It’s no secret that Google gives immense weight to its user searches and wants to benefit them. The search engine giant runs many experiments in this context.
For instance, if you noticed, Google has been trying list view formatting for top stories. SEO experts also discuss another trend – news stories taking over the space of the first few web results against specific queries and searches.
These things prove that the SEO landscape is highly dynamic, meaning you constantly need to reinvent your strategies to remain on top of your game. The old tricks of using guest posts for backlinks might be less effective now. Then, what’s the solution?
Google news approved backlinks are on the way. Find an agency that can publish high-quality content on a news site and earn you a solid backlink. It will boost your site traffic, credibility, and authenticity. Why should you or anyone bother about it? Here are some insights.
- Helpful Content Update – core updates
Recently, Google rolled out Helpful Content Update to add more algorithm signals. The algorithm update targeted any content that solely aims for good ranking, lacks information or helpful details, etc. On the other side, it benefits sites that cater to the readers. Since news portals require constant maintenance and updates to serve their readers well, the Google news team handpicks from those that appear more reliable.
If you get a backlink from any of those sites, you can imagine the degree of impact it will create on your site traffic. This one strategy can leave your competitors huffing and puffing. It will help you understand how things can quickly change for good or worse. Let’s now look at the scene that unfolded when the search engine mogul updated the algorithm.
- Top Stories category
In Mexico, Infobae and El Financier are two well-known news publishers. The updates arguably impacted these: El Financiero gained visibility, while the other witnessed a drop during August. When the September update happened, El Financiero also suffered. Also, August month proved more dramatic than September. So, there has been both negative and positive impact.
- Business News category
Looking at what happened in Peru after the two updates, you will see that CNN lost visibility in August but regained it by the September update. RPP gained some traction, but it got severely affected closer to the next content update. Another popular news portal El Comercio witnessed an uptick for a short duration in the aftermath of the August update, but it lost steam later. The experts point out that, again first update proved riskier for businesses than the second.
- Entertainment News category
The Australian site news.com.au got visibility before the August update but lost it until the September update. Again, the trend affirms first update created more negative impact than the other, which was primarily positive.
- World News category
Columbian news sites like Semana and El Tiempo became more visible while El Espectador faced stagnancy post-August update. Three of them got affected before the September content update. However, the one site that rebounded was El Espectador after the second algorithm update.
If you focus on the US, especially the Health category, you will notice negative and positive responses from the established platforms. For some, the updates proved turbulent as their visibility kept rising and dropping between the two phases. However, others covered a journey from negative to positive results from the first to the second update.
Nevertheless, these points are to make you aware that the SEO space is changing faster and getting unpredictable. Upgrading your strategies to help your site grow would be best.