Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News
by Gunjan Jaswal · SEO
Also makes 16 other plugins · 440+ installs across the portfolio →
Generates a Google News compatible XML sitemap for WordPress sites to be submitted to Google Search Console for better news content indexing.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈120 estimated
Momentum
-16%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: Swap “google news” for “sitemap for google news”. “google news” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “sitemap for google news” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
83 health vs 66 average across 2,249 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.0%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 2.5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,200 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 10 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 2 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.0★ over 1 review, weighted for review count to 4.1★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
38
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 25d
22%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 25d
-0.1
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| sitemap for google news | #8 | #22 | up 1 |
| lightweight | #18 | #24 | down 2 |
| xml sitemap your tag | #24 | #23 | 0 |
| google news xml sitemap | #11 | #23 | up 1 |
| google news sitemap | #17 | #23 | up 1 |
| google xml sitemap | #19 | #23 | — |
| xml image sitemap | #20 | #24 | down 1 |
| google image sitemap | #22 | #24 | down 1 |
| news sitemap | #24 | #24 | — |
| google news your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| news your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| sitemap your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
23 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 14 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “google news” for “sitemap for google news”. “google news” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “sitemap for google news” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 26 Oct 2025 · 376 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 696 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
10
releases in the last 12 months
2d ago
latest release · v1.4.2 · 3 Nov 2026
11
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 100.
At the current install trend, crossing 200+ in roughly 481 days.
Install history since 25 Oct 2025
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ exposebkl1212mo ago
The Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap for Google News plugin is a simple, efficient, and truly lightweight solution for generating a Google News–compatible sitemap. I really appreciate that it works perfectly alongside Yoast SEO, without causing Sitemap conflicts or duplication issues.
Read on wp.org ↗
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Share of voice
How often each assistant names Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News when asked about this topic, where it comes in the answer, and how that compares with its wp.org search position. Latest run 1 Nov 2026.
- Assistants
- ChatGPT, Claude
- Topics tracked
- XML sitemap
Readme readiness
8 of 8 pass · checked 5 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Generates a Google News compatible XML sitemap for WordPress sites to be submitted to Google Search Console..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 8 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 8 of 8 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("perfect for", "who want").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,129 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-07 90+ → 100+ up after 43 days in tier
- 2026-06-25 80+ → 90+ up after 31 days in tier
- 2026-05-25 70+ → 80+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2026-05-21 60+ → 70+ up after 26 days in tier
- 2026-04-25 50+ → 60+ up after 19 days in tier
- 2026-04-06 40+ → 50+ up after 23 days in tier
- 2026-03-14 30+ → 40+ up after 38 days in tier
- 2026-02-04 20+ → 30+ up after 22 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A -
Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A -
Sitemap Generator 3K+ installs · 3.8★ · 3 shared tags B -
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/lightweight-newscast-xml-sitemap-for-google-news" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News: 100+ active installs, 4.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-05. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/lightweight-newscast-xml-sitemap-for-google-news
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.