WordPress News Site Relaunch – Article System, Editorial Workflow & Google-Safe Publishing (Experienced News Publishers Only)

Job ID: 40214992

Budget: $30 – $250 CAD

WordPress News Site Relaunch – Article System, Editorial Workflow & Google-Safe Publishing (Experienced News Publishers Only)

I’m relaunching an existing English-language news website (established domain since 1996, inactive for several years).
This is not a new blog and not an AI autoblog.

The WordPress site is already live with Newspaper theme v12 installed.
At this stage, I am hiring one experienced freelancer to build and configure the article publishing system and editorial workflow only.

This project requires real experience with news websites, Google News, and AdSense-safe publishing.
Generic proposals will be ignored.

Scope of Work – ARTICLES & CONTENT SYSTEM ONLY
1. Article Structure & Templates

You will configure article templates that follow modern (2026) news standards:

Clean, readable article layout (mobile-first)

Clear single publish date/time

Optional “Updated on” handling (no abuse)

Visible author byline

Featured image standards (correct aspect ratio)

Proper internal linking support

Structured data:

Article / NewsArticle schema

datePublished and dateModified correctly implemented

Author (Person) schema connected to posts

2. Author & Editorial System

Author profiles with:

Name

Bio

Author archive page

Ability to assign authors to articles cleanly

Editorial clarity (human-reviewed content)

AI usage:

Articles may use AI-assisted summaries, but:

No auto-publish

No spinning

Human final edits required

Clear internal workflow supporting this

3. RSS → Draft Workflow (Google-Safe)

I will be sourcing content via RSS feeds.

You must configure:

RSS feeds importing only into Draft / Pending Review

No automatic publishing

Source allowlist (approved feeds only)

Post/day limits

Duplicate title detection

Category-based limits if needed

You must explain which plugin(s) you will use and why.

4. Content Quality Guardrails

To avoid spam and policy issues:

Minimum content length enforcement (after human edit)

Ability to manually reject or rewrite drafts

No thin, empty, or placeholder articles published

Clear separation between:

Draft

Pending Review

Published

5. Categories & Taxonomy (Article-Focused)

15 main categories (I provide list)

Categories indexable

Tag usage kept minimal or noindex

Clean URLs (no dates in URL)

6. Google News–Ready Setup (Article Side Only)

News-friendly article URLs

News sitemap support (48-hour rolling window)

Proper handling of freshness and updates

No misleading timestamps

7. Monetization Readiness (Article Pages Only)

AdSense is already approved.

You will ensure:

Article layouts support:

In-article ad placement after X paragraphs

Sidebar ad support

No ads on:

Drafts

Thin content

Error pages

Ability to disable ads per article if needed

(Actual ad code placement will be provided by me.)

What This Project Is NOT
Not an AI autoblog
Not mass auto-publishing
Not spinning or scraping
Not SEO hacks or shortcuts

This site must survive Google News, AdSense, and core updates.

Your Proposal MUST Include (Required)

Proposals that do not include the following will not be considered:

Your real experience with news or publisher websites

Examples (URLs or descriptions)

Your role (builder, editor, SEO, etc.)

Your proposed article workflow

RSS → draft → review → publish

Plugins you would use

How you prevent low-quality output

How you handle Google News & AdSense safety

Dates

Authors

AI usage

Editorial control

Exact plugins/tools you plan to use

Free vs paid (licenses if needed)

Why you are the right fit for a news site (not a blog)

Generic copy-paste proposals will be rejected immediately.
Performance & Monetization Optimization

This section is not required for initial selection, but candidates with proven experience in news-site performance and AdSense optimization may be considered for this phase after Phase 1 is completed successfully.

A. Performance Optimization (News + Ads Focused)

The site must remain fast with ads enabled.

Requirements:

Optimize for Core Web Vitals on article pages:

LCP, CLS, INP within Google’s “Good” thresholds

Mobile-first performance tuning

Lazy loading for:

Images

In-article ads

Image optimization (WebP or equivalent)

Minimal plugin footprint (each plugin must be justified)

CDN-ready configuration (Cloudflare-compatible)

Deliverable:

Article pages that remain stable and readable during ad load

No layout shift caused by ads (CLS control)

B. AdSense Policy Safety & Revenue Protection

Ad placement aligned with AdSense policies (especially mobile)

No ads on:

Thin content

Error pages

Non-content system pages

Ability to:

Disable ads per article

Exclude ads from specific categories

Ad density tuned for news content (not aggressive)

C. Ad Layout Testing & Optimization

Support for:

In-article ad placement after X paragraphs

Sticky sidebar ads (desktop only)

Layout designed to:

Maximize viewability

Preserve user experience

No intrusive or deceptive placements

(Optional but preferred)

A/B testing capability for article layouts or ad positions

D. Analytics & Measurement (Monetization-Focused)

GA4 properly configured

Event tracking for:

Scroll depth

Time on article

Engagement signals

Optional:

Ad viewability tracking

Page-level RPM analysis

E. Long-Term Monetization Readiness

Structure suitable for:

Programmatic ads (future)

Direct ad placements (future)

Clean separation between editorial and ads

No shortcuts that risk AdSense or Google News standing

This is a serious relaunch of an aged domain with existing approvals.
I’m looking for one skilled professional, not an agency blast.

If you understand how modern news sites work in 2026, I want to hear from you.