SchemaPublished02.05.2026

Article Schema: structured data for articles

How to add Article Schema markup to your site: required and recommended fields, JSON-LD examples, subtypes (BlogPosting, NewsArticle), and impact on Google News, Top Stories, and rich snippets.

On this page
What is Article SchemaRequired fieldsRecommended fieldsArticle subtypesExample JSON-LD markup
In brief

Article Schema is a structured data type from schema.org designed to mark up articles, news, blog posts, and editorial content. It helps search engines better understand the content and display it in rich results (Google News, Top Stories, author carousels).

What is Article Schema

Article Schema is a structured data vocabulary that allows you to unambiguously describe an article to search engine crawlers. This markup enables Google and other systems to:

  • Show the article in Top Stories.
  • Display author name, publication date, and image in the snippet.
  • Use the article in Google News and recommendation feeds.
  • Understand who the publisher and author are.
Article Schema is one of the most important markup types for news and blog sites. It directly impacts visibility in Google News and Top Stories, potentially bringing additional traffic.

Required fields

For Google to validate your markup and start using it, you must include at least the following fields:

  • @context — always https://schema.org
  • @type — Article, BlogPosting, NewsArticle, or another subtype
  • headline — article title (up to 110 characters to avoid truncation)
  • image — image URL (minimum 1200×675 pixels for Google News)
  • datePublished — publication date in ISO 8601 format (2024-01-15T08:00:00+03:00)
  • author — author (Person object with name field)
  • publisher — publisher (Organization object with a mandatory logo)

The publisher is one of the strictest requirements. It must include a logo (at least 112×112 pixels) and the organization must be real (not fictional).

Recommended fields

  • dateModified — last update date (very important for fresh news)
  • description — short article description (up to 200 characters)
  • mainEntityOfPage — canonical URL of the article
  • articleSection — category / section (e.g., 'Sports', 'Technology')
  • wordCount — number of words in the article
  • keywords — comma-separated keywords
  • genre — article genre (e.g., 'opinion', 'interview', 'investigation')
Tip: always provide dateModified if you update the article. Google News prefers fresh content, and an updated date may help with re-indexing.

Article subtypes

Schema.org defines several specialized types for different kinds of articles. Choose the most relevant one:

  • Article — basic type, suitable for regular articles and guides.
  • BlogPosting — for blog posts (identical to Article but semantically more precise).
  • NewsArticle — for news articles (priority for Google News).
  • TechArticle — for technical documentation, tutorials, reviews.
  • ScholarlyArticle — for academic articles (requires additional fields).

For news sites, it is strongly recommended to use NewsArticle. This increases the chances of appearing in Google News and Top Stories. For corporate blogs — use BlogPosting.

Example JSON-LD markup

Below is a complete example of Article Schema in JSON-LD format (Google's recommended method). Insert it within a <script> tag inside the <head> or at the end of the <body>.

JSON
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to optimize your site for SEO",
  "image": "https://example.com/article-image.jpg",
  "datePublished": "2024-01-15T08:00:00+03:00",
  "dateModified": "2024-01-20T10:30:00+03:00",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "url": "https://example.com/author/johndoe"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Example Corp",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://example.com/logo.png",
      "width": 600,
      "height": 60
    }
  },
  "description": "A complete guide to SEO for beginners",
  "mainEntityOfPage": "https://example.com/blog/seo-guide",
  "articleSection": "SEO",
  "wordCount": 2500
}

After adding the markup, test it using Google's Rich Results Test (https://search.google.com/test/rich-results) and the Schema Validator (https://validator.schema.org/).

FAQ

Common questions

You can use microdata or RDFa, but Google recommends JSON-LD as the simplest and most reliable method. Modern CMSs support JSON-LD via plugins.
Google may not display rich results or include the article in Top Stories. The logo is mandatory for publisher validation.
Yes, the author field can be an array of Person objects, but usually a single main author is sufficient.
No, it is not a ranking factor. However, it improves snippets (CTR) and grants access to Google News / Top Stories, indirectly increasing traffic and visibility.
Yes, absolutely. Set dateModified with the new date. Google News favors fresher versions of articles.
Direct contacts

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Article Schema: structured data for articles — What is it?