Busting Into Google News For Massive Traffic
August 22, 2008 by SEO Ninja · 18 Comments
After reading a few articles about additional ways to send traffic to your site and how to make the most of what you have, I ran across a nice refresher course that I’ll explain in a little more detail. Basically it’s 11 different ways you can optimize your news related blog to join the ranks of Google News and Yahoo News. Trust me, once you’re in, you’re golden.
All of the tips below actually make very logical sense, as they are ways to let Google and Yahoo know that you’re a true news site - not just a vomitorium of articles that everyone else is posting. Of course, you may not be in a position to break the latest and greatest news in your specialty niche, but having plenty of fresh and unique content is key. Anyway, you’ll see what I mean below:
1. Look, without a decent amount of original content, you’ll never get it. Original = not regurgitated news that’s already on 1500 other sites before you post it.
2. Company/Organization Info - It’s key to have your contact info on a dedicated page that shows you’re not some half baked spammer in your mom’s basement. I’m talking business address, business phone, multiple emails (tips@yoursite.com, sales@yoursite.com) - even a contact form if you fancy it.
3. Multiple Authors And/Or Contributors - Whip up a dedicated page on your site that showcases your contributors and regular authors. This makes it look more “newsy” and will boost your rep in the news business. It’s just kosher to do this.
4. The theme - Use a news template theme for your blog. Usually these are multiple column themes and are found all over the place - obviously I’m a fan of the Revolution series, as you have several choices with that brand. There are others though - just Google it.
5. Logo/Header - Make sure your header clearly gives off the impression of whatever industry or segment you’re in. Professionally designed logos are a must.
6. Make sure your URL’s appear static and not dynamic, and are at least 3 digits. If you go to Google News and hover over the links, you’ll see most of them contain dates (example - //www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/us/23storm.html
7. Titles - Make sure the article titles are the same in the title tag and <h1> tag.
8. Posting frequency - You need to be publishing new material at least 3 times a day (morning, noon, and evening perhaps?) - any less and you’re just a regular Joe.
9. Author name - Each article should have the author’s name and any other additional information about them (like a photo maybe). The more the merrier.
10. Advertising/Sponsorships - If you’re flashing some decent advertisers, this makes you look like your site is traffic worthy, and lends more credit to your brand. In other words, it makes you look important.
11. Use images and videos whenever you can. No good news site out there doesn’t have a ton of vids and pictures. So get used to it. It’s extra work but totally worth it!
Hope the above tips help you in your quest to get listed in the ranks of the big news sites. When you’re ready to take a chance and submit your sites for inclusion, here is where to go:
