What’s included in the audit
- Google News content audit. Compliance with Google News criteria — content quality, SEO, publishing consistency, topic relevance, and content originality.
- Google News profile audit. News sitemap optimization, correct article structure (date, authorship), tags for news content, and headline usage.
- Headline and meta description optimization. Recommendations for writing headlines and metadata that meet Google News and Discover requirements.
- Structured data analysis and implementation. As well as other technical aspects required for these services. Optimization of website speed and mobile performance.
- Google Discover publishing strategy. Analysis of what has generated traffic and recommendations for creating new content. Frequency, topics, and formats.
- Recommendations for visual elements. Use of images and video.
- Keyword research for news content. Research into relevant keywords used in news-related searches.
- Improving website authority (E-E-A-T). A list of recommendations for strengthening the media outlet’s authority in the eyes of search engines.
- Review call to assess the current state and provide recommendations for improvement.
Who it’s for
- Media organizations that don’t appear in Google News or only appear there inconsistently
- Publications that want to understand how to generate consistent traffic from Discover
- Editorial teams after changing their CMS or domain — everything needs to be set up again
- Websites that receive traffic from Google, but get little to no traffic from News and Discover
What is a content SEO audit?
It is an assessment of how well a website’s content meets Google’s requirements — particularly those of Google News and Google Discover. We analyze headlines, metadata, article structure, authorship, topics, publishing frequency, and Search Console data. The result is a specific list of changes that can help media organizations generate more traffic from these channels.
How is it different from a technical SEO audit?
A technical audit checks how the website is built: indexing, speed, canonical URLs, and structure. A content audit looks at what and how you publish: whether headlines meet News requirements, whether author pages are properly structured, whether images are suitable for Discover, and whether existing topics have growth potential. The two audits complement each other — if there are critical technical issues, we’ll point them out.
What is checked for Google News?
Content compliance with Google News quality criteria, correct news sitemap setup, article structure with dates and authorship, use of tags and headlines, the presence and quality of author pages, metadata, and structured data. We also assess E-E-A-T — the publication’s authority in the eyes of the search engine.
What is analyzed for Google Discover?
Which articles have already performed well in Discover and why, which topics and formats have potential, the quality of images used in publications, how often and what the editorial team publishes, and mobile page speed. Discover is unpredictable — but there are patterns that can increase the chances of success.
Can you guarantee placement in News or Discover?
No — and be cautious with anyone who promises this. Google News and Discover do not have an “enable” button. We remove the factors that hold you back and create conditions that make appearing in these channels significantly more likely — but the final decision is always made by the algorithm.
What access is required?
Google Search Console is required. GA4 is recommended. Access to the website admin panel or CMS is not required: we analyze what Google sees, rather than the internal structure.
Do you analyze every piece of content on the website?
Not necessarily — it depends on the size of the website and the scope of the project. We usually analyze a representative sample: new content, top pages by traffic, and pages that have already received impressions in News or Discover. If a full analysis is required, we can discuss it separately.
What does the editorial team receive after the audit?
A document with specific recommendations: what to change in headlines and metadata, what technical issues to fix, what publishing strategy is suitable for Discover, and what to do to maintain a consistent presence in News. Plus a review call where we go through everything together and answer the editorial team’s questions.
What does the editorial team receive after the audit?
Usually 7–10 business days after access is provided and the briefing is completed. The review call takes place immediately afterward.
Why did Google Discover traffic drop?
Discover is Google’s most unpredictable traffic channel: traffic can rise sharply and then drop just as sharply without an obvious reason. The most common factors behind a decline include lower image quality in publications, a shift toward topics that are less relevant to the algorithm, technical issues affecting mobile page speed, or changes to the Discover algorithm. If traffic has dropped, we analyze the data and look for a specific cause rather than providing generic explanations.