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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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