I'm feeling lost about Google's image ratio requirements for Structured Data!

• Some of our recipe thumbnails appear properly in the search results pages but some do not. We have been told conflicting info on how to fix the problem. One consultant said that the original images need to be 1200 pixels wide! Can you steer us to docs that tell us what Google requires?

Answer:

You're not the only one that's been dealing with some weird stuff on their images showing or not showing. For instance, we've noticed Google using multiple aspect ratios for organic result thumbnails – desktop vs. mobile are different.

In Google's Structured data guidelines for recipes, they suggest three image ratios – 1x1, 4x3 and 16x9 to be included in the code. We also know from experience that they prefer larger pixels sizes over smaller. They're recommending...

For best results, provide multiple high-resolution images (minimum of 50K pixels when multiplying width and height) with the following aspect ratios: 16x9, 4x3, and 1x1

We'd suggest the minimum image size you include in your code be the same one you're using on your page. For example, in your recipe post, what size container is used for the main image widths? If it's 600px wide, then ideally provide them a 600px x 600px, 600px x 338px and 600px x 450px - that is what they are asking for.

In addition, you might consider how the image looks when cropped. We're looking at one situation where a post lost their thumbnail and considering that it might have been due to how the image looked when cropped to alternate sizes - as in the subject matter not centered well enough. It's just a thought we're testing out.

The really great news is here is that we've just published the 2019 Structured Data Reference Guide and it, of course, includes a section dedicated to Recipe Schema. Go look at it and reach back out to us within