How to Get Your Content in Google News: The Complete 2025 Guide
Getting your website content into Google News is one of the most powerful ways to drive massive organic traffic, build brand authority, and appear alongside the world’s biggest publishers. However, many bloggers and online publishers still believe Google News requires manual approval which is no longer true. In 2025, Google News automatically indexes websites that meet its quality, technical, and content requirements.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to make your website eligible for Google News, how to optimize your articles for News SEO, and how to ensure your stories appear in Google Discover and Top Stories.
1. Understand What Google News Actually Wants
Google News focuses on fresh, high-quality, factual, and time-sensitive information. It is not a place for random blog posts, affiliate articles, or low-quality AI writing. Google News prefers websites that consistently produce:
-
Breaking news
-
Trending stories
-
Event coverage
-
Political, sports, entertainment, or business updates
-
Data-backed reporting
-
Location-based information
-
Expert commentary and original insights
If your site regularly publishes timely and relevant news, you significantly boost your chances of being included.
2. Build Strong E-E-A-T for Trust and Reliability
Google uses E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust) to decide if you are a credible news publisher. Without strong E-E-A-T, your site may not appear in Google News no matter how many stories you publish.
Key elements to include:
- About Us Page
Explain clearly who owns the site, the purpose of the publication, and your editorial mission.
- Author Pages
Each article should have a real author with:
-
Full name
-
Profile photo
-
Short biography
-
Links to social media or LinkedIn
-
Area of expertise
-
Anonymous or generic writers reduce trust.
Contact Page
-
Provide an email address, phone number, or physical address. Google checks transparency.
Editorial Guidelines Page
-
This page shows your newsroom rules, ethics, fact-checking process, and corrections policy.
Privacy Policy & Terms
- Mandatory for credibility.
-
Building these elements signals that your site operates like a real news organization, not a hobby blog.
3. Publish Consistently and Frequently
-
Google News prioritizes websites that post often. Unlike most SEO-driven blogs, news sites need constant freshness.
Recommended posting frequency:
-
Major news site: 5–20 stories daily
-
Small news blogs: 2–5 stories daily
-
Niche news site: 1–3 daily
Consistency matters more than volume. Publishing once a week is not enough to be considered a news publisher.
4. Optimize Articles for Google News SEO
Google News has its own ranking signals, separate from Google Search. You must structure your articles correctly to improve visibility.
-
Write Clear, Accurate, News-Style Headlines
-
The headline must summarize the story in a straightforward way.
-
Avoid clickbait or exaggerated titles.
Bad:
“You Won’t Believe the Shocking Thing That Happened in Abuja Today!”
Good:
“Abuja Airport Suspends Flights After Heavy Fog Disrupts Visibility”
Use Timely Keywords
Use words like:
-
“Latest”
-
“Today”
-
“Update”
-
“Breaking”
-
“2026”
These help Google classify your post as a news update.
Use Short Paragraphs
- Break your content into short, easy-to-scan paragraphs.
Include Subheadings
- Subheadings improve structure and allow Google to understand your story better.
Use Relevant Images (1200px wide)
- Google Discover requires large, high-quality images.
Add the NewsArticle Schema
Schema markup tells Google that your post is a verified news article. Every news article should include JSON-LD NewsArticle schema.
5. Improve Your Website’s Technical Performance
Google News heavily prioritizes fast, mobile-first websites. Poor performance reduces eligibility.
Important technical factors:
Fast loading speed
- Aim for under 2 seconds.
Responsive and mobile-first design
- Most news readers are mobile users.
HTTPS — Secure website
- Mandatory for all modern publishers.
Structured site architecture
Organize categories such as:
-
Politics
-
Sports
-
Entertainment
-
Technology
-
Business
-
World News
Use a Clean, Lightweight Theme
- Avoid heavy sliders, animations, or poorly coded themes.
6. Create and Submit a Proper News Sitemap
A news sitemap helps Google News discover your latest stories.
Create a sitemap like:
-
news-sitemap.xml
-
Contains articles published within the last 48 hours
-
Update automatically when you publish new articles
-
Submit it in Google Search Console under “Sitemaps.”
-
This ensures Google can crawl new stories within minutes.
7. Use Google Search Console Actively
Google Search Console is your control center.
Do the following:
Submit your site for indexing
- If your site is new, this speeds up discovery.
Submit URLs after publishing breaking news
- The “URL Inspection” tool forces fast indexing.
Monitor coverage errors
- Fix pages that are not being indexed.
Track your keywords and performance
- Identify which articles gain Google News traction.
- Being active in Search Console improves indexing speed and reliability.
8. Use Google Publisher Center (Highly Recommended)
While Google News no longer requires manual approval, Publisher Center gives you extra visibility and organization control.
With Publisher Center, you can:
-
Add your logo
-
Add your categories
-
Set up your publication sections
-
Add RSS feeds
Improve how your site appears inside the Google News app
- Increase trust and authenticity
- This increases your chance of being featured.
9. Prioritize Original Reporting and Avoid Duplicate Content
Google News hates duplicated, rewritten, or scraped content.
To be eligible:
-
Write original content
-
Avoid copying from other news sites
-
Add analysis, quotes, data, or exclusive perspectives
-
Always credit sources if you use external information
-
If your content appears copied, Google will block you from News results.
10. Build Authority with Backlinks and Citations
Google News ranks authoritative sites higher.
Improve your authority by:
-
Getting backlinks from other news sites
-
Being cited by blogs and media
-
Promoting your stories on social media
-
Building a recognizable brand
-
Authority + freshness boosts your visibility.
11. Avoid Google News Violations and Penalties
Do not post:
-
Fake news
-
Inaccurate reporting
-
Misleading headlines
-
Overly violent or harmful content
-
Adult or graphic material
-
Excessive ads
-
Sensational conspiracy content
These actions can prevent your site from appearing in Google News permanently.
Final Thoughts
Getting your content included in Google News is not about luck. It’s about building a trustworthy, fast, structured news website with consistent, high-quality reporting. Focus on producing timely stories, improving your site experience, and maintaining strong editorial standards.
If you follow all the steps in this guide E-E-A-T, technical optimization, strong headlines, original reporting, and fast indexing your content will naturally become eligible for Google News and Discover.
