Your content is already reaching the researchers, analysts, and decision-makers who rely on authoritative sources like yours through Newstex. But here's the thing: You can write the most beautiful, insightful post in the world, but if your metadata game is lacking, you won’t get the visibility you deserve. The good news? You can fix this yourself, right from your CMS. No coding required.
Why metadata matters
Metadata' might sound advanced and high-tech, but you've been using it your entire life without realizing it.
‘Metadata’ might sound advanced and high-tech, but you’ve been using it your entire life without realizing it. You may have noticed some small text at the very beginning of a book under the heading of “Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data.” Below the information about the author, the title of the book, and the ISBN, you’ll find one or more categories. For example, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire by Guenther Hoelbl has two categories:
- Egypt–History–332-30 BC
- Ptolemaic dynasty, 305-30 BC
Similarly, The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft has the category of “Horror tales, American” assigned to it.
The goal of this information is to help bookstores and libraries figure out where to place the book even if they aren’t familiar with Egyptian history or cosmic horror writers of the early 20th century. Without it, books could be misshelved, making it difficult for people to find what they’re looking for.
Metadata plays a similar role in the digital realm. The title and the tags you assign to your posts help people figure out if your content will address their needs, whether they’re looking for lawnmower reviews or a discussion of the language of ministerial submissions to the British monarch. Good metadata is particularly important if you syndicate your content with Newstex since it makes it easy for people to find your articles inside databases like LexisNexis, ProQuest, and Refinitiv. But if your metadata is messy or incomplete, your work will get buried.
In short: Good metadata = better discoverability.
And discoverability means your expertise reaches the people who need it most
The core metadata elements you can control
You don't need to be a developer to improve your metadata. Everything happens in your CMS—whether that's WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, or another platform.
Here's what you can focus on:
Title
What it is: The headline that appears across Newstex partner platforms.
What you can do: Keep it clear, descriptive, and relevant. Avoid clickbait. Use natural keywords that reflect what professionals would actually search for. Instead of "This Changes Everything," try "New EPA Standards Impact Manufacturing Compliance Deadlines."
Author/byline
What it is: The name that connects your articles together across syndication platforms.
What you can do: Use a consistent author name on every post. In WordPress, check under Users → Your Profile to confirm your display name matches your byline. If you've published as "John Smith," "J. Smith," and "John D. Smith," pick one and stick with it.
Publication name
What it is: The name of your blog, site, or media outlet.
What you can do: Make sure it matches the name Newstex has on file. You can update it under Settings → General in most CMSs. Consistency matters—"Tech Insights Blog" and "TechInsights" might look similar to you, but databases see them as different sources.
Description/summary
What it is: A short (1–2 sentence) overview of your article.
What you can do: In WordPress, fill in the Excerpt or Meta Description field. If your theme doesn't show this option, install a free SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. These tools make it easy to add descriptions without touching code. You can even use AI tools like Claude to help draft concise summaries.
Categories/tags
What it is: Labels that define the main themes of your content.
What you can do: Assign 5–10 specific tags and 1–2 clear categories per article. Be precise. If you’ve written an article about solar energy, “renewable energy” is better than “energy.” Remember, the broader the category, the more results will show up when someone tries searching for content using that tag. The whole point of metadata is to help people find what they need as efficiently as possible, so you don’t want to make them wade through page after page of results. At the same time, you don’t want to be too specific, either. A bunch of tags with only one or two records associated with them aren’t very helpful.
Avoid creating duplicates like "Tech" and "Technology.” Be consistent.
The whole point of metadata is to help people find what they need as efficiently as possible
Date/timestamp
What it is: Tells platforms when your article was published.
What you can do: Most CMSs handle this automatically. Just verify your site is set to the correct time zone under Settings → General. This ensures articles appear in the right order and context.
How Newstex enhances your metadata
Once your article is syndicated, Newstex takes your metadata and enriches it further by adding:
- Company tickers (for financial content)
- Geographic identifiers
- Industry or subject categories
This enrichment process works best when your original metadata is clean and consistent. If your tags are vague, your categories are missing, or your author names keep changing, it's harder for our systems to place your content in the right context.
Think of it like this: you provide the foundation, and we build on it. The stronger your foundation, the better your content performs.
You provide the foundation, and we build on it
Quick metadata health checklist
Before publishing your next article, run through this checklist:
- Title is clear and relevant
- Author name matches across all posts
- Publication name is correct
- Tags and categories are specific and consistent
- Description is filled in (1–2 sentences)
- Date and time zone are accurate
If you can check all these boxes, your metadata is in great shape—and your content is primed for discovery.
Need a hand?
You don't need to be a developer to make these improvements. If you're unsure how to adjust these settings, share this guide with whoever manages your website. They'll know exactly where to find these fields in your CMS.
And if you ever need extra help, our team is here to support you. Just reach out through the Publisher Portal → Support.
Final thoughts
Your content already informs and inspires professionals around the world. Good metadata ensures it gets discovered so your voice can reach the audiences who need it most. Mastering metadata will also improve your chances of getting the most out of syndication. To learn more about how syndication can benefit publishers, check out this interview with David Donoghue of Chicago IP Litigation.
Take a few minutes to optimize your metadata today. Your future readers will thank you.
About the author,
José Mauricio Duque
