Choose the right type
Use Article or BlogPosting for editorial content and NewsArticle for genuine news. Select the type from the actual page content, not from a catalogue-looking URL or the presence of an FAQ block.
Headline and description
headline should match the publication heading. description can use a real summary or a relevant meta description. Avoid taking navigation labels or the site title as the article headline.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"name": "Article example"
}Author
author is commonly a Person or Organization. If author.name already exists in JSON-LD, the analyzer should prefer it over weaker DOM heuristics. Never invent an author.
Dates
datePublished is the original publication time and dateModified is the latest meaningful update. ISO 8601 with a time zone is a good format. Structured data should agree with dates visible on the page.
Publisher and image
publisher can point with @id to a shared Organization entity. image should reference the primary editorial image, not a favicon, ad or decorative asset.
Relationships in @graph
A clean graph can contain shared Organization and WebSite nodes plus the Article/BlogPosting that represents the current page. mainEntityOfPage can reference WebPage while publisher references Organization.
Avoid product diagnostics
An Article should not be penalized for missing price, SKU or availability. FAQPage may appear as an additional entity without changing the primary content type.
Common questions
Can structured data always be improved to 100% automatically?
Only when the required data actually exists in the JSON-LD or on the page. A tool should not invent prices, authors, ratings, addresses or other values.
Should every possible Schema.org property be added?
No. A smaller set of accurate properties is better than irrelevant or fabricated values.