Article Structured Data: Complete Implementation Guide
Article structured data helps search engines understand the content, authorship, and publication details of your written content. By adding Article schema markup to your blog posts, news stories, and sports articles, you enable Google to display enhanced search results including headline text, images, date information, and author details. This guide covers everything you need to know to implement Article structured data correctly and maximise your visibility in search results.
Why Use Article Schema?
- Enhanced appearance in Google Search results with headline, image, and date information
- Eligibility for the Top Stories carousel on mobile and desktop search results
- Improved content attribution through clear author and publisher signals
- Better content categorisation helping Google understand whether content is news, opinion, or blog content
- Increased click-through rates from search results due to richer result presentation
Required Properties
These properties are required by Google for Article structured data to be eligible for rich results.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| headline | The title of the article. Should be concise and not exceed 110 characters for optimal display in search results. |
| image | A representative image for the article. Images should be at least 696 pixels wide. Provide multiple resolutions using an array of ImageObject entries. |
| datePublished | The date and time the article was first published, in ISO 8601 format (e.g. 2025-06-15T09:00:00+00:00). |
| author | The author of the article. Use a Person or Organization type with a name property. Google recommends including a url property pointing to the author's page. |
Recommended Properties
Adding these properties improves your chances of appearing in rich results and provides more context to search engines.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| dateModified | The date and time the article was most recently updated, in ISO 8601 format. Only set this when meaningful changes have been made. |
| publisher | The organisation or person that publishes the article. Include the name and a logo using an ImageObject. |
| description | A short summary of the article content. Keep this under 200 characters for best display in search results. |
| mainEntityOfPage | The canonical URL of the article page. Indicates that this article is the primary content of the page. |
| articleSection | The section of the publication the article belongs to, such as 'Technology', 'Sport', or 'Opinion'. |
JSON-LD Example
Here is a complete Article structured data example you can use as a starting point. Or use our Article generator to create one automatically.
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How to Improve Core Web Vitals for Better SEO Performance",
"description": "A practical guide to measuring and improving Core Web Vitals scores to boost search engine rankings and user experience.",
"image": [
"https://example.com/images/cwv-guide-1200x630.jpg",
"https://example.com/images/cwv-guide-800x800.jpg"
],
"datePublished": "2025-09-10T08:00:00+00:00",
"dateModified": "2025-11-22T14:30:00+00:00",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Sarah Mitchell",
"url": "https://example.com/authors/sarah-mitchell"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Web Performance Weekly",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://example.com/logo.png",
"width": 600,
"height": 60
}
},
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://example.com/guides/core-web-vitals"
},
"articleSection": "Technology",
"wordCount": 2450
}
</script>How to Implement Article Schema
- 1Identify the article type that best matches your content: use Article for general content, NewsArticle for timely news, or BlogPosting for blog entries.
- 2Add a JSON-LD script block in the <head> section of your article page containing the @context and @type properties.
- 3Include all required properties: headline, image (at least 696px wide), datePublished in ISO 8601 format, and author with name and url.
- 4Add recommended properties including publisher with logo, dateModified, description, and mainEntityOfPage pointing to the canonical URL.
- 5Validate your markup using Google's Rich Results Test tool and fix any errors or warnings before deploying.
- 6Monitor performance in Google Search Console under the Enhancements section to track indexing and identify issues over time.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using a headline that exceeds 110 characters, causing it to be truncated in search results and reducing click-through rates.
- Setting dateModified to the current date on every page load or minor edit rather than only updating it when meaningful content changes are made.
- Providing images that are too small or in an unsupported format. Images must be at least 696 pixels wide and in JPEG, PNG, GIF, or WebP format.
- Omitting the author property or using a generic name like 'Admin'. Google uses authorship signals to assess content quality and trustworthiness.
- Adding Article markup to pages where the article is not the primary content, such as category listing pages or homepages.
Testing & Validation
Before deploying your Article structured data, validate it using these tools:
- 1Google Rich Results Test — Paste your page URL or code snippet to check if your structured data is eligible for rich results.
- 2Schema Markup Validator — Validates your JSON-LD syntax against the schema.org specification.
- 3Google Search Console — After deployment, monitor the Enhancements report for any errors or warnings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Article, NewsArticle, and BlogPosting?
Article is the generic type suitable for most written content. NewsArticle is specifically for timely news content and can enable additional features in Google News. BlogPosting is for blog entries. Google treats them similarly for rich results, but using the most specific type helps search engines better understand your content.
Do I need Article structured data for Google Discover?
While Article structured data is not strictly required for Google Discover eligibility, it significantly helps Google understand your content and can improve how your articles appear in the Discover feed, including proper headline and image display.
Can I use multiple authors in Article structured data?
Yes, you can specify multiple authors by using an array for the author property. Each author should be a separate Person object with their own name and url properties.
Should I add Article structured data to every page on my site?
No. Only add Article markup to pages where an article is the primary content. Do not add it to category pages, tag archives, author index pages, or your homepage unless it features a single article as its main content.
How long does it take for Article rich results to appear?
After implementing valid Article structured data, it typically takes a few days to a few weeks for Google to recrawl your pages and display rich results. You can request indexing via Google Search Console to speed up the process.
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