Google News Uses News_Keywords – Are You Prepared?

Google is constantly changing its algorithm to provide better search results to its users.  Why?  Because that’s how you run a business –news-keywords by giving the market what it wants.  With more than $500 billion to its name, Google stands to lose a lot if it gives Bing or Yahoo any chance at all.

What’s its latest innovation?  On September 19th, Google announced it was allowing the new META tag “news_keywords.”

Who Should Care about This Development? 

Not every website is going to be concerned with this change.  Mostly, it affects people who use content as a part of their marketing campaign.

Your site must be included in Google News, and getting inclusion into Google News requires jumping through a series of strict hoops.  If you’re not sure whether or not you are included in Google News at this point, simply go to https://news.google.com and enter the command site:yoursite.com.

How can You Capitalize on this Change?  

If you already have search engine optimization services, you might be interested to know that content amplifies the effects of SEO.  Google likes fresh, high-quality content, and so do your site’s visitors.  I’m not saying you should run out the door and get all set up with Google News, but if it fits into a content marketing strategy you’re planning, by all means use it.

If you are planning a content marketing campaign, what this new META tag allows is an easier way for you to tell Google your keywords without spamming them in the headline or content.  From a writing perspective, you can clean up what you are saying and deliver a more relevant message to your audience, while also satisfying search engines – a content marketer’s dream!

What Do You Do? 

If you have an IT team, they should be able to add a form to your CMS that allows you to add the keywords in a text box – not too difficult.  Otherwise, you’ll have to enter them in with HTML code on your own, which is actually a fairly challenging process for the non-techie.  Rather than fascinate you with the exciting coding details, I’ll just provide you with a link to a tutorial.

That’s basically all you do.  For content marketers, the ability to focus more on creativity and less on the keywords is a huge leap.  If you’re looking to amplify your site’s SEO, however, this is a new, and potentially very effective, tactic.

If you enjoyed reading this article from Devenia, you might also like 5 Reasons why Your Site Needs Meaningful Content.

Last Updated on September 28, 2012 by Dan Stelter

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