SEO News Today – How Going Viral Can Increase Your Visibility in Google News and Ranking Types
Be it breaking news or local event coverage, having a viral moment can significantly boost a publisher’s visibility in Google News and news-related ranking types. But there are certain risks involved that publishers must be wary of.
One challenge of using someone’s name as the headline of an article lies in whether to include their full or last name only; or whether to opt for their nickname.
1. Google’s Big Algorithm Update
Google continually tweaks its algorithm in order to better reflect how people search, making keeping up with these updates a challenge for SEOs.
This update introduced personalized search, using user history to tailor results and set off alarm bells among SEOs and users alike. This was an enormous change for both sides.
Another core update, this time affecting “most” searches. MozCast shows heavy flux and temperature increases over three days, suggesting its impact was substantial.
Google recently unveiled a groundbreaking natural language processing algorithm, which analyses paragraphs for meaning and relevance, which could have significant ramifications for long-form content marketers and SEOs alike. This represents one of the biggest news updates for SEOs since 2013.
2. Google’s 2023 Reviews Update
Google launched its sixth review update of 2023 on April 12th, focusing on providing “quality product reviews.” This version expanded to cover additional languages including Spanish, German and French; additionally a Fact Check label will now display articles verified by news publishers or fact-checking organizations.
This new feature will make it easier for search users to locate high-quality content quickly. Furthermore, it will facilitate more holistic information that will better address searchers’ inquiries while helping Google provide answers more efficiently.
SEOs should remember that algorithm changes can cause fluctuations and declines in ranking, making creating quality content that provides value the most effective means of improving their SEO ranking.
3. The Real SEO Benefits of a Viral Moment
Going viral can result in an explosion of new visitors, social media mentions and backlinks; however, that visibility doesn’t translate to higher search rankings – according to Patrick Stox from Google News’ penalizing websites that repeatedly publish and republish articles.
He advises writers to focus on evergreen content with topical context that ranks well. That way, you can reach people who may have never encountered your journalism before or knew it even existed – perhaps through Google Discover where your articles may even show up directly on dinner tables and desks via Google Assistant in households and workplaces – potentially opening the door for income creation from this new audience that Google considers when selecting which pieces should be recommended to readers.
4. Google’s Voice Search
At present, voice search is most frequently employed with smartphones and smart speakers. Voice search can help users locate restaurants and banks nearby, check weather updates, control lights remotely and perform other household chores. Furthermore, it can also help make purchases, enhance security with voice biometrics, transcribe meetings or podcasts and transcribe meetings and podcasts as needed.
Due to the nature of voice searches being conversational in nature, SEO strategies must incorporate questions and semantic search queries. Long-tail keywords are key in order to be successful as query lengths tend to be longer than written searches with average 29 word queries currently seen by Backlinko.
Publishers looking to rank on Google News should focus on their niche. Google News uses factors like mission statements, article volumes and listings of categories as an indicator of expertise within certain subject areas.
5. Google Home
Google ranks news and articles you publish based on various criteria, such as freshness, relevance, authority, usability and frequency of publication – the more often your publish, the higher your chances of getting included in its news indexing system.
Your content must comply with Google’s language and adult content guidelines to be displayed in the News Box, Google search results or publisher carousels. In particular, it must be well written without plagiarism and free from grammatical errors.
You must also be an authentic news source to reach the top of Google News Box. While Google has implemented various measures to fight fake news, some experts warn that gatekeeping could soon extend into determining what constitutes “news.” To avoid this happening, follow their guidelines closely.