Is Your Blog Google News Approved But Not Showing in the Google News Section? Here's Why

Getting your blog approved by Google News is a major milestone.

However, if your content is still not showing up in the Google News section, it can be perplexing.

Here are detailed reasons and actionable steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

Table of Contents

Common Issues and Solutions

Google places a high emphasis on content quality and relevance.

Your articles should:

Be Well-Written: Ensure proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Be Relevant: Focus on current events, timely topics, and newsworthy content.
Be Original: Produce original reporting or analysis rather than repurposing content from other sources.
Have Clear Bylines: Include author names and contact information.
Maintain a Consistent Update Schedule: Regularly publish fresh content to keep your site active.

Meeting Google’s technical requirements is crucial for your content to be indexed correctly:

Unique and Permanent URLs: Each news article must have a unique, permanent URL. This URL should not change over time to ensure consistency in indexing.
HTML Format: All content should be in HTML format. Avoid PDFs, multimedia-only content, and other non-HTML formats as they aren’t eligible for Google News.
Sitemaps: Create and maintain a Google News-specific XML sitemap. This helps Google bots find and index your news articles more efficiently. Ensure your sitemap follows the Google News sitemap guidelines.

A well-structured site enhances user experience and helps Google understand your content better:

Separate News Section: Clearly separate your news articles from other types of content. This can be done by creating a distinct news section or category.
Readability and Navigation: Ensure your site is easy to navigate with a clean, user-friendly design. Fast loading times are also essential, as slow sites can hinder indexing and user experience.

Google’s inclusion process for Google News is automated and relies on algorithms:

Algorithmic Evaluation: Google uses its algorithms to assess your site’s content quality and relevance. Ensure your content meets these criteria consistently.
Google Search Console: Utilize Google Search Console to monitor your site’s performance. Check the performance reports filtered by the News search type to see how your articles are performing.
Manual Search: Manually search for your articles in Google News to verify their visibility. If they aren’t showing up, it may indicate an issue with how your site is being indexed.

Using the Google News Publisher Center can help with content management and indexing:

Publisher Center: Configure your publication details, including RSS feeds and content settings, in the Google News Publisher Center. Proper configuration can aid in better indexing and presentation of your content.
RSS Feeds: Ensure your RSS feeds are up-to-date and correctly configured. This helps Google to fetch the latest articles efficiently.

Ensuring your site meets Google News guidelines and regularly updating your content can significantly enhance your visibility.

Focus on producing high-quality, original news content, maintaining a user-friendly site structure, and adhering to technical requirements.

Regularly monitor your site’s performance through Google Search Console and manually check your articles’ visibility in Google News.

By following these steps, you can improve the chances of your articles appearing in Google News and maintain a strong presence in the news section.