About the News SEO Checklist
News content has a short window to be found, so crawlability and clear signals matter more than for evergreen pages. This news SEO checklist covers publisher transparency, article structured data, sitemaps and crawling, and headlines with freshness, following Google's current guidance for Top stories, Google News and Discover.
It reflects that Google News inclusion is automatic and that AMP is no longer needed for Top stories. Items link to the Google News sitemap generator (2-day and 1,000-URL rules), article schema generator, content freshness checker and TTFB checker. Use it to audit article templates once, then share the headline and update rules with your editorial desk. Your ticks are stored in your browser only.
How to use it
- Audit publisher transparency pages and author pages first.
- Check one article template for NewsArticle schema, images and dates.
- Validate your news sitemap and crawl access for articles and images.
- Brief editors on headline and update practices.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my site into Google News?
There is no application. Google automatically considers sites for Google News and Top stories based on its content policies and signals. Focus on original reporting, clear bylines and author pages, transparent ownership and contact details, accurate dates and fast, crawlable article pages.
What is a Google News sitemap?
A news sitemap is an XML sitemap with news tags for publication name, language, publication date and title. It should list only articles published in the last two days and can hold up to 1,000 URLs. Use a sitemap index for more files, and remove older articles from it as they age.
Is AMP required for Top stories?
No. Since 2021, AMP has not been required for the Top stories carousel; any page that meets Google News content policies can appear. Fast, stable article pages still matter, so check Core Web Vitals on article templates, especially those with heavy ads.