Optimizing Your WordPress Website for Inclusion in Google News: Essential Requirements and Best Practices
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, gaining visibility on platforms like Google News can significantly enhance your website’s reach and authority. If you’ve recently migrated your site—say, from WordPress to a modern Angular + Strapi setup—to improve performance and customization, you might now be considering how to get your publication featured in Google News.
This guide consolidates the key requirements and best practices to help your website meet Google News inclusion standards and improve your chances of being featured.
Understanding Google News Inclusion
Historically, websites seeking inclusion in Google News needed to submit a manual request for approval. Today, Google’s process is largely automated, with the search engine continuously crawling and evaluating news sites against specific criteria. While documentation and guidelines are publicly available, interpretations vary, making it vital to understand the core requirements.
Core Content and News Focus
Your website should have a clear news-oriented focus. Google emphasizes that the site’s primary purpose is to deliver timely and relevant news content. Whether you cover local events, industry updates, or specialized topics, ensuring your site’s mission aligns with news dissemination is fundamental.
Content Freshness and Originality
Regular updates are crucial. News sites are expected to publish content frequently—some sources recommend multiple updates daily, while others suggest at least a few times weekly. The emphasis is on fresh, original reporting created by humans. Unique, well-written articles not only satisfy Google’s quality criteria but also build trust and credibility.
Content Quality and Presentation
High-quality content is non-negotiable:
– Originality: Avoid duplicate or syndicated material unless properly attributed.
– Readability: Well-structured, error-free writing enhances user experience.
– Multimedia: Incorporate images and videos where appropriate to enrich articles.
Visual Media and Metadata
Images should be relevant, properly captioned, and include descriptive titles. All images embedded within articles should also be added to structured data to improve search appearance. Essential meta tags—such as page titles, descriptions, and preview images—aid Google in understanding your content and displaying it effectively in search results.
Structured Data Implementation
Implementing structured data markup (using the NewsArticle schema) helps Google comprehend your articles’ context. While there are no explicit minimal requirements, including structured data improves your chances of appearing in Google News features and rich snippets. Incorporate all relevant images in the structured data, along with captions and titles, to provide comprehensive context.
XML News Sitemaps
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