Previously I wrote on SEOmoz about the benefits of Google News as a syndication tool for SEO. Staying on that track, I'll address writing specifically for inclusion in Google News today.
Let’s underline something immediately – if you want to use news syndication for organic link development, then we’re using one of the old adages of SEO:
“Write great content, and people will link to it.”
Feels sort of odd writing it – I trained up in the link building school of thought that said links first, content second. However, these days, the best links are provided only by providing something for people to talk about; and news items can provide a great topic of conversation. Hence, trying to write a good news service can have a beneficial impact on organic link development, by developing good content. But there can be other very significant benefits, too.
Originality
There are a lot of online news publications that are simply republishing the exact same news items published elsewhere. These can be anything from Yahoo! News syndication, to MFA sites. However, if you really want to attract the most traffic, you need to focus on developing a quality news source. A few sample indicators are:
- Be unique
Don’t simply regurgitate what everyone else is writing about. Put your own unique spin on stories, and try and cover issues the main releases don’t bother with. And don’t be afraid to cover multiple angles/stories in a single news item. - Timing
Sometimes it’s much better to hold-off from posting a news item the same day as everybody else – instead, wait a day or two, then write the story from a fresh angle adding new issues. This makes it easier for you to get noticed and stand apart from the crowd. - Niche
There are a lot of major media outlets covering the generics – it’s often easier to find a niche and really specialise in that, because if you can, and they can’t, then you get the kudos and traffic. - Nodes
There are sites out there eager to cover news stories on particular niche areas. It’s worth looking out for these to see if you can get listed by them by covering the above pointers. You won’t always, but there’s a good chance you’ll find some by accident when they link to you.
Benefits of a news site
So, we’ve covered that having a news site, and trying to get syndicated by places such as Google News is good. The benefits are multiple.
- SEO
As covered before, write a decent news source, and you can develop organic links from authority sites you’d never normally get listed in. Some of these links are vaporous - temporary "Top Latest Headlines". Other links get archived and may develop additional "trust". - Branding
Add a news source to a business site – ecommerce, for example – and the extra traffic you pull in can work to develop branding. Of course, do watch you try and do research on news items first so you don’t generate negative reputation – and avoid highly contentious areas such as politics and religion unless it works with your business aims. - Public Relations
Some of you have probably thought of news sites as stand alone and thrown off a little at the suggestion of adding a news source to an ecommerce site. But if you can tie in your business activities with news stories, not only can you spin your news to be more unique, you provide a more direct relationship with your products/services for converting the extra visitors the news source brings in.
Summary
A news source is simply a way to focus on latest news and information, that has additional avenues of distribution that other types of site may not be able to access. What a news source does offer is an opportunitity for you to develop a stronger presence in your targeted niche(s), and be vindicated for doing so by getting additional traffic and syndicated links from other news sites. Additionally, a news source presents a potentially useful method for an SME to court additional sales, by developing new methods to communicate with existing and potential customers.
Ultimately, for many businesses with long-term objectives, a news source can provide significant marketing opportunities to the company by aiming for quality over quantity - if they can dare to invest in one.
I think if you really put in the effort then it's possible to write a great news site. when people find out about something in the news they want more information. I really liked what you had to say about it. thanks alot, I have a friend that I think will really find this info very useful. thanks alot for the great info. keep up the good work.
I Agree with that analysis in theory but it does work in practice. I am working for a Niche media agency www.themedialine.org that is listed in Google News but does not seem to be getting the traffic that would be expected.
any suggestions?
Well, a lot of the items I click are member-only, and the videos I click on I get a network error for. Neither really suggests good things for a relatively new site IMO.