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.
Whether you want to rank on Apple or Google news, there are a few prerequisites you’ll need.
- A website with original news or editorial content
- An RSS feed
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 |
| Storipress | Where is my RSS feed? |
| 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”.
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
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).
Visit the Apple News Publisher page for more information and detailed instructions.
Getting Indexed on Google News
Google News offers a platform called the Publisher Center, which helps publishers manage their content and get it indexed on Google News.
Steps to Get Started with Google News Publisher Center
1. Sign Up for Publisher Center: Go to the Google News Publisher Center and sign up with your Google account.
2. Add Your Publication. This will show in Google News exactly as you type it
3. Configure your content settings. This involves providing details about your site, location and submitting your RSS feed.
4. Verify Your Site: Google will need to verify your site ownership and content quality before it can publish your content.
To give your article the best chance of Google discovering it, ensure it adheres to Google News standards.
This includes:
- 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.