news-sitemap.xml explained: a practical guide for news publishers

What is news-sitemap.xml?

A news-sitemap.xml is a specialized sitemap that helps search engines discover and index timely news articles. It follows Google's News sitemap protocol and is typically used by publishers who publish news or frequently updated content. By listing individual articles with publication dates and titles, a News sitemap can improve visibility in Google News and related search results.

How a News sitemap differs from a standard sitemap

A standard sitemap covers a broad set of pages on a site, such as evergreen articles, product pages, and category pages. A News sitemap, in contrast, focuses on news content and provides structured, time-sensitive metadata for each article. This metadata helps search engines understand who published the article, when it was published, and what it is about.

Why this matters for indexing

News content changes quickly. A News sitemap signals freshness and relevance, which can speed up indexing in Google News and related search surfaces. It is especially valuable for publishers with frequent, timely posts.

When to use a News sitemap

• You publish news or time-sensitive articles on a regular basis.
• You want faster indexing in Google News and improved discovery in search results.
• You have multiple authors, languages, or sections that benefit from explicit metadata.

How to implement a News sitemap

Implementing a News sitemap involves creating an XML file that uses the News sitemap protocol and listing eligible article URLs with required metadata. The sitemap should be kept up to date and reflect only current, timely articles.

Build the XML structure

A News sitemap uses a dedicated namespace and a per-URL block that includes article-specific data. The sitemap root typically declares both the standard sitemap namespace and the News namespace, for example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/news/article1.html</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>Example News</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:publication_date>2025-11-02T12:00:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>Sample News Article</news:title>
      <news:keywords>example, sample</news:keywords>
      <news:genres>Blog</news:genres>
    </news:news>
  </url>
</urlset>

In this snippet, you see:

• The loc element for the article URL
• The news:news block with publication info, date, title, and optional keywords and genres
• The correct namespaces declared at the root

Validation, submission, and best practices

• Keep the list focused on articles published within a recent window (often within the last 48 hours).
• Use canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content.
• Submit the News sitemap separately from your general sitemap, or include it in a sitemap index.
• Submit the sitemap to Google Search Console (or your preferred search engine console) and monitor for errors.
• Ensure article metadata matches what appears on the page to avoid inconsistencies.

Validation, submission, and best practices

Beyond crafting the file, ongoing maintenance matters. Regularly prune outdated articles and ensure new items are added promptly. Monitor for crawl errors and validate that the XML remains well-formed and accessible.

Common pitfalls

• Including non-news pages in the News sitemap
• Missing required fields like publication date or title
• Using outdated publication dates for fresh articles
• Incorrect namespaces or malformed XML

Getting started

• Identify the News sections of your site and the articles you want indexed.
• Create a news-sitemap.xml (or one or more sitemaps under a sitemap index) with properly formatted <url> and <news:news> blocks.
• Publish the file to your site (commonly at the root or under a news directory) and reference it in your sitemap index if you use multiple sitemaps.
• Submit the sitemap to Google Search Console and review any reported issues, updating as needed.

By following these steps, you can help search engines understand and index your timely news content more efficiently.