Google Updates Documentation on Top Stories and Preferred Sources
Google has published new documentation on Search Central detailing its Preferred Sources program, designed to help news websites appear in the Top Stories feature. The guide explains how publishers can increase their chances of ranking in Top Stories and driving more traffic.
Top Stories
Top Stories focuses on breaking and local news, so freshness can play a role in ranking. While using Schema.org Article structured data is not required, it can help Google better understand your content. Note that although the Top Stories display resembles Google’s carousel, ItemList structured data for Carousel does not influence Top Stories ranking.
Preferred Sources Tool
The Preferred Sources program is currently available for English-language web pages worldwide. Sites already listed in the tool can use deep links to encourage users to add them as a preferred source: Google Source Preferences.
According to Google, publishers can guide readers to select their site as a preferred source by:
-
Adding a deep link to social posts or promotional materials.
-
Using the URL format:
https://google.com/preferences/source?q=Your_Website's_URLFor example, for a site like
https://example.com, the link would be:https://google.com/preferences/source?q=example.com
Maximizing Traffic from Top Stories
With traffic from Google becoming increasingly competitive, it’s important to leverage every available opportunity, including following Google’s guidance for Top Stories and Preferred Sources.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/RealPeopleStudio