Introducing the Incredible News Aggregator from Google News
John Mignano
Google News, a real time aggregator of the latest news from hundreds of legitimate news sources from all over the world.
Did this increase website traffic on Google’s news website and its home page? You bet…
News happens to be among the most popular attractions on the Internet today, according to the Pointer Institute.
Google News had a long beta run in that it remained in active beta status till 2006.
On January 23, 2006, Google’s runner up news aggregation service successfully made it out of beta to emerge as a news entity with which to reckon.
The thunderous response Google News received from the online community the world over has prompted Google to pay special attention to this free service.
It is now available in more than twenty languages, serves 40 regions around the world, is updated in real time 24X7, and is constantly tweaked by Google’s research and engineering teams.
Click the “News” link from Google’s home page to arrive at Google News.
You can select your country or region and even customize the home page for Google News as per your personal preference.
Google will store your personalization profile in a cookie on your system and will draw from over 4500 English language news websites to serve up the latest news content on your personal Google News page.
You can even set up news alerts like I have to monitor news events or news stories on a specific subject of your choice.
Driving Website Traffic to your Website with Google News
If I can safely hazard a guess, you have two reasons why Google News interests you.
The first reason pertains to your penchant for the latest news from a credible source which you can access not just on your work station during work but also on your mobile device such as a Blackberry or an iPhone.
The second reason is a little subtle.
You have heard that Google News is a potent source for driving mountains of targeted and qualified traffic to your website.
We have good news for you because you have heard right.
One story in Google News about your company is all you need to quadruple your traffic in a matter of days.
Although Google News aggregates and indexes news stories only for the past thirty days, its news archive function goes back 200 years.
In other words, you are covered every step of the way if you do things right.
Here are a few tips on how you can jumpstart and subsequently maximize website traffic through the ethical use of Google News.
Launching a Niche News Website of your own
You do not have to be a Wall Street Journal or a New York Times to set up your own news website and become a Google News publisher.
Do a few news searches on Google News and you will notice that many of the websites featured in Google’s news search results are no namer websites with excellent content.
Build a news website around your niche or industry and try to remain focused at all times.
Once your news content is indexed by Google News, an avalanche of website traffic will begin to arrive on your Internet property all eager to check you out and fidgeting to buy the products or services you sell.
All it takes is a prominent link on your very own news site’s home page to channel more website traffic to your flagship website.
Here is chapter and verse on how to accomplish this objective straight from Mr. Google himself:
http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=68323
This is a very valuable and hard-to-find link from Google’s vast knowledge repository so both copy and bookmark it.
We have studied these technical specifications in great detail and do not find them difficult to implement.
Try not to distract your online audience when they visit your newly created website with PPC or banner advertising…
Use a little bit of creativity and innovation to inspire your newly discovered qualified website traffic to arrive on your website once they have read your news content to their heart’s content!
For example, you can set up more than one banner or text ads with their own landing pages which promote your products and services.
These links should point to your landing pages meaningfully and meet the expectations of your prospective customer community.
After all, both the covert and overt purpose of this exercise is to propel your bottom line to new heights of profitability
Generating Killer News Content for your Niche News Website
Since every news story, article, industry report or analysis on your new vertical news website needs to be 100% original and copyscape compliant, I recommend that you outsource your content development tasks as a single project to at least two reputable overseas content firms on a long-term basis.
Job board websites such as Elance, Guru, ODesk and GetAFreelancer can prove to be most useful in this regard.
Don’t worry if both service providers end up writing on the same subject once in a while.
Google News itself often has over 300 news stories on the same topic.
Your news content should be organized and structured in strict accordance with the technical specifications Google News has outlined for this purpose.
It is most important that your news content be updated at least three or four times a week, daily if possible.
Invite your site visitors through a “Write for Us” page to submit news and analysis content to your vertical news portal in a true spirit of Web 2.0 and social media.
The more you promote your new news website through social media and search engine optimization, the more website traffic you will experience on your website.
I should clarify here that this is a second tier of website traffic in addition to the traffic that is bound to arrive through Google News.
In essence, you will have two and not one source of clearly defined website traffic which you can further channel to your flagship website where your products and services are sold.
The online marketing and Internet arena used to be competitive.
Today, it is hyper competitive…
There are a trillion web pages on the Internet today.
It is best to identify and implement cutting-edge solutions to increase website traffic that are self-sustaining…
And guarantee the highest possible return on investment.
