Hey there, WordPress blogger! If you‘re looking to expand your reach and get your content in front of a huge new audience, you should definitely consider adding your WordPress blog to Apple News.
Apple News is a massive platform, with over 125 million monthly active users across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It‘s a one-stop shop for news and content, where users can easily discover and engage with articles from their favorite publishers.
By syndicating your WordPress blog to Apple News, you can tap into this highly engaged user base and drive more traffic, brand awareness, and even revenue for your site. Excited? I thought so!
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through the entire process of adding your WordPress blog to Apple News, from start to finish. We‘ll cover:
- Benefits of publishing to Apple News
- Prerequisites and requirements
- How to apply to the Apple News Publisher Program
- Setting up the Publish to Apple News WordPress plugin
- Submitting your first articles for approval
- Tips for optimizing your content for Apple News
- Monetizing your articles with Apple News ads
- Using Apple News to grow your WordPress traffic
- Troubleshooting common issues
Whether you‘re a seasoned publisher or just starting out with your WordPress blog, this guide will provide you with everything you need to start reaching new readers on Apple News. Let‘s dive in!
Benefits of Publishing Your WordPress Blog on Apple News
So why bother publishing to Apple News? There are tons of great reasons:
Massive audience reach. With 125 million MAUs, Apple News can help your content reach a huge new audience that may never otherwise discover your WordPress blog.
Engaged readers. Apple News users are known to be highly engaged, with the average reader spending over an hour per week in the app. More engagement = more impact for your content.
Increased brand authority. Being an Apple News publisher gives you an extra badge of credibility and authority in your niche.
Potential for ad revenue. If you enable monetization, you can earn revenue from Apple‘s built-in ad platform, which pays publishers 70% of ad earnings.
SEO benefits. Apple News links are followed and can pass link equity to your WordPress site, giving an SEO boost to your linked articles and homepage.
The best part is, adding your WordPress blog to Apple News is totally free – it just takes a bit of setup and configuration to get started. Speaking of which, let‘s look at the prerequisites.
Apple News Publisher Prerequisites & Requirements
Before you can apply to the Apple News Publisher Program, make sure your WordPress site meets these requirements:
- Running on self-hosted WordPress.org (not WordPress.com)
- Has a custom domain name
- Uses an SSL certificate (HTTPS)
- Has decent site speed and performance
- Contains at least 10-20 high-quality articles
- Includes a homepage logo in PNG format with a transparent background
You‘ll also need an Apple ID to sign up. If you don‘t have one, you can create one here.
Once you‘ve checked all these boxes, you‘re ready to submit your application!
How to Apply to the Apple News Publisher Program
Alright, let‘s walk through the application process step-by-step:
Go to the News Publisher sign up page and click "Continue."
Sign in with your Apple ID and agree to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.
Fill out the basic information about your WordPress site:
- Website name (e.g. "My Awesome Blog")
- Website URL (e.g. "https://myawesomeblog.com")
- Business information
- Point of contact details
Write a brief channel description that highlights your blog‘s unique value proposition and target audience. This will be public, so make it compelling!
Upload your homepage logo in PNG format with a transparent background. Recommended size is 256×256 pixels.
Choose your preferred publishing method:
- Apple News Format (recommended) – You‘ll use the Publish to Apple News WordPress plugin to generate a custom RSS feed optimized for Apple News, with full control over formatting and monetization.
- RSS – Apple News will simply pull in your existing WordPress RSS feed. You won‘t be able to customize formatting or enable monetization with this option.
Submit your application and wait 3-5 business days for the Apple News team to review it. If approved, you‘ll receive a confirmation email with your Apple News channel ID and developer token.
Once approved, you‘re ready to connect your WordPress site to start publishing!
Setting Up the Publish to Apple News WordPress Plugin
Now for the fun part – syncing your WordPress site with Apple News. The easiest way to do this is with the official Publish to Apple News plugin.
Here‘s how to install and configure it:
In your WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New and search for "Publish to Apple News."
Install and activate the plugin.
Go to the new Apple News menu item and enter your Apple News channel ID, API key, and API secret from your confirmation email.
Choose which post types you want to sync to Apple News. For most blogs, the default "Posts" type is all you need.
Customize the look of your posts with the available theme and font options. I recommend sticking with the clean "Default" theme and specifying your brand colors.
Configure the layout for posts and enable any other desired settings like featured images, excerpts, and author bio.
Set up sections to organize your posts into News categories like "Sports" or "Technology." You can add and map sections in the Sections menu.
When you‘re happy with the configuration, click "Save Changes" and your WordPress posts will start syncing to Apple News at the /apple-news/ URL slug!
Here are a few extra tips to keep in mind when setting up the plugin:
- Install an AMP plugin to automatically generate AMP versions of your posts, which can improve performance and discoverability on Apple News.
- Use high-quality featured images that are at least 1200×675 pixels to make your posts stand out visually on Apple News.
- Add customized excerpts and titles for your Apple News posts using the extra fields on the post edit screen.
- Check the Preview section of the plugin to see how your synced posts will look on Apple News before publishing.
With the plugin installed and configured, you‘re almost ready to publish. But there‘s one more important step…
Submitting Your First Posts for Approval
Apple wants to make sure your content is high-quality before it starts showing up in users‘ feeds. That means your first few posts need to be manually submitted and approved by the Apple News team.
To do this:
Log into your Apple News Publisher account.
Go to the Articles tab and click "Import Article."
Enter the URL of one of your WordPress posts and click "Import."
Preview the imported post and make any necessary formatting tweaks. You can edit the headline, add a custom excerpt, and more.
When you‘re happy with how it looks, click "Submit for Approval."
Repeat this process for at least 2-3 more posts. The Apple News team will review your initial submissions within 1-2 business days.
Once several of your posts are approved, Apple News will start automatically importing new posts from your WordPress site, so you won‘t have to manually submit every post going forward. Woohoo!
However, it‘s still a good idea to manually submit your most important or newsworthy posts to improve your chances of being featured.
Tips for Optimizing Your WordPress Content for Apple News
Want to make your content irresistible to Apple News readers and editors? Here are some tips:
- Keep posts focused and skimmable. Aim for 500-800 words and break up text with subheadings, bullet points, and images.
- Use attention-grabbing headlines. Aim for 50-60 characters and include action words. Avoid all caps and excessive punctuation.
- Add engaging featured images. Make sure they‘re high-quality, relevant, and include descriptive alt text.
- Optimize for readability. Use short paragraphs, simple language, and plenty of white space. Avoid long sentences and walls of text.
- Internal link to other posts. Add 2-3 links to other relevant posts on your WordPress blog using custom anchor text.
- Enable AMP versions. AMP can speed up load times and make your posts more accessible on Apple News.
- Use Apple News Format enhancements. Take advantage of custom features like image galleries, videos, and animations to make your posts more interactive.
- Include a strong call-to-action. Encourage readers to visit your WordPress blog, sign up for your email list, or follow you on social media.
By following these optimization tips, you‘ll have a better chance of your content being promoted by Apple News and engaging readers.
Monetizing Your WordPress Blog Posts with Apple News Ads
One of the biggest benefits of syndicating to Apple News is the potential to earn revenue from built-in ads. Apple sells ads on your behalf and pays you 70% of the earnings.
The amount you can earn depends on your traffic volume and audience demographics. According to Digiday, publishers saw an average CPM of $11 from Apple News ads in 2020, which is quite high compared to most ad networks.
However, monetization is currently only available to publishers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. If you‘re located elsewhere, you‘ll need to wait for Apple to expand the program to your region.
To enable monetization, follow these steps:
- Make sure your Banking & Tax information is complete in Apple News Publisher.
- Go to the Workbench tab and set up ad placements for your channel, specifying sizes and frequency.
- From the Analytics tab, enable monetization for your channel.
- Within 24 hours, your channel will be reviewed and start showing ads to eligible users. You can track revenue and ARPU from the Analytics tab.
A few things to keep in mind with Apple News monetization:
- You have no control over the specific advertisers or ad content. This is all handled by Apple.
- Ads may not appear on every user‘s device or in every region, so revenue can fluctuate.
- The volume you earn is directly tied to how much traffic you get on Apple News, so focus on creating high-quality content and optimizing for engagement.
Using Apple News to Grow Your WordPress Site Traffic
Getting your content in front of Apple News users is great, but what if you want to drive that traffic back to your WordPress blog?
Here are some tips for converting Apple News readers into loyal WordPress visitors:
- Internal link to your WordPress posts. Use anchor text and calls-to-action to drive readers to related posts on your blog.
- Promote your email list. Include newsletter signup CTAs in your Apple News posts to capture reader email addresses.
- Advertise your WordPress site. Set up a text ad or banner promoting your blog in the Apple News feed.
- Run contests and giveaways. Incentivize Apple News readers to visit your WordPress site to enter.
- Cross-promote on social media. Share your Apple News posts on your social channels and encourage followers to read more on your WordPress blog.
It‘s all about providing value to Apple News readers while enticing them to visit your blog for more. Over time, you can build a virtuous cycle where Apple News brings you new readers, and your WordPress blog turns them into devoted fans.
Troubleshooting Common Apple News Issues
Like any platform, you may occasionally run into issues when publishing to Apple News from WordPress. Here are some common problems and solutions:
Problem: Your WordPress posts aren‘t syncing to Apple News.
Solution: Double-check that your Apple News API credentials are correct in the plugin settings, and that your site is accessible to the Apple News crawler. Also make sure you‘re not blocking the crawler in your robots.txt file.
Problem: Your images aren‘t showing up on Apple News.
Solution: Make sure your featured images are at least 1200×675 pixels and are in a web-friendly format like JPG or PNG. Avoid using GIFs or SVGs.
Problem: Your Apple News posts have broken links or strange formatting.
Solution: Try regenerating your posts using the "Convert All Posts" button in the plugin settings. If that doesn‘t work, reach out to Apple News support for assistance.
Problem: You‘re not seeing any ad revenue after enabling monetization.
Solution: Keep in mind that it can take a few days for ads to start appearing and for revenue to accrue. Make sure your banking and tax info is complete, and that you‘ve correctly set up ad placements in the Workbench.
If you‘re still having trouble after troubleshooting, you can always reach out to the Apple News publisher support team or post in the official Apple News Publisher Slack group for advice from other publishers.
Wrapping Up
Congratulations – you now have everything you need to successfully add your WordPress blog to Apple News and start reaching a huge new audience!
Just remember the key steps:
- Make sure your WordPress site meets the basic requirements
- Apply to the Apple News Publisher Program and set up your channel
- Install and configure the Publish to Apple News WordPress plugin
- Submit your initial posts for approval, then optimize future posts for Apple News
- Consider enabling monetization and use Apple News to drive quality traffic to your blog
It may seem like a lot of work upfront, but trust me, the payoff of having your content featured on Apple News can be huge. You‘ll be getting your stellar content in front of tons of new eyeballs and potentially earning some nice passive income in the process.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start publishing to Apple News – your WordPress blog will thank you. And if you have any other questions along the way, feel free to reach out in the comments.
Happy publishing!
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