1) Submit your site to Google
Submit your site for inclusion via Google’s News Publisher Center. Ensure it complies to webmaster, content, and technical guidelines, first!
2) Cover Real, Breaking News
Post original content that covers recent events. Basic information, curated articles, or press releases won’t make the cut!
3) Have a News XML Sitemap
Separate from a traditional XML sitemap, this enables crawlers to find news articles on your site quickly and accurately. Visit ‘Yoursitename.com/sitemap.xml’ if you aren’t sure if you have one.
4) Strategize Keyword Placement
Include target keywords and navigation category in all metadata elements. Sprinkle them throughout the article body, too!
5) Limit Use of Link-Bait Headlines
Link bait headlines are great attention grabbers, but are terrible for SEO. In a similar vein, search engines don’t understand puns the same way people do – so use in moderation.
6) Demonstrate Professionalism
Include author bylines, biographies, and contact information, as well as the date and time of all articles. Also, avoid spelling and grammar errors!
7) Implement News Schema
This enhances your appearance in SERPs – such as inclusion in a top stories carousel and other rich result features. Check out this template code that you can use for your own website below. You can also find it at Schema.org.
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "http://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"url": "http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39324587",
"publisher":{
"@type":"Organization",
"name":"BBC News",
"logo":"http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2015/newsspec_10857/bbc_news_logo.png?cb=1"
},
"headline": "Trump Russia claims: FBI's Comey confirms investigation of election 'interference'",
"mainEntityOfPage": "http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39324587",
"articleBody": "Director Comey says the probe into last year's US election would assess if crimes were committed.",
"image":[
"http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/560/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/8AB9/production/_95231553_comey2.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/17519/production/_95231559_committee.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/CC81/production/_95235325_f704a6dc-c017-4971-aac3-04c03eb097fb.jpg",
"http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/11AA1/production/_95235327_c0b59f9e-316e-4641-aa7e-3fec6daea62b.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/0F99/production/_95239930_trumptweet.png",
"http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/10DFA/production/_95241196_mediaitem95241195.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/2CA0/production/_95242411_comey.jpg",
"http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/11318/production/_95242407_mediaitem95242406.jpg",
"http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/BCED/production/_92856384_line976.jpg",
"http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/560/cpsprodpb/12B64/production/_95244667_mediaitem95244666.jpg"
],
"datePublished":"2017-03-20T20:30:54+00:00"
}
</script>8) Create AMP Pages
AMP pages load faster for mobile visitors, and are therefore rewarded with better SERP visibility. There are CMS plugins and modules to help you with this.
9) Monitor Trending Topics
Use tools like Google Trends to identify trending topics across various categories. See example below.
10) Embrace Twitter
Not a Google News tip, per-se. But, increasing your Twitter activity and adding Twitter schema can improve visibility in SERP carousels.
