Article Structured Data, Done Properly
Schema.org markup for news articles, blog posts and other written content that tells search engines the headline, images, dates and authors of a page.
Samir Haddad
Where most projects go wrong
The usual mistakes:
- Markup dates that differ from the visible date
- Listing an organization as author for every article by default
- Markup copied into every page unchanged
- Omitting images that meet size guidance
What good looks like instead
- Generate markup from the same fields as the visible page
- Include every author with a name and profile URL
- Keep dates consistent with the byline
- Provide several image sizes in the image property
- Validate with the Rich Results Test
Why it matters
It helps Google understand and display articles correctly, including the right dates and author information, and it is simple to generate from a CMS.
The specs that matter
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Types | Article, NewsArticle and BlogPosting |
| Required properties for Google | none are strictly required; Google lists recommended ones |
| Recommended properties | headline, image, datePublished, dateModified and author |
| Authors | Google recommends author.name and a url for each author |
Knowing when to hand it over
Tip: Bring in help when article markup errors appear across a publishing site, or when author information needs a consistent structure.
Where this comes from
- Google Search Central — Article structured data
- Schema.org — Article
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
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Where to go next
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