Google News: How to get your story featured

We should first discuss why you want your story in Google News. You want to get your story into the news, it is a given.

Why Google News in particular?

If you have been trying to get more exposure for your company in Google organic web searches or Google Shopping, you can take a few simple additional steps that will increase the amount of publicity in a place where competitors cannot easily catch up.

You can get multiple benefits from your articles if you already write them. Create once and reap multiple benefits.

Google News will bring you visitors faster than organic Google search results.

The second most popular reason for people to log onto the Internet each day is reading the news. Pew Internet Research reports that 85% of Americans older than 18 years old use the internet. 78% of these web users came here to read the news.

We used to use the paper. We now scan websites for news, tweet or Facebook headlines, and receive industry updates via email.

You may feel tempted to just target Google's organic search, since the vast majority of online users use Google as their primary search engine.

Consider this, however: If you could find a way to reach more customers faster than the desired ranking for your keywords, wouldn't it be worth your time?

What happens when your business story is included in Google News?

Three great ways exist. First, you can have a release approved by one of the Google News publishers who share the exclusive 6 billion clicks per month that Google News has reserved for them. This does not include organic search traffic.

Many services will distribute your press releases for a fee, ranging from $25 up to $200 per time. There are also smaller publications who accept low-cost or free press releases.

You could make a lot of money if you did this daily. This is a good technique for testing the market and then repeating it, perhaps once or twice a week.

It's easier and faster to do it.

The best way for me to be published on Google News is by having an article that I have written accepted into a magazine already included in Google News. These are also known as Google News Publishers.

It doesn't take a marketing genius for you to see the value of having your byline appear in an important publication that links back to your website, as opposed to the money that would be required to advertise to achieve the same exposure.

This is a more complicated way to publish your article in Google News, as you might need approval from an editorial team. These publications might ask you to grant exclusive rights for the first time. This can become a problem if you are not a full-time writer or don't have someone to do it.

It is not guaranteed that you will be accepted. This can be viewed as an advantage or you may embrace it, knowing that competitors will find it more difficult to copy your marketing.

It is possible that you are thinking, "but who would want to read about a timeshare or pet furniture company?"

You'd be wrong - no. This method requires you to research what people who you hope will end up on your website want to read and then write about it in a way that's relevant to your service or product.

It can be used for almost any business - Google News Publisher sites cover everything from pet health to travel. If your niche is too small to be a success, you may want to consider publishing articles about your area. You can overcome this by localizing your story. Remember, articles containing your keywords will still appear in news or web searches.

If that fails, you can try a third option.

Many attempts and a lot of money can be required. There's another way to get into Google News, and if it works, you can reap the benefits of this for many years. Create your own news website and submit it to Google News.

The trend of brand journalism continues to grow. Why not be ahead of this trend by becoming the media and not just making news?

What about Google News Publishers getting a portion of 6 billion+ Clicks? It's likely that not all sites get the same exposure. If you can meet the criteria, the potential of getting 40,000-120,000 additional visitors per month should be enough for anyone to try.

Google News Publisher Guidelines are very strict, and many sites get rejected. This is a long-term plan. Calculate the ROI for your company and decide if it is worth the investment.

Try the alternative methods in the interim. You can often get more results by using these methods than through search engine optimization for your site.