Starting a news website involves more than installing a theme on a domain and beginning to enter news. Following the 2022 amendment, internet news websites are considered periodicals under the Press Law; obligations concerning publication details, the responsible editor, publication dates, and content retention directly affect the website’s software structure. For a publisher or entrepreneur wanting to create a news website, the right starting point is planning fields meeting these obligations, an editor-approved publishing workflow, and infrastructure that remains operational during sudden traffic increases.
This guide explains the legal framework, the technical implications of Press Advertisement Institution requirements, publishing workflow, speed, Google News eligibility, and the items determining prices. Onur Freelance is based in Maltepe; it works with Istanbul publishers in person or online and with local publishers in other provinces remotely.
Video transcript
What does starting a news website require? Installing a theme and entering news is not enough; internet news websites are considered periodicals under the Press Law, and publication details and date rules affect the website. The Law’s requirements are reflected in the software: publication details accessible from the homepage, publication and update dates that do not change with every visit, content retained for two years, and a correction block linked to the article. The publication type is determined first, and the domain and hosting are opened in the publisher’s name. The responsible editor submits the declaration to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office; roles, publication details, date fields, and the archive are then configured and tested. The reporter submits the article for review, and the editor corrects and publishes it; this separation is established using WordPress’s default roles. Every edit is recorded, and reader comments also require approval. The number of categories, reporters and editors, the official announcement objective, advertising and video sections, and migration of the old archive determine the scope. The proposal is based on a written scope. Publication detail fields, Google News eligibility, and scope items are on the page. You can write through WhatsApp for a free preliminary review. Onur Freelance dot com.
Let us clarify the news website’s scope in the initial meeting
When you send the publication’s region, planned number of categories, how many people will enter news, and the existing website address if any in a short message, a free preliminary review is conducted. The proposal is shared the same day.
How is a news website established? The order of legal and technical steps
A news website comes into being through a publishing decision, legal notification, and a website configured consistently with that notification; technical setup is not considered separately from legal obligations. The steps generally proceed in this order:
- Publishing decision: Whether the website will be a local news website, a national publication, or an industry publication, and which editorial desks will be opened, are determined.
- Domain and hosting: Both are opened in the publisher’s name; the hosting company’s name and address are recorded from the outset because they will appear in the publication details.
- Responsible editor and declaration: The publication owner appoints the responsible editor and submits the periodical declaration to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- Setup: Categories, user roles, publication details page, publication and update date fields, archive, and backups are configured.
- Testing and launch: Sample articles are entered and updated to test date records and editorial approval; Search Console, sitemaps, and dashboard training are completed.
The declaration, selection of the responsible editor, and content decisions belong to the publisher; Onur Freelance builds the technical side ensuring these decisions are properly reflected on the website. If official announcements are an objective, Press Advertisement Institution requirements are discussed at the project outset because measurement and tag requirements affect setup.
What does Press Law No. 5187 require of an internet news website?
Press Law No. 5187 explicitly covers internet news websites following the amendment through Law No. 7418 dated October 13, 2022. Subparagraph m of Article 2 defines an internet news website as a periodical established and operated to provide written, visual, or audio news or commentary content at specified intervals online. The provisions that someone starting a news website must meet on the software side are as follows:
| Provision | What the Law requires | Implementation on the website |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 4 (publication details) | Business address, trade name, email, telephone, electronic notification address, hosting provider’s name and address; directly accessible from the homepage under a contact heading | A ‘Publication details / Contact’ page linked from the main menu and footer |
| Art. 4 (dates) | Initial publication and update dates above the content in a form that does not change with each visit | Fixed date and time below the headline, a separate ‘updated’ line |
| Art. 10 | Content retained for two years with its accuracy and integrity preserved | An archive preserving deleted article records, revision history, regular backups |
| Art. 14 | Correction and reply published within one day at the latest on the relevant publication’s page, with a URL link | A correction block connected to the article |
Article 5 requires the responsible editor to meet conditions including being at least eighteen, having a residence in Turkey and living there continuously, and having completed at least secondary education. Article 10 requires that if judicial authorities provide written notification that a publication is subject to investigation or prosecution, that record must be retained until proceedings conclude. Under Article 14, if the content has been removed, the correction and reply are published for one week, including the first twenty-four hours on the homepage.
Under the paragraphs added to Article 8, if declaration rules are not followed, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office grants two weeks; if the deficiency is not corrected, it applies to court for a finding that internet news website status has not been acquired. If the application is accepted, rights relating to official announcements and advertising and employees’ press cards are lost. This section provides general information and is not a legal opinion. A press law specialist should be consulted about declarations and responsible editor decisions.
How do Press Advertisement Institution official announcement requirements affect the website?
An internet news website wishing to publish official announcements and advertisements must first acquire periodical status, then meet the Press Advertisement Institution’s staffing, content, traffic, and technical requirements. According to the 2025 guide on the Institution’s frequently asked questions page, requirements depend on the category determined by the province where management is located; Istanbul is in category 1, and Ankara and İzmir are in category 2. In the guide’s tables, minimum staff numbers range from 4 editorial workers in category 5 to 32 in the general category; minimum daily article counts range from 15 to 120.
The waiting period beginning with inspection is 24 months; websites meeting double the staffing, content, and traffic requirements can apply for a 6-month period. For websites publishing only official advertisements, the guide requires one responsible editor, at least 30 pieces of content per month, and a 30-day waiting period. The requirements affecting setup include:
- BİK Analitik: Traffic is measured using the Institution’s measurement tool; its tracking code is added to all pages and appears no more than once on each page.
- Technical communiqué: Specific meta tags on news pages, consistently structured publication detail fields, and special markup for announcements are required; editor information is not entered in the publication source or dateline tag.
- Official announcements section: After eligibility is acquired, announcements are published and archived according to the communiqué, and the Institution’s digital board is added to the homepage.
Communiqué details are added to the scope according to current texts at the project outset; meeting staffing, content, and traffic requirements is the publication’s own responsibility. This information is taken from the Institution’s guide, provides general information, and current requirements should be confirmed with the Press Advertisement Institution.
How are categories, tags, and permanent URLs planned?
When planning a news website, the first structural decision is separating categories and tags: categories represent editorial desks, while tags represent people, institutions, and events mentioned in articles; confusing them makes the website difficult for both readers and search engines to understand. Categories are kept limited and permanent: main desks such as current affairs, economy, and sports, with district or neighborhood sections for local publications. Tags are selected from an editor-approved list; unrestricted creation produces hundreds of thin pages containing a single article.
The permanent URL structure is finalized before launch because changing address formats after thousands of articles creates a redirection burden. Even if a headline is corrected later, the article address does not change. Date, category, and author archives help readers reach older articles. An article removed from publication is not silently deleted either; even if the page is closed, its record is preserved with the two-year retention obligation in mind.
How are multi-author publishing and editorial approval established?
On a multi-author website, reporters write articles and editors review and publish them; this separation can be established with WordPress’s default roles without a plugin. The WordPress.org roles and capabilities documentation defines the roles as follows:
| Role | Default capability | Newsroom equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Publishes and manages posts, including those of other users, and moderates comments | Responsible editor, news director, online editor |
| Author | Publishes and manages their own posts | Columnist |
| Contributor | Writes their own posts but cannot publish them; has no file upload permission | Reporter, intern, regional correspondent |
Reporters send articles using ‘Submit for review’, and editors correct them, add images, and publish. Reporters working with photographs are separately granted file upload permission, or the editor adds the image. Every edit is saved in revision history; who changed an article and when can be seen afterward.
The role plan prepared for starting a news website is developed alongside the user list during the WordPress website development process. Departing employees’ accounts are disabled rather than deleted so that article bylines are preserved; administrator accounts use two-factor authentication.
Balancing heavy traffic, speed, and advertising spaces
A news website’s speed is measured by whether it can handle readers arriving simultaneously during breaking news; infrastructure is configured by considering caching, a content delivery network, and server resources together.
Caching, CDN, and server selection
Page caching serves articles as ready-made HTML and prevents database access on every visit; because the homepage changes frequently, the cache is selectively cleared when new articles are published. A content delivery network serves images from locations close to readers, and images are generated in different sizes on upload. Whether shared hosting is sufficient is assessed according to expected traffic; the impact of this decision is explained in the web hosting selection guide.
Advertising spaces and page experience
Advertising is one of the main revenue sources for news websites, but it loses readers when it makes pages unreadable. Google News policies require advertisements and paid promotional materials not to exceed the page’s content, and sponsored content to be clearly identified. Practices maintaining this balance include:
- Advertising space dimensions are reserved in advance; text does not shift when an advertisement loads late.
- The headline and article introduction are visible on the first screen.
- Screen-covering popups and automatic videos with sound are not used.
- Sponsored articles are published in a separate template with a ‘sponsored content’ label.
On an existing website, the source of slow performance is identified through measurement; plugin, advertising code, and server problems are addressed through the speed optimization and performance improvement service.
Let us plan the publishing workflow and infrastructure together
When you share the number of reporters and editors, planned categories, and official announcement objective, the role plan, server requirements, and project scope are documented. The news website proposal is based on this written scope.
How is a website prepared for Google News and Discover eligibility?
No separate admission application is made for Google News; according to the News Publisher Help Center, publishers are considered automatically and must produce high-quality content and comply with content policies. The same source states that eligible content does not guarantee top rankings and that Google News does not accept payment for rankings. Onur Freelance is not Google’s official support channel and does not guarantee entry into Google News or appearance in Discover; the work performed when starting a news website is to configure the site technically according to Google’s published requirements.
Google News policies require clear dates and publication details, information about the author, publication and publisher, information about the company behind them, and contact details under transparency; this list largely overlaps with the Press Law’s publication detail and date rules. For Discover, Google Search Central automatically considers indexed content complying with policies eligible, but states that eligibility does not guarantee appearance. The same document recommends images at least 1200 pixels wide, the max-image-preview:large setting, and avoiding clickbait headlines.
NewsArticle structured data
Google’s article structured data documentation supports Article, NewsArticle, and BlogPosting types; there are no required properties, and adding those applicable to the content is recommended. News pages use headline, author, datePublished, dateModified, and image properties; dates are written in ISO 8601 format with a time zone, and 16×9, 4×3, and 1×1 image ratios are recommended. These dates are generated from the same source as the publication and update dates shown to readers, preventing inconsistencies between legal date information and information sent to Google. Google does not guarantee that structured-data-based features will appear; crawling and markup problems can be monitored through technical SEO services.
Comment moderation and the distinction of responsibilities under Law No. 5651
Reader comments are part of the website’s publication; therefore, comments are not published unchecked, and an approval-based moderation system is established. Article 2 of Law No. 5651 defines a content provider as a person producing, modifying, and providing any information or data offered online, and a hosting provider as a person providing or operating systems hosting services and content. Under Article 4, a content provider is responsible for all content it makes available; it is not responsible for linked content belonging to others unless it is clear that it endorses that content and intends readers to access it.
Article 5 does not impose an obligation on hosting providers to check hosted content, but requires them to remove unlawful content notified through the procedure in the Law. Some provisions have been annulled by Constitutional Court decisions, and others were amended in 2026; the current text should be followed through the Legislation Information System. This section also provides general information and does not replace a legal opinion.
In a news website project, WordPress comment settings are configured so first comments require approval, comments containing certain words are held, and a spam filter is enabled; comment moderation permission belongs to Editor and Administrator roles by default. If the comment form collects personal data, a KVKK (Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Law) privacy notice is displayed. A separate address reaching the responsible editor for correction and reply requests appears in the publication details.
What determines news website prices?
There is no fixed list price for a news website; the price is determined through a clear proposal after the number of categories, number of authors, and integrations have been reviewed. As a single reference, Onur Freelance’s corporate web design package starts at 15,000 TL; a news website has a different scope because of its multi-author workflow and archive requirements. The items determining news website prices are:
- Number of categories and subsections; district or neighborhood pages on a local news website
- Number of reporters, editors, and authors, and details of the approval workflow
- BİK Analitik, communiqué tags, and announcement archive if official announcements are an objective
- Advertising spaces and advertising network integration; newsletter, gallery, video, and live broadcasting sections
- Migration of the article archive from the old website and redirects for old addresses
Server, content delivery network, and advertising network fees are not included in the website price and are paid to the relevant provider. Optional maintenance costing 500 – 2,000 TL per month is offered for post-launch plugin updates, backups, and security scans; its scope appears on the annual WordPress maintenance and updates page. Reading incoming proposals item by item is explained in the website price proposal guide; the delivery schedule is determined together once the scope is clear.
Mistakes when starting a news website and the correct approach
A common practice is installing a ready-made news theme and starting publication by replacing demo content with a few articles. With this method, publication details often remain incomplete, dates are shown only through relative expressions such as ‘3 hours ago’, and deleted article records are not retained. Because relative expressions change on every visit, they may not alone satisfy the Law’s requirement for dates that do not change with each access; absolute dates and times must be displayed permanently above the article.
Other frequent mistakes include creating a new tag for every article, a theme slowed by dozens of plugins, advertisements overwhelming the text, the whole team sharing one administrator account, and backups stored on the same server as the website. The correct approach establishes legal fields, roles, and archives first, then builds the design on this framework. This initial planning for a news website prevents corrections that become difficult to reverse as the publication grows.
The working method is clear: a written scope, domain and server opened in the publisher’s name, and dashboard training for the team; no promises are made about traffic, revenue, or rankings. The needs of other sectors are explained on the industry-specific website design page.
Let us establish the publication’s technical foundation together
Questions from publishers seeking information are answered, the existing website or planned structure is reviewed for those who are undecided, and a proposal is sent the same day to publishers ready to start. Publication details, the role plan, and archive structure are discussed in the first meeting.
Annual hosting fees for the publication website and questions to ask in a proposal appear on the hosting prices page.
Frequently asked questions
Is permission required to start a news website?
Under Article 7 of the Press Law, submitting a declaration to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office where management is located is sufficient to publish a periodical; internet news websites have also been considered periodicals since the 2022 amendment. This answer provides general information and is not a legal opinion; a press law specialist should be consulted about the declaration.
How much does a news website cost?
There is no fixed list price for a news website; a clear proposal is provided after the number of categories, number of authors, and integrations have been reviewed. Optional monthly maintenance ranges from 500 – 2,000 TL.
What information should a news website's publication details contain?
Article 4 of the Press Law requires internet news websites to provide the business address, trade name, email address, telephone, electronic notification address, and hosting provider’s name and address under a contact heading directly accessible from the homepage. Periodicals also show the management location, names of the owner, representative if any, and responsible editor, and the publication type.
How does a news website enter Google News?
According to Google’s News Publisher Help Center, publishers are considered automatically; they must produce high-quality content and comply with Google News content policies. Eligible content does not guarantee top rankings, and Onur Freelance does not guarantee entry into Google News.
Can a local news website publish official announcements?
According to the Press Advertisement Institution’s guide, periodical status must first be acquired, followed by meeting staffing, content, traffic, and technical requirements according to the province’s category. The waiting period is 24 months; websites meeting double the requirements can apply for a 6-month period, and current requirements should be confirmed with the Institution.
How long must articles published on a news website be retained?
Under Article 10 of the Press Law, content published on an internet news website is retained for two years with its accuracy and integrity preserved, for delivery to a requesting Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. If an investigation or prosecution has been notified in writing, the relevant record is retained until proceedings conclude.
How do multiple reporters work on the same news website?
Using WordPress’s default roles, reporters write articles as Contributors and submit them for review, while the person in the Editor role corrects and publishes them. Columnists can receive the Author role, which allows them to publish their own articles.
How is a news website established, and how long does it take?
The publication type and categories are determined first, and while the declaration process proceeds, the website is configured with publication details, roles, date fields, archives, and caching. Because delivery time depends on category count, archive migration, and integrations, it is determined together once the scope is clear.
Call us
Call us for detailed information.
Let us call you!
Share your number and let us call you!
Our other services
- › Corporate web design
- › E-commerce website development
- › WordPress website development
- › Google Ads management
- › SEO optimization
