For local news publishers, being indexed on Google News and Apple News can significantly boost visibility and readership. These platforms curate and distribute content to a broad audience, enhancing the reach of local news stories beyond traditional channels. By being featured on these major news aggregators, local publishers can attract more readers, increase engagement, and ultimately grow their audience.
Note: Since this article was first published, there have been important changes to how publishers can index their content on major news platforms. Most importantly:
- Apple News no longer accepts unsolicited publisher applications. Access is by invitation only. If your newsroom has already been approved or invited, the publishing process can be found below.
- Google News no longer accepts RSS Feeds through Publisher Centre to gather content. It now relies solely on web crawling to find and index content – that means, if your site is indexable by Google Search, it’s also eligible to appear in Google News – no additional steps or submissions are required.
— Added July 30, 2025
Getting Indexed on Apple News
News is the app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac that delivers articles from a variety of sources, including newspapers, magazines, and websites. Articles are organised into channels (publications) and assigned to topics.
You can deliver content to News from an existing CMS, upload Apple News Format articles you create in a text editor, or create content directly within News Publisher.
Apple News is not intended for publications that are:
- Not editorial or journalistic in nature
- A personal blog or portfolio
- Based outside countries where Apple News is available (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States)
- Primarily promoting a business, service, or nonprofit
- Primarily reposting and redistributing others’ content
- Publishing factual inaccuracies or failing to adhere to widely accepted journalistic standards
Important: As of 2022, Apple News no longer accepts unsolicited publisher applications. Access is by invitation only. If your newsroom has already been approved or invited, the publishing process below remains unchanged.
Set up for WordPress Users
If you use WordPress as your CMS, there is a specific plugin designed to streamline the process of getting your articles on Apple News. The “Publish to Apple News” plugin has proven to be a reliable tool for many publishers.
Steps to Install and Use the Plugin
- Install the Plugin: Download and install the “Publish to Apple News” plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.
- Configure the Plugin: Follow the detailed instructions provided in the HostPapa Knowledge Base to set up and configure the plugin to publish your articles on Apple News.
If you need help configuring your plugin, book a session with LINA’s Technical Manager, Adrian O’Hagan.
For Non-WordPress Users
For those using other CMS platforms, Apple News provides comprehensive guidelines on how to format and submit your articles.
The two core requirements are:
– ensuring you have an RSS Feed of your news feed
– ensuring you are using the Apple News Format (JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format).
Where can I find my site’s RSS feed?
Most major Content Management Systems (CMSs) support RSS feeds as part of their design.
Below are some links to help you find where yours is located.
| Platform | Article including instructions |
|---|---|
| WordPress | What Is RSS? How to Use RSS in WordPress |
| Squarespace | Using RSS feeds |
| Substack | Is there an RSS feed for my publication? |
| Pagemasters Publish | No documentation, but the feed would be found at {site-url}/feed/rss |
| Ghost | Official Ghost + Custom RSS Integration |
| Wix | THE RSS feed: An oldie, but a goldie |
| Drupal | RSS publishing |
If your CMS is not listed above, the easiest way to check is to view the source code of your website and see if you can find a URL containing “rss” or “feed”.
Visit the Apple News Publisher page for more information and detailed instructions.
Getting Indexed on Google News
Update: as of 2024, Google News no longer uses RSS feeds or web locations submitted through Publisher Center to gather content. Instead, Google News now relies solely on web crawling to find and index content – similar to how it indexes the rest of the web. This change means publishers no longer need to manually submit RSS feeds or site URLs to be considered for inclusion.
If your site is indexable by Google Search, it’s also eligible to appear in Google News, no additional steps or submissions are required (such as the previous process of submitting articles through Publisher Center). However, it’s still important to follow best practices to help your content be properly understood and surfaced by Google News, such as:
- Ensuring your site is technically accessible to crawlers (e.g. no blocking in robots.txt)
- Using structured data and clear bylines
- Publishing high-quality, original news content on a regular basis
Ensure your news articles adhere to Google News standards, including:
- Making sure every page on your site reachable from at least one static text link
- Ensure your articles’ structured data markup is complete (e.g. headline, image URL, and datepublished fields)
- Provide an accurate publication date (avoid artificially “freshening” stories)
- A clear headline between 2 and 22 words that is formatted correctly (e.g. placed in a prominent spot above the article body, using the H1 tag)
- Use an image supported by Google News (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, and SVG) with the correct sizing and labelling.
- Format article snippets: Clearly differentiate the text that makes up your articles’ author bylines and date information from the text of your articles’ first sentences.
Google may block or remove content for reasons such as:
- Child sexual abuse imagery or exploitation material
- Personal information that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harms
- content that shows behavior designed to deceive users or manipulate search systems (Spam)
- Content that webmasters or site owners request to be removed
- Content subject to valid legal requests, including: Copyright violations, content illegal in specific countries (e.g., Nazi glorification in Germany), or “Right to be Forgotten” requests in the EU.
Read more about what Google may remove your article in Google’s content policies.
For more detailed instructions, refer to the official guide provided by Google News on their Google News Initiative website.
If you need help setting up your site for news indexing, set up a time with LINA’s Technical Manager, Adrian O’Hagan.