Conducting a Google search is one of internet users' most common digital habits. It can be understood with the point that it owns more than 92% of the search engine market. Google provides answers to almost all the users' search queries which is why it has become the largest search engine today. From Sept 1998 to the present date, the searches on Google have skyrocketed from 10,000 search queries per day to 5.6 billion search queries per day and still increasing.
The Google ranking algorithm keeps evolving to provide web users with the most accurate and relevant answers to their queries. To satisfy users' multiple search needs, Google launched the beta version of its news app called ‘Google news’ in Sept 2002. News from every corner of the world appears across various Google products like Google News, Google search, YouTube, Google Assistant and Discover. The search results also include the news sections like the Google top stories and the Google news tab. Appearing in these sections can be beneficial for websites that help meet their goals, but this requires a powerful SEO ranking plan and strategy. We will discuss this topic in this blog; what are the Google top stories and news tab? What are the benefits of optimizing your website for these sections and how to optimize for news SEO?
What are Google’s top stories and news tab?
Google search results contain many websites that include news results, image results, video results, etc. Still, it also has two dedicated news-specific surfaces: the Google news tab and Google top stories, specifically created to display news stories.
Google top stories carousel is a SERP feature included in the search results pages containing the most recent news articles appearing for the search queries related to the timely news topics. It appears on the first page of Google results, on the top position and in the second position.
Google news tab is a separate tab on the search results pages that narrows the search results to let web users focus only on news-related articles. As top stories contain few results on the first page, only the news tab contains many results page by page to let users get all information related to their searched query. As you click on the ‘more news’ button of the top stories, it directs you to the news tab where you can get all relevant available results for your query.
Google simply says that both news surfaces do not contain sponsored or PPC results because the Google ranking algorithm only includes organic results , thus allowing websites to rank in it. Like all Google products, Google news SEO and related features also work on the location-based algorithm.
Benefits of optimizing for Google news stories and news tab
In recent times, there are various ways to get connected to the world and receive the current information via social media platforms, news reporting on televisions, newspapers, magazines, etc. Still, Google search is the most convenient way to get the desired results out of these. News is almost everywhere; it is created every day; for this purpose, these two news surfaces can be very helpful for users as it is one of the most informative SERP features. If any website gets a Google news, SEO ranking can gain some exceptional benefits that directly enhance its organic CTR, website traffic, etc. In terms of numbers, the publishers worldwide are getting around 6 billion clicks per month only through Google news, which is exceptionally huge. Ranking in any of the news surfaces can surely boost the visibility of your website and hence the overall SEO ranking that can help get more potential customers and efficiently achieve your business goals.
Out of all these, Google directly says that any website has the opportunity to appear in top news stories surfaces; only they have to present relevant and original content. Google news SEO looks for a website with a high level of expertise, authority and trustworthiness in its related field and maintains the history of producing original news content. Also, keeping your content consistent with the Google news policies is the core factor for Google news optimization. Optimizing for Google news SEO requires no separate application and SEO services as your site is automatically considered if you have appropriate and original content, as stated by Google.
How to optimize for Google's top stories and news tab
The Google ranking algorithm automatically selects high-quality content to rank for the searched query based on the relevance of content, prominence, authoritativeness, freshness, location, and language. Page experience signals are one more ranking factor in the Google top stories, based on real-user metrics called Core web vitals. To make your Google news optimization strategy effective, the following are some of the most suitable practices described:
1. You have to be quick - Any news website owner needs to be quick in writing, optimizing, and publishing their content. Quick content optimization is the first part of ranking on the Google news SEO. You have to prepare in advance for the breaking news situations because being first is a significant advantage for the news websites. Also, the news is almost everywhere, it is created every day and gets old very soon, so you must be regularly updating your content and keep the knowledge of what is going on around the world. The website that targets the recent topic first for the ranking in the Google news top stories and Google news tab has many benefits, including a quick rise in the organic CTR and better SEO ranking.
2. Write original and relevant content - The main focus of the Google ranking algorithm is to provide its users with the most relevant and accurate information. It highly discourages the practice of duplicate or rewritten content; also, search engines, including social media sites, are facing the fake news issue, which is increasing day by day; therefore, the Google ranking algorithm is very strict on E-A-T, which is Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Original and unique content or reporting for the news website must be the priority for the websites wanted to rank in the Google news top stories. To avoid the practice of fake and duplicate content on your website, you must have up-to-date knowledge of the topic. You can use SEO tools or opt for SEO services that help find and fix duplicate content issues on your website. Providing the information of the author of the news article and contact details of the website are counted in better journalism practice that maintains transparency and enhances the website's authority.
3. Follow the practices of good journalism - A complete article includes answering all questions that readers appreciate knowing about the particular topic, like who, what, when, where, why and how, which is also called 5Ws + 1H. The practice of good journalism includes:
• Accuracy - Accuracy of the information provided in your article in very quick reporting.
• Balanced and neutral - Your point of view should always be balanced. Do not arrive at any result in your writings; let the readers decide it.
• Clarity - Your writing should have clarity and transparency so that anyone can easily understand the purpose behind it.
• Research - Deep research is the most important for your article that brings authenticity to your writings. Does not include any point that is not backed with evidence.
News readers want quick information without wasting much time reading, so directly jump to the point of interest and try to include the vital information or news in the first paragraph of your article. The use of multimedia and infographics can make your article look rich and interactive.
4. Keep proper formatting - News articles should be as if telling a story; this requires the proper formatting and arrangement of sections. Proper formatting helps improve user experience and allows search engine crawlers to understand the intent of the article. The headlines of the news articles matter most, it is the main attraction of the article. It decides whether readers will click on your article or not; headlines or sub-headings are used to describe the main content of the news. Keep the title of your article eye-catching and descriptive so that users know what is discussed in the article's content. The headline of your composition should be clear and try to keep it under 22 words for more acceptable results. Your article's title and meta description should be engaging and informative, which helps increase your website's organic click-through rate(CTR). The duplicate headlines should not be used in your article as it becomes complicated for the Google crawler to find the original article.
Whenever writing a new blog or updating an old one, make sure that you should keep an accurate date and time to let the Google crawler know the freshness of the article. This is crucial for news-related topics because the freshness score affects the SEO ranking in the Google news top stories and the Google news tab.
5. Conduct accurate research - Conducting research is the basis of creating accurate content for effective Google news optimization. Research becomes more crucial when writing timely news articles because the Google ranking algorithm is improving day by day to stop the spread of fake news, which is one of the major problems of the internet world. The research for an article includes various types of research like keyword research, content research, etc. These are essential for creating SEO-friendly content with a high chance of appearing in Google news top stories. Content research includes detailed research about the topic you are working on to have only authorized information or reporting in your writings. Google Trends is one of the best platforms you can use to know the trending topics of the world; social media sites can also help discover trending terms.
Keyword research is one of the essential tasks for building an effective SEO campaign. It is crucial to conduct deep keyword research for the working topic to significantly increase the chances of your website ranking on the search engine results pages. There are various ways available through which you can conduct your keyword research:
• Conduct a Google search for your topic and analyze the results which appear against your searched query. Also, refer to the ‘Related searches’ section included on the Google results page to know more about the common search terms for your topic.
• Google autocomplete feature is the system-generated predictions that appear when you type some queries in Google’s search box. It shows the list of frequently searched terms for your query.
• Google’s Keyword Planner Tool is one of the best platforms for conducting keyword research.
• Many digital marketing companies provide SEO services including keyword research which can be very helpful in framing your SEO strategy.
Keywords targeted headlines and content is a good approach for your Google news optimization strategy. Include relevant keywords in your blogs or articles to gain a high SEO ranking for your website.
6. Follow news SEO practices - Always try to deliver high-quality news articles that comply with the Google news SEO policies or guidelines to earn ranking benefits in the top news stories. Nearly 3.7 billion people, equal to almost three-quarters of the total internet users, will use the internet services via mobile devices by 2025. Thus your website must be optimized for mobile devices. Updating your old content is as important as writing new a new one, especially when the information provided in the article changes.
Recently Google stated that relevant and authoritative local news articles can appear in top news stories; this is an excellent opportunity for local publications to get more visibility and traffic only by providing relevant & original news stories and optimizing themselves for local SEO. Website optimized for Google news top stories and Google news tab should focus on developing a Google-friendly site and follow EAT rule in delivering SEO-friendly news articles.
Conclusion
To appear in the news results like Google top stories or Google news tab, you have to optimize your website for news SEO. Google has an algorithm that aims to provide people with the most accurate results available; thus, you must focus on delivering relevant results. However, Google does not reveal much about the best ways or steps to optimize for top news stories or how its algorithm decides the sites to rank on these news surfaces. There is no significant data available that tells where to appear on the news surfaces to get more clicks and conversions, but appearing in these can surely boost your SEO ranking in the search results.
To appear for the news results, you have to work on quickly delivering results and developing an SEO-friendly website. You can get in touch with an SEO company that helps you with the SEO services like keyword research, content marketing, SEO plan and strategy, local SEO, etc., for effective Google news optimization.
References:
• Google news optimization: how to boost your site’s visibility & traffic
• 11 Google news tips to increase ranking, visibility and traffic
• Ways to succeed in Google News