Yoast News SEO v13.2 Plugin

The Yoast News SEO WordPress plugin is a valuable extension of the Yoast SEO plugin, specifically tailored for optimizing websites for Google News. By seamlessly integrating with the Yoast SEO plugin, it facilitates the implementation of essential features to enhance a site’s visibility in Google News and universal search results. The plugin excels in creating XML News Sitemaps, enabling the generation of editors’ picks RSS feeds, and providing support for the standout tag.

Additionally, it offers assistance in optimizing advanced XML News sitemap options, such as stock tickers. While the plugin doesn’t submit the site to Google News, it empowers users to refine their site’s structure and content to maximize visibility in Google News and universal search results, ensuring it appears frequently and in the best possible way.

Core Features of Yoast News SEO Plugin

Integration with Yoast SEO for seamless optimization
Creation of XML News Sitemaps for enhanced visibility
Generation of editors’ picks RSS feeds for curated content promotion
Support for the standout tag to highlight important news articles
Optimization assistance for advanced XML News sitemap options, including stock tickers
Focus on improving appearance in Google News and universal search results
Empowers users to optimize site structure and content for better visibility
Facilitates frequent and effective appearance in Google News
Enhances the chances of the site appearing favorably in universal search results
A valuable tool for content creators and publishers aiming to optimize their presence in Google News.

What’s New (Changelog) in Yoast News SEO v13.2

Yoast News SEO 13.2 – March 5, 2024
Enhancements

Adds a wpseo_news_sitemap_content filter to append custom content to the XML sitemap. Props to @wccoder.
This PR introduces a new way of retrieving translations for Yoast News SEO, by utilizing the TranslationPress service. Instead of having to ship all translations with every release, we can now load the translations on a per-install basis, tailored to the user’s setup. This means smaller plugin releases and less bloat on the user’s server.

Bugfixes

Fixes a bug where a warning would be thrown on activation.
Fixes a bug where using the & character in the publication name would break the XML sitemap.

Other

Drops compatibility with PHP 5.6, 7.0 and 7.1.
Improves discoverability of security policy.
Sets the minimum required Yoast SEO version to 22.2.
Sets the minimum supported WordPress version to 6.3.
Sets the WordPress tested up to version to 6.4.
The plugin has no known incompatibilities with PHP 8.3.
Users requiring this package via [WP]Packagist can now use the composer/installers v2.