Do you rely on Google News for traffic? [Mythbusting]
Google has made it slightly difficult to manage traffic from aggregators
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Footfall is everything.
Search traffic isn’t the only source publishers tap into.
There’s something called — interest-based feed. Google Discover & News are the two such Google products that cater to such an audience.
In this post, we’ll talk about Google or Yahoo News (& such news aggregators)
If you clicked on this post to read, you’re most likely relying on Google News/Discover for additional traffic.
Before we begin, I want to remind you to treat these sources as “additional traffic” & not treat them as primary sources.
This post will be slightly technical, I’ll try to keep it as easy as possible.
Let’s get started.
The problem with syndicated content
If you’re getting into this, you should have the concept of syndicated content clear. Here’s a simple explanation:
Imagine you have a really cool toy, like a super fun car. Now, your friend also wants to play with that car because it’s so cool! Syndicating content is like sharing your toy car with your friend, so both of you can have fun playing with it.
When websites syndicate content, they share their interesting articles or stories with other websites so that more people can read and enjoy them.
The problem arises when the syndicated content, ranks higher than the original content.
Analogically, your friend takes away the toy car with him claiming that it’s his toy.
Solution? Requiring partner to use No-index for all your content. That is, the pages from their domain (containing your content) won’t make it to the SERPs
Again, allow your friend to borrow your toy car but not claim it as his.
If this makes sense, let me bust some common myths.
Mythbusting
Before knowing what’s right, it’s important to know what's not.
Here are 4 myths that you should know if you syndicate content to news aggregators like Google or Yahoo News.
#1 Myth: Noindexing Syndicated Content Will Negatively Impact SEO
Many believe that applying the noindex directive to syndicated content will harm the overall SEO performance of the website. In reality, when used strategically, noindexing can prevent duplicate content issues and improve search engine rankings for original content. Google Search Liasion said this on record.
#2 Myth: Using Noindex Automatically Prevents Content Sharing
Some assume that applying the noindex directive means content cannot be shared or syndicated across other platforms. In truth, noindexing only impacts search engine indexing and does not restrict content sharing or partnerships.
#3 Myth: Noindexing Solves All Duplicate Content Problems
There’s a misconception that noindexing is a catch-all solution for handling duplicate content issues. While it is an essential tool, other strategies like canonical tags and proper syndication attribution are also crucial for addressing duplicate content challenges effectively.
#4 Myth: Noindexing is Irreversible and Permanent
Another common myth is that once you apply the noindex directive to a page, it becomes irreversible and permanently excluded from search engine results. In reality, you can easily modify or remove the noindex directive if necessary.
Final thoughts
If you rely on news aggregators for additional traffic, you should have some ground rules that ensure you don’t lose anything on SERPs. In this case, the organic traffic from search.
Google has stated that it’s the publisher’s job to add canonical tags to the original posts so that the algorithm won’t accidentally rank the aggregator’s link instead of the original one.
This is the part where things get crazy. You can seek professional help in this regard & ensure you don’t leave the control on the table and lose a chance of ranking for what you ought to rank for.
