My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors

rprieto60 · 10-08-2011, 11:15 AM

I know there are a lot of things that will help your site rank on the first page of Google. All SEO people worth their salt already know that if you can get ranked on Google News, it will help your site immensely in the SERPs. With that in mind here are my top 5 tips to help get your news article get ranked well on Google News. I learned these tips the hard way.... through experience.

1. Publish your article ASAP.
As soon as you upload your news article to your site, you should submit it to Google News. This allows Google to crawl your site as soon as possible after publication and extract the information. Google recrawls all News sitemaps frequently and that means they will process your most recent articles more quickly.

2. Submit your site map.
Make sure you are signed up for Google's Webmaster Tools and your site has been verified. If your site is not included in Google News, you can request it.

3. Keep it clean.
Make sure the body of your article is free of non article content. Extraneous tags, ads and other unneccessary clutter can confuse the Google Bots and can result in your article being rejected. Also, be sure to place the beginning of the article near the title in the HTML so Google can easily get both the right title and snippet of information.

4. News articles MUST contain text
Google looks for text when crawling your article. You can include multi-media, but if the accompanying text isn't included, your submission won't be either.

5. Make sure your images are properly formatted
JPEG images are the most often correctly crawled type on Google. If Google can't tell that your images are relevant to your article, they may reject your article because of it. Make sure the images have a reasonable aspect ratio, are fairly large and have a good, descriptive caption. Make sure they are placed properly (near their titles on the page) and non-clickable.

While this list is not the be-all and end-all to getting your article accepted and ranked on Google News, it's a good starting point. Let me know what you think and please feel free to add your tips to this list.

Robert

joekoffi · 10-08-2011, 11:21 AM

Thanks for sharing this rprieto60

This will help some guys who are not SEO wet or who did not know before

webapex · 10-08-2011, 11:23 AM

Here's someone else's 21 Google News SEO Tips & Ranking Factor that goes into more detail, in a similar vein.

Google News SEO Tips & Ranking Factors

rprieto60 · 10-08-2011, 11:33 AM

Thanks for the link Webapex. The info on that page shares a lot more info than I had in my post. I'm sure a lot of Warriors will get great insight into Google News from that.

ShawnSells · 10-08-2011, 11:54 AM

Robert, thanks! these are great tips. The point about it must contain text is important. So many send in videos and such, with nothing added. And it's a mistake.

10-08-2011, 11:15 AM	#1
rprieto60 Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Campbell, CA, USA Posts: 50 Thanks: 1 Thanked 18 Times in 16 Posts Social Networking	My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors I know there are a lot of things that will help your site rank on the first page of Google. All SEO people worth their salt already know that if you can get ranked on Google News, it will help your site immensely in the SERPs. With that in mind here are my top 5 tips to help get your news article get ranked well on Google News. I learned these tips the hard way.... through experience. 1. Publish your article ASAP. As soon as you upload your news article to your site, you should submit it to Google News. This allows Google to crawl your site as soon as possible after publication and extract the information. Google recrawls all News sitemaps frequently and that means they will process your most recent articles more quickly. 2. Submit your site map. Make sure you are signed up for Google's Webmaster Tools and your site has been verified. If your site is not included in Google News, you can request it. 3. Keep it clean. Make sure the body of your article is free of non article content. Extraneous tags, ads and other unneccessary clutter can confuse the Google Bots and can result in your article being rejected. Also, be sure to place the beginning of the article near the title in the HTML so Google can easily get both the right title and snippet of information. 4. News articles MUST contain text Google looks for text when crawling your article. You can include multi-media, but if the accompanying text isn't included, your submission won't be either. 5. Make sure your images are properly formatted JPEG images are the most often correctly crawled type on Google. If Google can't tell that your images are relevant to your article, they may reject your article because of it. Make sure the images have a reasonable aspect ratio, are fairly large and have a good, descriptive caption. Make sure they are placed properly (near their titles on the page) and non-clickable. While this list is not the be-all and end-all to getting your article accepted and ranked on Google News, it's a good starting point. Let me know what you think and please feel free to add your tips to this list. Robert

10-08-2011, 11:21 AM	#2
joekoffi HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 312 Thanks: 29 Thanked 39 Times in 34 Posts	Re: My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors Thanks for sharing this rprieto60 This will help some guys who are not SEO wet or who did not know before
	-> Free Tool pulls in 500+ Targeted clicks per day -> Double Traffic to your website. 100% Success guaranteed

10-08-2011, 11:23 AM	#3
webapex Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,554 Thanks: 83 Thanked 245 Times in 226 Posts	Re: My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors Here's someone else's 21 Google News SEO Tips & Ranking Factor that goes into more detail, in a similar vein. Google News SEO Tips & Ranking Factors
	“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field” Niels Bohr

10-08-2011, 11:33 AM	#4
rprieto60 Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Campbell, CA, USA Posts: 50 Thanks: 1 Thanked 18 Times in 16 Posts Social Networking	Re: My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors Thanks for the link Webapex. The info on that page shares a lot more info than I had in my post. I'm sure a lot of Warriors will get great insight into Google News from that.

10-08-2011, 11:54 AM	#5
ShawnSells Offline Warrior Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Midwest Posts: 123 Thanks: 44 Thanked 27 Times in 24 Posts	Re: My Top 5 Google News SEO Ranking Factors Robert, thanks! these are great tips. The point about it must contain text is important. So many send in videos and such, with nothing added. And it's a mistake.