How to Create JSON-LD — Open Graph Generator Blog

Creating JSON-LD structured data is straightforward once you understand the pattern. This tutorial walks you through the entire process — from identifying the right schema type to validating your output with Google’s tools.

Step 1: Identify Your Content Type

Before writing any code, determine what kind of content your page represents:

If Your Page Is…	Use This Schema Type
A blog post or article	`Article` or `BlogPosting`
A product page	`Product`
An FAQ section	`FAQPage`
A business listing	`LocalBusiness`
A person/author profile	`Person`
A recipe	`Recipe`
An event	`Event`
Your homepage	`WebSite` + `Organization`

Step 2: Start With the Boilerplate

Every JSON-LD block follows this structure:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "YourType",
  "property1": "value1",
  "property2": "value2"
}
</script>

The @context is always https://schema.org. The @type is the Schema.org type you identified in Step 1.

Step 3: Add Required Properties

Check Google’s structured data documentation for the required properties of your chosen type.

For an Article, the required properties are:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Create JSON-LD",
  "image": "https://example.com/article-image.png",
  "datePublished": "2026-06-12",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Sanjay Samanta"
  }
}

Step 4: Add Recommended Properties

Recommended properties improve your chances of getting rich results:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "How to Create JSON-LD",
  "image": "https://example.com/article-image.png",
  "datePublished": "2026-06-12",
  "dateModified": "2026-06-12",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Sanjay Samanta",
    "url": "https://opengraphgenerator.com/authors/sanjay-samanta"
  },
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Open Graph Generator",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://opengraphgenerator.com/logo.png"
    }
  },
  "description": "A step-by-step tutorial for creating JSON-LD structured data.",
  "mainEntityOfPage": "https://opengraphgenerator.com/blog/how-to-create-json-ld"
}

Step 5: Place the Script Tag

Add the <script type="application/ld+json"> block to your page. Google supports JSON-LD in either the <head> or <body>, but best practice is to place it in the <head> for consistency.

See Where to Put JSON-LD in HTML for detailed placement guidance.

Step 6: Validate

Before deploying, validate your JSON-LD with these tools:

Google Rich Results Test — Paste your URL or code snippet to see if Google can parse it and which rich results it qualifies for.
Schema Markup Validator — Checks syntax against the full Schema.org vocabulary.
JSON syntax validator — Run your JSON through any JSON linter to catch syntax errors (missing commas, unclosed brackets).

For a complete validation workflow, see How to Validate JSON-LD.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Invalid JSON syntax — Missing commas, extra trailing commas, and unescaped quotes are the most common errors.
Wrong @type — Using "WebPage" instead of "Article" for blog posts won’t qualify for article rich results.
Missing required properties — Google silently ignores schemas that lack required fields.
Using relative URLs — Always use full, absolute HTTPS URLs for image, url, and mainEntityOfPage.

What Is JSON-LD? — Background and introduction.
JSON-LD Examples: Complete Guide — Ready-to-use code snippets.
Where to Put JSON-LD in HTML — Placement best practices.
Application/LD+JSON Explained — Understanding the MIME type.

Step 1: Identify Your Content Type

Step 2: Start With the Boilerplate

Step 3: Add Required Properties

Step 4: Add Recommended Properties

Step 5: Place the Script Tag

Step 6: Validate

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Related Resources

Related Articles

Application/LD+JSON Explained

How to Validate JSON-LD

JSON-LD Examples: Complete Guide

Accessibility Tools