How To Get A Site Approved By Google News
In my last article I talked about the vast amount of traffic a single article from a Google News approved site can generate. You might be surprised to hear that I have had many articles that have received over 2000 unique views in a day. The downside is though that news traffic can be hard to convert so you have to really get to grips with targeting specific key phrases. There is though no doubt that a Google News site is a great tool to push targeted traffic to perhaps other sites in your network which are able to convert the traffic at a much better rate. For now though let’s concentrate on how to get a site approved by Google News.
Google has published guidelines in regards to what sites they will accept which are:
1. Have news content reporting on recent events – please note that we don’t include informational and how-to articles, classified ads, job postings, fictitious content, event announcements, advice columns or adult content;
2. Have content that is original to the site;
3. Have articles that are written and maintained by a clear organization, one that has multiple writers and editors with accessible contact information;
4. Don’t solely promote their own activities or products;
5. Don’t violate Google’s quality guidelines available at
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3
So in regards to content you must make sure that you have at least 10 posts per week for I would suggest at least a month. To be on the safe site you could even backdate quality news article 2 months. You can simply use Google to find backdated news stories in your niche which of course you can rewrite. Ensure ALL your articles pass Copyscape or you will not be approved.
Make sure the news articles you post are newsworthy and written in a quality manner.
Your site must “appear” to have multiple writers with the key word being “appear”. Simply create an “about us” page with an editor and 4 writers. Write a small bio for each member of your team to give them credibility. Also on this page include a full postal address and phone number. This page should also include details of how others can submit press releases to you.
It is a good idea to include a paragraph as below although obviously, don’t copy it word for word.
All press releases must be sent to our editor using the contact details below. All press releases are subjected to a strict review before publication. Press releases may in some cases be changed prior to publications. You must include full contact details including a business phone number for any press release to be accepted by “your site name”.
If you are worried about putting your own address on the site then get a PO Box. Remember though you can remove these details once your site has been approved.
Don’t submit a site for Google News approval with affiliate banners and links all over the site. If you are trying to get an existing affiliate site approved by Google then create a news site in a sub directory on your site without any affiliate links or banners.
Google is also very specific on the url structure you should use. Initially Google stated:
Ensure the article urls are unique and contain 3 digits or more, the number location doesn’t make any difference in terms of successful crawl ability by our bot.
So if you are using WordPress you could use a permalink structure such as:
/%post_id%/%postname%/
If you are creating a site from scratch you could simply initially create some blank posts to get the post id up to three figures then start adding your articles.
Google now accepts Google News Sitemaps which means you no longer need to have the above url structure. If you want to play it safe then stick to a url structure that has the required unique three digits in every url until you are approved. Once approved you can then download the Google News Sitemap Plug-in and change your url structure.
Once you have done all the above and checked, and double check then you can submit your site to Google news using this url:
http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/request.py?contact_type=suggest_content
In the “other comments” box compose a few lines stating why your organisation would benefit Google News. Remember Google is seeking organisations not one man affiliate sites.
After you have submitted your application, a few minutes later you will get an email from Google News as below:
Thank you for your interest in Google News. Please read this message
thoroughly for important instructions on how to finalize your request to
be included in Google News. In order to help us deal with the large number
of requests for inclusion, we ask that you review our guidelines below and
reply to this email if your site meets our qualifications.
We typically include sites in Google News that:
- have news content reporting on recent events – please note that we don’t
include informational and how-to articles, classified ads, job postings,
fictitious content, event announcements, advice columns or adult content;
- have content that is original to the site;
- are written and maintained by a clear organization, one that has
multiple writers and editors with accessible contact information;
- don’t solely promote their own activities or products;
- don’t violate Google’s quality guidelines available at
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3.
Please let us know if your site fits these guidelines. If it does, you may
want to review our technical requirements as well found at
http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/topic.py?topic=11665. After we
hear from you, we’ll be happy to review your site for inclusion in Google
News.
While we strive to include as many sources as possible, please be aware
that we can’t guarantee the inclusion of your articles in Google News. We
appreciate your support as we work to improve Google News.
Regards,
The Google Team
Promptly reply to this email stating that you believe that you have met all the requirements plus also stating that you would like Google News to process your application. Again do this in a business manner.
After this you simply have to wait. I have had sites approved in hours although it is not uncommon to wait for up to two weeks. Remember to keep adding quality news articles to your site whilst your application is being processed. If you have to wait at least a few days then make sure that during this time you are adding quality news articles daily.
Once you are approved it can take up to 48 hours for your articles to be picked up by Google News. Again during this time keep adding quality news articles plus submit a Google News sitemap through Google Webmaster Tools.
Once your articles are appearing in Google News you are safe to add affiliate links and banners to your site.
Good Luck!
