTING PICKED UP BY A NEWS SERVICE, YOU'LL
WANT TO BE SURE YOUR BLOG IS PREPARED FOR SUBMISSION.

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6. FIRST, IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TO GOOGLE NEWS, IT'S TIME TO
EXPLORE. YOU'LL FIND ARTICLES FROM TRADITIONAL NEWS
SOURCES LIKE CBS, BBC, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA
TODAY AND OTHER NEWS SOURCES. GOOGLE DOESN'T GO OUT AND
BUY NEWS PAPERS, AND THEN CLIP AND SCAN ARTICLES FOR THE
WEB. ALL OF THE NEWS SOURCES HAVE AN RSS FEED (A
BLOGGING BASIC) SO THAT WHEN A NEWS ARTICLE IS POSTED ON
THEIR WEBSITE THE FEED IS PICKED UP BY GOOGLE NEWS. RSS
FEED IS AT THE CORE OF GETTING NEWS ARTICLES TO GOOGLE,
WHICH MEANS YOUR BLOG HAS THE SAME POTENTIAL TO GET
PICKED UP BY GOOGLE NEWS AS THE BIG GUYS! THAT'S RIGHT -
YOU'LL FIND PEREZ HILTON'S CELEBRITY GOSSIP BLOG IN GOOGLE
NEWS ALONGSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES.

7. GETTING INTO GOOGLE NEWS ISN'T JUST FATE OR COINCIDENCE:
BLOGS AND WEBSITES HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED. TO RAMP UP THE
LIKELIHOOD OF A SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION, YOUR BLOG MUST BE
NEWS WORTHY AND SHOULD NOT PROMOTE YOURSELF OR YOUR
PRODUCTS. FOLLOW THESE 4 TIPS SO YOUR BLOG WILL BE READY
TO SUBMIT TO GOOGLE NEWS.
1. IDENTIFY YOUR WRITING STAFF. THIS IS PROBABLY PRETTY
SIMPLE IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN ABOUT US PAGE. BE SURE THE
PAGE IS CALLED "ABOUT US", OR OTHER VARIATIONS LIKE "STAFF",
"AUTHORS", OR "WRITERS". THIS IS WHERE YOU IDENTIFY YOUR
BLOG'S AUTHOR BY NAME AND CREDENTIALS. IF YOU EDIT A BLOG
THAT ACCEPTS SUBMISSIONS FROM MULTIPLE AUTHORS, YOU CAN
LIST THE AUTHORS OR SIMPLY NOTE THAT YOU HAVE MULTIPLE
BLOG CONTRIBUTORS.

8. 2. HAVE A CONTACT PAGE. IF YOU EXPECT TO GET IN THE
NEWS AND REMAIN ANONYMOUS, YOU'LL HAVE TO SKIP
GOOGLE NEWS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE GOOGLE A ROAD
MAP TO YOUR FRONT DOOR, BUT YOU WILL NEED TO SHOW A
CITY AND STATE LOCATION. I RECOMMEND TO WOULD-BE
BLOGGERS THAT THEY TREAT A BLOG LIKE ANY OTHER PART
OF THEIR BUSINESS, IF YOU HAVE PRIVACY CONCERNS, RENT A
P.O. BOX.

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10. 3. NAME A NEWS CATEGORY. WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR BLOG
TO GOOGLE NEWS, YOU'LL BE ASKED FOR THE WEB ADDRESS
WHERE YOUR NEWS STORIES ARE PUBLISHED. YOU PROBABLY
WON'T BE PUBLISHING ALL YOUR BLOG POSTS IN THIS
CATEGORY, BUT GO AHEAD AND NAME A CATEGORY "NEWS".
THIS WILL BE AN IDEAL CATEGORY TO PUBLISH EVENT
ANNOUNCEMENTS, WEBINAR DETAILS, AND PRESS RELEASES.
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY STARTED POSTING TO YOUR BLOG, FIND
YOUR POSTS THAT QUALIFY AS "NEWS" AND MOVE THEM TO
THIS NEW CATEGORY BEFORE SUBMITTING THE BLOG TO
GOOGLE NEWS.

11. 4. DON'T FORGET A SITE MAP. LAST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT
LEAST, IS THE GOOGLE SITE MAP. GOOGLE IS ALL ABOUT
WEB STRUCTURE AND IT LOVES XML SITE MAPS TO FIGURE
ITS WAY AROUND THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR WEBSITE. IF YOU
ARE USING BLOGGING SOFTWARE LIKE WORDPRESS,
JOOMLA, OR DRUPAL, THERE ARE PLUGINS AVAILABLE TO
CREATE AND UPDATE SITEMAPS.
WITH THESE TIPS IN PRACTICE, YOU'LL BE ON YOUR WAY TO
APPEARING IN GOOGLE NEWS AND GARNERING YOUR SHARE
OF NEW BLOG READERS!

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