Wouldn’t it be great if there was a step-by-step guide that outlined SEO strategies for news websites that actually work?
Even better…
What if this guide included a real case study demonstrating exactly how to improve SEO for news websites?
Good news! (no pun intended). We’re gonna walk you through how to optimise your news site, and drive a ton of new and returning readers to your news site.
Continuously produce high-quality, actionable content for your news website
[Tweet “You must consistently produce high-quality, actionable content that is relevant to your readers.”]
Let’s break down this statement.
Producing consistent content
Your content won’t rank immediately. It will take some time to build up search authority.
However, when you publish content frequently and consistently make sure that all of your posts are optimised for:
⫸Search engines
⫸Your reader’s experience
⫸Conversions
Over time you’ll reap the rewards of having more new and returning readers.
Two key benefits of consistently producing content:
1: You’ll increase your number of returning visitors
Think of it this way…
Successful YouTubers with a large following clearly state when their subscribers should expect a new video.
They are specific about the days and times new content will be released.
Take a look at this example from Neil Patel’s YouTube channel.
Producing high-quality content
[Tweet “Your content must be well thought out, unique and specific to your audience”]
It’s vital that the content for your news website is high-quality.
But what does that actually mean?
High-quality content on news websites will have the following attributes:
⫸Unique: There’s a sea of content out there. If your news articles are just a rehash of the content used on other sites, it will not add value for your readers.
Be sure to add your angle when you cover news stories.
⫸Valuable: What will your readers take away from your news stories?
Bear this in mind for every post that you publish.
For example, if you cover a news story on mental health, you could include links to organisations and sites that help people to get help.
Take a look at this screenshot from the BBC to illustrate this point:
⫸Accurate: There’s a lot of fake news out there.
In order to create a brand that is trustworthy and credible, be sure to accurately cover stories and include disclaimers where the opinion of a writer has been stated.
Producing actionable content
You may have a variety of different formats for covering news stories.
When it comes to SEO for news sites, one thing to bear in mind is that people use search engines to find answers.
Where appropriate, cover news stories in a way that will help your readers to solve a problem.
Take a look at this example from the BBC. It’s a ‘how-to’, where it presents the news on the weather but also gives advice to readers on how to stay safe in the sun.
1: Producing content that is relevant to your readers
It’s really important that you know as much as you can about your target audience.
Then you can craft well thought out news articles that they will find via search engines and find useful.
When your target audience lands on your content, they should know within seconds whether the content will provide them with what they are looking for.
Brian Dean uses the OBP formula as a content introduction strategy to reduce his bounce rate.
OBP is an acronym for Objective, Benefit, Preview.
If you introduce your stories by identifying what they are looking for, stating the benefits of your article, and giving them a preview of what to expect, they’ll be more likely to stick around. If you have a bunch of writers, perhaps it is worth hiring an editor to ensure that all the content is up to a high standard before being published.
Alternatively, it is worth creating a writer’s guide so that the writers for your news site are up crystal clear on the expectations you have.
It is also a good idea to make sure that the writers have a good grasp of SEO.
Therefore, I’d recommend that you make sure that you have a good grasp of the following:
- Local SEO
- On-page SEO
- Link building
If your content isn’t on point, your website isn’t going to stay up in the SERPs very long if it ever gets there.
Take time to craft some killer content!
2: Build Backlinks
Once you have the killer content on your news website, it is time to get some links back to it. Do this by offering to guest post, creating content on other sites that link to news articles on your website.
Key takeaway: be selective about which websites you decide to create guest posts for – you’ll want to pick sites that are most relevant to your niche.
3: Work on your Local SEO to improve the SEO of your news website
400;”>Local SEO like SEO companies Hampshire tells the search engines the local relevance of your website. Therefore, you must get it right to improve the SEO of your news website
For example, if you have a news story about an event that happened in North London, for example, the people who live in and around this area are likely to be most interested in this story.
Therefore, it’s worth developing your local presence to show Google that your news website is relevant to people in a particular location.
To find out more about affordable local SEO services in the UK, click here
4: Create & submit sitemaps
A sitemap is a file where you can list the web pages of your site to tell Google or other search engines such as
Bing about the organization/ structure of your website’s content.
This enables search engine web crawlers to crawl your site more intelligently.
If your news site is particularly large, it’s worth actioning this tip.
Key takeaway: Create sitemaps and submit them to Google, Bing, and anywhere else you can find to submit them.
5: Create evergreen content
Not only does your news site need new and relevant content to be produced. Content should also be evergreen where applicable. This means that the information will hold value over time rather than a piece that holds relevancy for a few days or weeks.
Some information is best suited to read when published, but also serves as an excellent source for readers to go back to. Think of the type of articles university students will go to reference in assignments or papers.
Having evergreen content also helps keep relevancy for the keywords on your site. Articles that keep bringing in visitors over time show that your news site is best suited for the information being searched.
Your news site should not be all evergreen content but rather staggered through total pieces. Having new and interesting pieces rollout is extremely important as well. Having evergreen content is all about striking that sweet spot to maintain a balance between pushing out new information and keeping content live that holds true to its information over time.
6: Call in the experts!
Another way to improve the SEO of your news site is to hire an affordable SEO agency or an SEO consultant!
SEO experts, like the team at Pearl Lemon, can guide you through the requirements to improve your SEO on a site to site basis. With plenty of experience in the news niche and across countless others, Pearl Lemon can help get your news site ranking.
If you would like to discuss your digital growth goals – let’s chat!
