Many people believe that Google News is the end-all and be-all of their content marketing strategy. After all, why not they own somewhere around 85% of the Search Engine Market Share and being included in Google News does lead to the infamous, “halo-effect.” It can be great, I’ve seen it bring in some serious traffic numbers, increase inbound links, and even a few conversions here and there. But I ask you this: have you thought about where the traffic comes from and if you’re Organic SEO strategy is catering to the same areas?
How many of you out there actually go to http://www.google.com/news and search for news? I bet some of you do. However, I bet a majority of you end up on Google News from searching in Google’s main search (www.google.com). If your website’s first purpose is to provide a wide variety of current events, AWESOME! You’re in the right place. However, if you’re website’s main purpose isn’t the news we need to rethink a few things.
A majority of the traffic from Google News will come from the Google Main Search or http://www.google.com, also, this traffic will be people who are researching a topic, service or product as opposed to searching for news specifically. Google will typically give itself a pat on the back by including News Results, Google Images, Google Maps, etc. on the first page. This traffic is the traffic we’re trying to attract. It actually gives you a short cut to the first page for a short period of time. Ok, so we’ve identified where the traffic is coming from. But now I need to ask, is your keyword strategy in line with this strategy.
What if I sold hockey equipment online? It may be somewhat of a niche, but a very popular industry if you play hockey, especially because skates can run you almost $1000.00 these days. My main short tail keywords would be something like this:
- Hockey Skates
- Hockey Stick
- Hockey Glove
- Hockey Helmet
Type these words into Google Main Search. You’ll probably find “Shopping Results” maybe even “Image Results” but you will rarely ever find “News Results.” Now if you’re keyword strategy uses different short tail terms such as:
- Boston Bruins
- Tim Thomas
- Milan Lucic
You will probably see Google respond with “News Results.” That being said if you want to try for inclusion in Google News, you might want to try this test out before you go to the trouble of making all of the tweaks to your content and website.
In reality, sometimes it’s best to stay on your promotional path and use outlets such as Social Media and article aggregators. Lists and how-to articles can be very successful in these areas and have a similar affect to Google News if done right. Plus you can keep using your same keyword strategy short tail and long tail.
-Kevin W. Elliot
Internet Marketing Ninja 