News SEO differs from standard content marketing because you're competing on recency, authority, and structured data simultaneously. Google News and Discover placements reward publishers who combine fast technical infrastructure with entity-level signals that prove journalistic credibility. Start with technical fundamentals. Breaking news requires XML sitemaps with <lastmod> timestamps that ping Google within minutes of publication. Core Web Vitals matter more for news than most verticals because bounce rates spike above 2.5 seconds on mobile. If you're still on AMP, maintain it for Google News eligibility, but non-AMP sites can compete by hitting LCP under 2 seconds and minimizing layout shift during ad loading. Ottawa SEO tests with a 1.8-second LCP target on news clients. Schema is non-negotiable. Use NewsArticle or Article schema with author, datePublished, dateModified, and organization markup on every piece. Add Speakable schema for voice search and FAQPage schema for explainer content. Author entity pages with sameAs links to Twitter, LinkedIn, and byline archives help Google connect reporter credibility to your stories. Topical authority beats one-off viral plays. Assign reporters to beats and build hub pages that interlink coverage chronologically. A crime beat page linking to six months of court coverage signals depth that algorithm updates reward. Use Google News Publisher Center to define sections, manage syndication labels, and track Top Stories eligibility. Canadian publishers should declare paywalled content properly to avoid indexing issues under Bill C-18 contexts. Internal linking moves fast. Breaking stories should link to your prior coverage and cornerstone explainers within the first three paragraphs. This distributes authority and keeps users on-site when they need background. Update old articles with "Latest:" blocks pointing to new developments rather than letting them go stale. Monitor Google News performance separately in Search Console. Filter by Discover and News surfaces to see what's winning featured placement. Publishers ranking in Top Stories see 40–400% traffic spikes on those pieces, but the average story gets zero, so double down on what works for your newsroom's credibility signals and beat structure.