Structured data

1. Connect a coherent set of entities

Think of structured data as a connected description of the page. An organization publishes the website; a person authors an article; the article has a headline, publication date, image, and canonical page. Consistent identifiers help keep those relationships understandable.

Review the Organization, WebSite, WebPage, Article or NewsArticle, author, and media entities supported by your installed release. Avoid duplicate competing graphs emitted by a theme and multiple plugins.

2. Match visible editorial information

The headline, author, publication date, modification date, and images in structured data should correspond to the article that readers can see. Use truthful public author profile URLs and publisher identity. Never invent an author credential, award, review rating, or publication time.

Use NewsArticle for appropriate reporting rather than applying it to all pages. Keep ordinary site pages and article content distinct. Structured data does not replace an accessible byline, clear dates, or accurate reporting.

3. Understand the output

This illustrative JSON-LD is not a PublishRank API or a complete production template. It demonstrates how article identity and authorship fit together. Replace every example value with real, visible information, and avoid manually adding it if the plugin already emits the same entity.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "NewsArticle",
  "headline": "The article headline visible on the page",
  "url": "https://example.com/news/story/",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "The actual byline",
    "url": "https://example.com/authors/reporter/"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Your actual publication name"
  }
}

Review applicable article guidance for dates and image properties before using a real template. Absolute public URLs and consistently formatted timestamps reduce ambiguity.

4. Validate beyond syntax

1. Inspect the JSON-LD in a representative page’s source.
2. Check that entity references resolve to the intended publisher, author, and article.
3. Run the Rich Results Test to identify supported search features and warnings.
4. Check general schema vocabulary with the Schema Markup Validator.
5. Compare the output to visible page content after theme or plugin changes.

A technically valid graph does not guarantee a rich result. Search engines determine whether and how enhanced displays appear.

5. Resolve contradictions at the source

If an author, date, or publisher is wrong, fix the underlying editorial record or the generating component. Do not add a second graph to mask an incorrect first one. Inspect caches and theme output when old values persist.

For more operational checks, see operations and troubleshooting.

Reference: Google Article structured data · Schema Markup Validator