How to Get Your Website Added to Google News
Earn more traffic and brand awareness by getting your website in Google News — here’s how.
Did you know that Google Search and Google News generate over 24 BILLION clicks a month for businesses and publishers?
And did you know that even if you aren’t a news outlet, you too can get featured in Google News to get in on those clicks?
What is Google News and how does it work?
Ever noticed the “News” tab underneath the Google search bar?
Well, when you click on that, you’ll pull up a bunch of search results that are topical and timely … or newsworthy, if you will.
Google News is a content syndication platform run by Google that organizes news in a way that’s easy for readers to use. Plus, Google News sends over SIX BILLION clicks a month to its publishers on its own.
So, how does Google News work?
Surprise, surprise, it works a lot like old fashioned SEO. Google News sends out crawlers to search the web for articles it thinks count as “news.” Then, the crawlers index articles and rank them in Google News search results.
In other words, ranking on Google News works a lot like ranking on Google and for many, it’s a challenge.
What are the benefits of getting into Google News search results?
Even though getting into Google News is a challenge, it’s not impossible and we think the benefits are worth it because:
Google News drives traffic to websites
Yep! If you can get your article ranking on Google News, you can claim a percentage of the 6B clicks we talked about earlier.
Google News gives your brand clout
Think about it. When customers see your brand out and about on Google News, you earn trust and authority. This is especially true since Google News doesn’t let just anyone in — brands have to work for it.
Google News ranks content FAST
Because Google News values topical and timely articles, content gets ranked super fast … like in minutes. So if you post something, it shows up immediately in Google News results which is a lot faster than many other news websites.
How to get into Google News (three ways)
If you run a news website AND/OR your content adheres to traditional journalism standards, you can use the first two methods.
But we’re guessing since you’re reading this, you don’t run a news site — you run a business. In which case, you’ll want to skip ahead to the third method.
#1: Producer
Google News Producer is a publishing tool that lets news sites create branded feeds for their content. Content posts to the branded feed and it’s eligible to show up in Google News search results.
#2: Publisher
Google News Publisher Center is a tool that’s designed for news publishers to manage their content inside Google News. This includes website URLs, content tags, and so on.
#3: Press release
If you DON’T own a news website or post news-related content, you’ll want to go the press release route. This is best for company news announcements and specific news reports related to your specific industry. There are two ways to go about this:
- Use a press release service
Google News sources content from approved press release services like PRUnderground. These are paid services, of course. But if you pay the fee and post a release to an approved service, your article can get picked up by Google News. Doing so gets you traffic, clout, and fast results like we mentioned earlier. - Reach out to industry-relevant news outlets
You can get similar results by reaching out to news outlets that focus on your industry AND have featured in Google News before. If the outlet picks up your article and posts it, it could also get picked up by Google News. Some news outlets may charge for such coverage, and others don’t — it depends on the outlet.
Google News pro tips
Ready to get your website, article, and brand in front of Google News (and your readers)? Great! Here are some pro tips to get a head start:
#1: Post news-related content
This seems like a no-brainer, but what we mean by this is, avoid evergreen content. Google News likes dates, times, and timeliness. It has to have a timestamp and relate to something that’s going on NOW.
According to Google News, they don’t include advice columns, how-to articles, job postings, or educational and informational content.
So if you want to get a press release about your brand on Google News:
DO THIS:
My Company Helped Produce an Epic Episode of ‘Miami Vice’ Airing Tomorrow Night
NOT THIS:
My Company Helped Produce TV Shows And Here’s What We Learned
See how the first one is specific to right now? And the second one could be posted tonight or five years from now?
This is an important distinction between content for Google News and content for a blog. Blogs are evergreen and geared towards earning long-term, stable, and organic traffic. Google News traffic is about what’s happening right this minute — so by definition, it won’t be evergreen.
#2: Include a link in the release
This one is short but very simple.
Always, always, ALWAYS include a link back to your website in the press release before posting. Just do it otherwise it’s harder for readers to find you online and therefore less likely to do so.
And while you’re at it, make sure your press release includes these details, too:
- Contact information
- Clear dates and times
- Bylines
- Author information
Google News likes authoritative sources. And the more details you include (like the ones listed above), the more authoritative your company seems.
Final thoughts on getting your business featured in Google News
Google News is a tough egg to crack, but with the right know-how, it can help earn you more online traffic and brand awareness. So here’s a recap of why businesses should leverage Google News:
- Google News is a special syndication that organizes news content for readers
- Businesses that get onto Google News can earn more online traffic and brand awareness in shorter periods of time
And here’s how to go about it:
- If you run a news website or post news-related content: Use the publisher and producer tools inside Google News to post and organize your content
- If you DON’T run a news website or post news-related content: Use press release services approved by Google News to post content OR reach out to news outlets directly
- Focus on content that relates to your business and/or industry
- Make sure each press release revolves around a specific moment in time (not evergreen content)
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