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US Election 2024: News SEO tips and Google visibility analysis

Election night is one of the biggest events a newsroom covers. If you are a member of your newsroom’s SEO team on election night, we’ve put together a handy guide with Google visibility analysis insights and tips.

2020 US Election Review

First, let’s take a look back at the 2020 US election. After reviewing the Google visibility data of top US publishers in the Trisolute News Dashboard during the 2020 election, here were the top performers on the mobile and desktop SERPs:

  • Live updates 
  • Race projections
  • Exit polls
  • Election security
  • Election certification timeline

During the 2020 election, Google’s large election results widget pushed the Top Stories News Box down the SERP. Here is a screengrab from the desktop SERP on Nov. 4, 2020, courtesy of the Internet Archive. You can see just how far the Top Stories News Box gets pushed down the SERP. We should expect to see a similar SERP configuration for the 2024 US election results.

2024 US Election Analysis

In 2024, we have also witnessed periods where the mobile and desktop SERPs changed in structure when displaying election-related queries. During January’s 2024 Iowa caucus, the Google SERP didn’t show any Top Stories News Boxes for keyword searches related to the caucus. 

Here’s a screengrab from the Internet Archive of what the Google SERP looked like during the New Hampshire primary in January 2024.

New Hampshire primary SERP

In early August 2024, we noticed two significant SERP changes for election-related keywords.

Around August 9th, we noticed a steep decline in the use of Top Stories News Box headers for the nation category, while categories like entertainment and sports continued to display descriptive headers. For election-related keywords, generic headers such as “Also in the news” and “States in the news” have replaced descriptive headers.

We also noticed a change in the structure and amount of stories within a Top Stories News Box. It appears that Google is restricting Top Stories News Boxes to a maximum of 4 entries for political keywords on the desktop SERP. On the mobile SERP, a Top Stories carousel with up to 12 slots that requires a manual scroll after the first 2 articles. This change in the News Box structure occurred in August around the same time as the News Box header change. Non-political keywords were not impacted.

The result of these changes led to a steep decline in Mobile News Box rankings for the nation category during August 2024. Most news sites have since rebounded in Google visibility rankings, but it rattled nerves in the SEO community.

News box analysis Aug. 2024 graph

 

It’s important to note that the reduced News Box structure for election-related keywords remains in place on the Google SERPs. Below is an example of the difference a Google user sees when searching for election vs. the World Series. These screengrabs were taken on Oct. 28, 2024. We expect the reduced News Box layout to remain in place throughout the election process.

Google SERP election vs. non-election query

2020 vs. 2024

When comparing the two elections, so far we are seeing a more competitive Google visibility landscape in 2024 for major US news publishers and election-related keywords. In the graphs below, you can see a bunching of the top 5 news publishers in mobile and desktop visibility for election-related keywords in 2024 versus in 2020. It’s also more competitive in 2024 for the top two publishers.

Mobile news box

Desktop news box

Google Discover

We conducted a News Dashboard analysis of the top-performing 2024 election content on Google Discover for several US news publishers. Similar to the SERPs, poll results and live update articles performed well on Google Discover, so make sure these posts are optimized for mobile. Use engaging headlines and compelling images to stand out on Discover. Coverage of controversial political topics also performed well on Discover, in spite of Google’s guidelines.

AI Overviews

Google has not implemented AI Overviews for election-related queries and we don’t expect that to change on Election Day. It’s possible Google may unveil AI-powered tools as part of its Election Day SERP display, but expect a more traditional SERP for results and election news to avoid any controversy or accusations of bias that could be triggered by AI Overviews.

Election Night SEO Tips

The most important takeaway on election night SEO strategy is to keep it simple. The most effective SEO strategy is the one that can be reliably executed in a high-stakes, rapidly-evolving news event like an election. By focusing on news SEO fundamentals, you’ll have assembled a foundation that will allow your team to be more flexible and efficient in covering trending election topics.

Does your CMS support templates? If so, create an election template that includes your targeted election keywords in the metadata and a list of internal links to your related election content. Templates can be huge time savers on a hectic election night and ensure that basic SEO elements will be included in every piece of content you produce.

Election night is when your live coverage will be in the spotlight so take the time to optimize it for search. For live blogs, ensure you are following live blog best practices. Check to see if your CMS supports a live blog template or implement LiveBlogPosting schema to display the red live pill on the Google SERP. 

Make sure to optimize the main headline of the live blog article, as well as create optimized subheads for each update that you post within the live blog. Another headline tip: consider making the main headline of the live blog more durable in context, such as “Election Day 2024: Live updates” and then update only when major developments happen. For newsrooms with limited staffing, this will take the stress off of managing multiple headlines, while allowing the live blog editor to focus on optimizing the subheads of each live blog entry.

Incorporate original photos and video, if available, into the live blog posts, and update as new assets become available. Maps, interactives, and explainers are useful for voters and are the types of helpful content that Google is focused on surfacing for election-related queries.

Monitor your competition’s live coverage to identify content gaps and areas of opportunity in search. 

Leverage internal links and pillar content. Ideally you already have built and if necessary, refreshed your library of election-related evergreens and explainers that you can cross-link with your election night coverage. In the subsequent days and weeks, be prepared to answer voter questions as they arise on Google Trends with additional helpful content.

For local news outlets, monitor the “States in the news” box on the Google SERPs to see if you can take advantage of these localized search opportunities on election night. For city and state news publishers, these local-focused SERP features should offer less competition than the general Top Stories News Box which will be dominated by large national news publishers.

States in the news

Keep in mind that the Google mobile and desktop SERPs will be an extremely competitive landscape on election night and likely through election week. Look to sidebars that offer a unique perspective and explainers as noted above to be in contention for Google visibility rankings for secondary queries outside of the main election keyword set. Monitor Google Trends for the latest developments.

Using the Trisolute News Dashboard on Election Night:

  • Create an election keyword cluster in the Keyword Manager so that you can track relevant election keywords across the tool. Add a broad range of election keywords with variations (election 2024, US election 2024, etc.) so that you don’t miss a SERP visibility ranking. Create and save filters in individual KPI Dashboard and Action View 2.0 reports so that at a click of a button, you can assess your site’s election coverage visibility performance on Google.
  • Build an entity cluster in the Discover report that includes election-related entities. Include a broad range of election-related entities. Create and save a filter using this election entity cluster for ease in tracking your election coverage performance in Discover.
  • The Action View 2.0 report will allow you to track your Google visibility in real time on election night. Add your live blog and other election night content to your Watchlist in Action View 2.0 for efficient performance tracking. 
  • You can view a snapshot of the live News Box in Action View 2.0 to keep track of your own performance as well as your competitors. For deeper competitor data insights, utilize the KPI Dashboard reports.
  • Keep Newsroom open in split view in a separate tab or on a separate monitor. This will allow you to track lost rankings and missing topics and quickly respond if necessary.

Newsroom in the Trisolute News Dashboard

  • Set up News Dashboard alerts in Slack or Microsoft Teams and test them ahead of election night, so you have time to tweak the settings to ensure they provide the most utility to your team.
  • Ensure all explainers are optimized for search; use Topic Inspiration in Action View 2.0 or Keyword Manager to stay on top of rising election search topics on Google.
  • Beyond election night, refer to the KPI Dashboard reports to capture data insights for your newsroom’s election coverage performance on the mobile and desktop SERPs, along with the performance of your competitors. Make sure to share these insights with the SEO team as well as stakeholders. Document this post mortem analysis to help inform your newsroom’s coverage for future elections.

Election News Resources:

Not yet part of the Trisolute News Dashboard family? Request your FREE demo today and find out how your articles rank on Google Discover, Google News and the SERPs!

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