In this article, I will try to answer questions such as how Google ranks news sites, as opposed to information such as applying or registering to the Google News index? What are the factors used in this ranking? Based on various patents and sources, I will try to explain many questions. I want to touch on the words related to ranking in the patents in the finest detail possible.
I would also like to remind you that Google ranking factors are already valid in addition to the details explained in the patents, and that you should constantly make improvements in mobile compatibility, AMP, site speed or other technical SEO issues.
Google provides a lot of information about the ranking of news sites in its patent titled Systems and methods for improving the ranking of news articles dated October 29, 2019.
When you search for local news, for example, “Samsun News”, Google clearly states that the news sites listed specifically for this word will not be of the same quality. In related examples, BBC or CNN are patently promoted as higher quality sites.[1]
Advanced methods are needed to better determine employment database quality. The Google algorithm will rank these sites using its own decision-making authority according to at least one or more of the factors I will specify below.
We can see the news sources in the “Source” section in the image above.[2] The news sources in the table indicated by 310 here can be 1 site or more than 1 site. Their number can go up to N indefinitely. The “Source Rank” section also includes the values assigned to the sites by the algorithm according to the factors explained below. We can explain this with a Turkish example as follows; ( the sites and numbers are completely examples)
The figure below shows us the outline of the entire patent. How the algorithm works to rank news sources is given in the patent as follows.[2]
Number of News Produced
The number of general and local news produced in a given time period can be used as a signal.[1]
The number of news you produce is also important in order to attract more users and provide up-to-date news to your existing readership. Of course, as I mentioned in this article, the news produced here should be of high quality and contain as much original news as possible, which will benefit you in the ranking.
When looking at this situation from the visitor's perspective, it is not a preferred situation to see the same news every time you visit a news site. In addition, Google can classify which categories (sports, economy or politics) these news items fall into with machine learning.
Original News
The number of news stories that are called original and detected can be used as a positive signal.[1]
If we give an example from original news; they are original studies or reports on a relevant topic that is trending or has the potential to create its own trend. Such original/special news will also contribute to the increase in the quality of your site.
Average Length of the Article
One of the methods used to determine the quality of a news source can be related to the average length of the news article. [1] News that provide users with more detail can naturally be expected to rank higher.
Pages that contain more in-depth content will naturally have a higher average word length. Of course, I am not talking about news content that constantly asks questions just to make a long article appear, and that is produced without adding value to users.
