Breakouts during breaking news

Here's what news SEOs need to know about identifying, pitching and ranking for breakouts during breaking news events

Apr 29, 2024

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Hello, and welcome back. Shelby here, back from a weekend full of wonderful humans, brunch, beer — and disappointing Toronto Maple Leafs games. Have you ever loved something so much, just for it not to love you back? Yeah, being a Leafs fan is rough.

This week: Identifying, pitching and ranking for breakouts during breaking news. We make use of the tree analogy as a framework for thinking about secondary stories to write in a breaking news moment. Today, we discuss a bit more how to identify those using your search instinct and how to best pitch them to get success.

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Planning our breakouts … not taking a break. Photo by Redd F on Unsplash

THE 101

What is a breakout?

A “breakout” refers to a story that is a separate file from the main news article, but on the same topic. Breaking news has many parts and will also evolve, meaning new news comes to light that needs to be explained. All of these are breaking out from the original story.

Breakouts can be anything complementary to the news. They’re also secondary opportunities to rank on search. As Google expands its different features — including the “For context” section in addition to Top Stories, Perspectives, People Also Ask, etc. — there are more content types it’s looking to surface. And with the potential public rollout of the Search Generative Experience aggregating your content, it’s more important than ever to jump at as many angles of a story as possible.

Think about breakouts like branches in the tree analogy, as Claudio Cabrera previously laid out. The trunk of the tree is the news event — the main breaking news story. But the branches are the additional questions that arise after the initial news. The quicker you get to the supplementary pieces of coverage, the likelier you’re going to rank in Top Stories and win the event on search. You’re getting a head start by thinking about what readers are going to be searching for.

Every publication will cover the breaking news. As audience editors, it's our job to think about what readers will look for in the second wave, and respond to that interest.

There are many different approaches to coverage that can be taken, and depending on your publication’s expertise you may want to go in a different direction than another competitor. And that’s okay! What’s important is highlighting the E.E.A.T signals of your publication for Google to rank you in its many features.

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How search instinct plays a role in creating breakouts

Search instinct plays a key role in identifying successful breakout opportunities. The understanding of how search intent (the why behind the query) can signal the content type that will be most useful for readers.

Building up search instinct is important in a newsroom. There will be breaking news moments — or a striking moment of an event that will become trending — that it’s important you jump on as quickly as possible.

For example, during the 2024 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons shocked viewers by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr., with their first-round pick. This was a news-worthy moment within the NFL Draft because just last month, the Falcons signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a very large contract, much of which is guaranteed money. It’s weird for a team to use their highest draft pick on a position they, presumably, had already figured out. Readers flocked to Google to find information on the decision.

Knowing this, The Athletic published a story on the pick and the knowledge that Cousins was stunned as soon as possible. This got us ahead of the trending interest.

Accordingly, the internet began searching for Kirk Cousins’ reaction and his contract details shortly after.

Predicting reader behaviour is key. You might not always nail the most popular angle in a storyline right away. But building those instincts will help get a leg up on the competition and write the story that sets you apart.

THE 201

What to do when a story breaks

When news breaks, look at Google Trends. Set your timeframe filter to one hour and look for key breakout search terms (remember: breakout here means interest in the query grew more than 5,000 per cent).

Search these queries on Google to see what surfaces in Top Stories. Take stock of how other publications tell the news and what information they decide to hone in on. Consider how your publication could do it better and how you can add to the coverage.

How do readers want information presented? Lean on the W5 questions (who, what, when, where, why and how). These can indicate a need for explanatory journalism. Is there a smart way you can answer the query?
- For example, during the NFL Draft, people search, “what is a compensatory pick”, and how NFL teams get them. To approach this query, The Athletic wrote a story on how the NFL awards these picks and why two teams had more than the others.
Terms like “photos,” “see” or “watch” express a desire for visual elements like maps or photos. Consider how you can use visual elements as breakouts for breaking news, especially when peoples’ understanding of the topic is limited.
Timelines are great for stories with complex details, or that you anticipate will be searched a lot in the future.
Searches that include “live,” “news” or “updates” signal that a live blog would be useful (we covered this in depth a few weeks ago).

Take into consideration what your newsroom is able to provide. Can you turn around a quick map? If not, do you need to create a FAQ that explains the details in text?

Keeping it simple

Often, high-volume questions — those W5 and 1H queries — might appear overly simplistic for your newsroom to take on. But remember: search readers are often a new top-of-the-funnel audience. These are readers with an active interest in a news event, looking to fill an information gap. They’re searching for a way into the story. Your explainer, FAQ or timeline can provide an entry into more analytical or comprehensive reporting.

Our job as audience editors is to keep the reader front of mind. It's important to keep it simple and explain information in a concise, accessible manner.

These “basic” questions could be a ticket to a whole new audience that just wants to learn more.

How to pitch a breakout

Pitching — nevermind writing — breakouts in breaking news situations can be tough. Everything is moving quickly and people are likely already assigned to a story or beat, meaning there are fewer resources for audience ideas. It’s important you use your news judgment and search instinct to determine what is the highest value pitch to get done. Consider search volume, current interest and the depth of coverage you can provide.

Consider what is the highest value breakout to pitch and work your way down the priority list. Follow the best practices for a pitch, even if it’ll be a quicker version.

Breakouts for breaking news must be turned around quickly. Speed is essential.

Consider what pitch can be done quickest by your newsroom, and work in tandem with the reporters and editors to provide headline, URL and subheading recommendations.
If there are other components you feel need to be included — such as a map or design element — communicate that immediately to those stakeholders to get everyone on the same page.

It’d be great to get three or four additional stories done on one topic in a short amount of time, but sometimes that’s just not possible, so determine quickly what’s worth fighting for in this fast-paced moment.

Differentiating breakout headlines

If you publish multiple stories on a topic, use alternative structures in the headlines. While it’s great to get the keyphrase as close to the front as possible, you don’t want every headline on this topic to start the same way. Don’t always use your head term at the beginning.

For example, during the NFL Draft, players are selected every 10 minutes or so. To differentiate the many breakouts from the main news, The Athletic switched up where “NFL Draft” showed up in the headlines so we didn’t have 200 pieces starting with the same keyword.

Oftentimes, you can literally use the key phrase that prompted your breakout, especially if it’s a question. Using questions in headlines is an effective search strategy. You’re directly acknowledging the question as a way people find information on search, which will help readers connect with your piece.

Consider what other ways you can diversify your headlines to make them stand out from competitors. Don’t be afraid to look at search results and determine what works for other publications, and adopt components that work for you.

Internal linking all stories together

Add the breakout to the homepage immediately upon publication. Make use of internal links, too: Link the breakout in the main story, too, and vice-versa. If there’s a live blog also running on the topic, add the story as a post. If there are other stories on this subject that have been written in the past, link the breakout — and the news story — in them, and be sure to put the hyperlink on a key term/phrase.

Linking signals to Google that there are additional articles on the storyline. Since stories on the homepage generally are crawled faster — as the homepage is typically a high-priority page — it’s important to utilize the authority for topics you’re trying to win on search.

Bottom line: Breakouts can help you win on search during breaking news, especially when the initial news hit is done and the second wave of information is coming. Consider how your outlet’s expertise can shine in certain topics and use a balance of journalistic and search instincts, as well as Google Trends, to determine what people need.

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