Article vs BlogPosting vs TechnicalArticle: which schema type to use
By Anis Harbaoui, SEO specialist · Updated 16 October 2026
Article, BlogPosting, NewsArticle and TechnicalArticle are Schema.org types for written content; the subtypes describe the genre more precisely. Google treats them the same way for Article features, so the choice is about accuracy, not rankings. Use BlogPosting for blog posts, NewsArticle for time-sensitive reporting, TechnicalArticle for documentation and Article when nothing fits better.
- All four types are accepted by Google’s Article documentation; none is a ranking factor.
- TechnicalArticle adds
proficiencyLevelanddependencies, useful for documentation. - Every article needs headline, author, dates, image and a publisher reference.
How are the article types related?
Article is the parent type. NewsArticle and TechnicalArticle are direct subtypes; BlogPosting is a subtype of SocialMediaPosting, itself an Article. Every Article property works on all of them.
| Type | Use it for | Extra properties |
|---|---|---|
Article | Evergreen editorial pages with no better match | — |
BlogPosting | Posts in a blog, tutorials published as posts | sharedContent |
NewsArticle | Dated news coverage | dateline, printSection |
TechnicalArticle | Documentation, API references, configuration guides | proficiencyLevel, dependencies |
Does the choice affect rankings?
No. The benefit is semantic precision: a TechnicalArticle with proficiencyLevel: "Expert" and dependencies: "WordPress 6.4+" describes documentation better than a generic Article, and any system that reads the markup gets that context.
Which properties should every article include?
headline: the visible title.author: a Person with a name, aurlto the author page andsameAsprofiles.datePublishedanddateModified: ISO 8601 dates matching what readers see.image: at least one large image; Google recommends several aspect ratios.publisher: the Organization by@id.aboutandmentions: the main and secondary entities.
How to set the article type in WordPress
In NexalSEO open Schema → Schema types → Default article type and choose Article, Blog Post or News Article for posts. Override individual pages, such as documentation, in the post’s NexalSEO panel. Keep the default to the type that fits most content.
Further reading: Google Article structured data guide.
Which article type fits which page?
| Type | Use it for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Article | General editorial pages | A safe default when nothing else fits |
| BlogPosting | Blog posts and company updates | A subtype of Article |
| NewsArticle | Reporting on current events | Meant for news publishers |
| TechnicalArticle | How-tos and technical documentation | A subtype of Article |
If you are unsure, use Article or BlogPosting and keep it consistent across similar pages. Consistency helps more than a clever choice.
How should author and publisher be filled in?
Name a real person as the author, with a profile URL and links to where that person appears elsewhere, such as a LinkedIn profile, using sameAs. The publisher is your Organization, ideally with a logo. Reuse the same @id for these nodes on every page so Google sees one author and one publisher instead of a new copy each time.
For dates, datePublished is when the page first went live. Change dateModified only when the content changes in a way a reader would notice. Bumping it on every save to look fresh is easy to spot and adds nothing.
What else belongs in Article markup?
A headline that matches the visible H1, an image (Google recommends several aspect ratios when you can supply them) and a mainEntityOfPage that points at the page URL. Keep the markup honest: every value should also be visible on the page or obvious from it.
Frequently asked questions
Should a tutorial be BlogPosting or TechnicalArticle?
If it lives in the blog and reads like a post, BlogPosting. If it is maintained reference documentation, TechnicalArticle.
Can a page have two article types?
Avoid it. One main content entity per page keeps the graph unambiguous.
Is NewsArticle required for Top stories?
No. Eligibility depends on content and publisher signals, not on the type alone.
Related guides
What is schema markup?
The full structured data guide.
Why schema is not showing
Diagnose missing rich results.
Organization schema explained
The publisher node.
NexalSEO ties page markup to the same Organization and author nodes, so every article points at one consistent publisher.
See all features