You write brilliant work. Masthead Pro makes sure Google — and the new wave of AI search engines — can actually read, understand, and surface it to people looking for exactly what you write about.
No coding experience required · Works with Yoast · WordPress 6.0+ · v1.1.0
Right now Google can read your words — but it doesn't fully understand what your article is. Masthead Pro adds invisible labels behind the scenes that tell Google: "this is an article, written by this person, on this date, about this topic." Google rewards that clarity.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI overview a question, it pulls answers from articles it can understand clearly. Without Masthead Pro, your articles are harder for AI to parse. With it, you're a better candidate to be cited.
Ever seen those Google results with expandable questions underneath? Or results with star ratings and images? Those are called rich results. Masthead Pro unlocks them for your articles — specifically the Q&A style cards that take up far more space in search results.
No jargon. Here's exactly what Masthead Pro does and why it matters — explained simply.
When you upload a product to Amazon, you fill in a form: product name, category, price, dimensions, photos. That structured information helps Amazon show it to the right people.
Masthead Pro does the same thing for your articles. It automatically fills in an invisible "form" that tells Google and AI engines: who wrote this, when, what it's about, what publication it belongs to, and how long it takes to read. Google loves this clarity.
Think of it like this: Your article is a beautifully wrapped gift. Masthead Pro adds a tag to the outside that says exactly what's inside — so it ends up under the right tree.
When someone shares your article on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook — have you noticed some links show a big beautiful preview image with a title and description, while others just show a plain URL?
The difference is Open Graph tags — invisible instructions that tell social platforms what image, title, and description to show. Masthead Pro writes those instructions automatically for every article you publish.
Think of it like this: It's the difference between someone holding up a plain brown envelope and holding up a beautifully designed book cover. Same content — completely different first impression.
Breadcrumbs are the little trail you sometimes see in Google results, like: The Journal → AI & Science → Artemis II. They help Google understand the structure of your site — which articles belong to which categories.
This matters because Google uses this hierarchy to understand your expertise. If you've written 10 articles under "AI & Science," the breadcrumb trail signals that you're an authority on that topic.
Think of it like this: It's like telling a librarian not just what your book is about, but which floor, which section, and which shelf it belongs on.
This is one of the most powerful features. If your article answers questions — and most good articles do — you can tell Google what those questions and answers are. Google may then show them as expandable cards directly in search results, before anyone even clicks.
This means your article takes up more space in search results, and people who click already know you have the answer they're looking for. Much higher quality traffic.
Think of it like this: Instead of a sign that says "Restaurant this way," it's a sign that says "Restaurant this way — open now, serves pasta, $25 average." People arrive knowing it's right for them.
No developer needed. If you've ever installed a WordPress plugin before, this is exactly the same process — with one small extra step at the end.
In your WordPress admin area (the dashboard you log into to write posts), go to Plugins in the left sidebar, then click Add New Plugin, then Upload Plugin at the top of the page.
Choose the masthead-pro.zip file you downloaded, click Install Now, then Activate Plugin. That's it for step one.
Masthead Pro needs to know the name of your publication, your website address, and a couple of other details so it can include them in the structured data it creates. You add these as a few lines of text to a file called wp-config.php.
Don't panic — here's exactly what to do: In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Plugin Editor. Or, if you have access to your web host's file manager (like cPanel), find the file at the root of your WordPress installation.
Find the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */ and paste the following lines directly above it:
// ── Masthead Pro Settings ───────────────────────── // The name of your publication (what shows in Google) define( 'MASTHEAD_PUBLISHER_NAME', 'The Journal' ); // Your website's main address define( 'MASTHEAD_PUBLISHER_URL', 'https://lisapedrosa.com' ); // Full web address of your logo image (optional but recommended) define( 'MASTHEAD_PUBLISHER_LOGO', 'https://lisapedrosa.com/logo.png' ); // Your Twitter/X handle, with the @ symbol define( 'MASTHEAD_TWITTER_HANDLE', '@lisapedrosa' ); // The type of content you write. Leave as 'Article' unless // you publish news (use 'NewsArticle') or casual posts ('BlogPosting') define( 'MASTHEAD_DEFAULT_ARTICLE_TYPE', 'Article' ); // Leave these as 'true' — they enable extra features define( 'MASTHEAD_ENABLE_FAQ_BLOCK', true ); define( 'MASTHEAD_ENABLE_BREADCRUMBS', true );
Open any published article on your site. Right-click anywhere on the page and choose "View Page Source". Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) and search for application/ld+json.
If you see a block of text starting with {"@context":"https://schema.org" — it's working. That's Masthead Pro's structured data, now attached to every article you publish.
Every article can have its own settings — you don't have to use them, but they're there when you need extra control. Here's what's available and what each one does.
Open any post in the WordPress editor. In the top-right corner, click Screen Options (it's a small tab). Make sure Custom Fields is ticked. A new panel will appear at the bottom of your editing screen.
In that panel, you'll see a dropdown to choose a field name and a text box to enter a value. The fields below are the ones Masthead Pro reads.
The meta description is the two-line summary that appears under your article title in Google search results. By default, Masthead Pro generates one from the beginning of your article. But you can write a better one yourself.
Field name: masthead_meta_desc · Keep it under 160 characters for best results. Think of it as your article's elevator pitch to someone deciding whether to click.
Keywords help search engines understand the topics your article covers. If you've already set WordPress tags on the article, Masthead Pro uses those automatically. This field lets you add more, or be more specific.
Field name: masthead_keywords · Format: just type them separated by commas, like: NASA, Artemis II, Moon mission, lunar exploration
Sometimes you might have a page — like a Contact page or a landing page — where you don't want Masthead Pro to add any structured data. This field lets you turn it off for just that one page without affecting anything else.
Field name: _masthead_disable_schema · Value: just type 1 to disable it on this page.
This is the feature that can most dramatically increase the space your article takes up in Google — and the quality of people who click through to read it.
In the Custom Fields panel of the article editor, add a field called masthead_faq. The value needs to be written in a specific format called JSON — don't let that scare you, it's just a structured list that looks like this:
[ { "question": "Your first question goes here?", "answer": "Your answer to that question goes here." }, { "question": "Your second question goes here?", "answer": "Your answer to that question goes here." } ]
"quote marks", and don't delete the curly braces { } or square brackets [ ]. If something breaks, copy the template above and start fresh.
Here's a live example of how the Q&A cards would appear for an Artemis II article. Click the questions to expand them — just like they behave in Google.
The built-in AI FAQ Generator reads your article and writes the FAQ pairs, meta description, and keywords for you — straight into the right custom fields. No copy-pasting, no JSON formatting. Just one button.
In your WordPress admin, go to Settings → Masthead Pro. Paste your Anthropic API key into the field and click Save.
sk-ant- and takes about 30 seconds to create.
wp-config.php file.
On the settings page, type any current Claude model ID into the model field — or leave it blank to auto-select the best one available on your account. Click Refresh model list to load the models your key can access and choose from the dropdown.
Open any post in the editor. In the right sidebar you'll see a 🤖 Masthead AI panel. Click ✨ Generate with AI, review the preview of your FAQ pairs, meta description, and keywords, then click Apply to Custom Fields to save them instantly.
masthead_faq, masthead_meta_desc, and masthead_keywords values. The preview shows exactly what will be saved before you commit.
The Settings → Masthead Pro page shows a live usage dashboard so you always know how much you've spent and when to top up your Anthropic credits.
Masthead Pro includes a behind-the-scenes score that tells you — before you publish — how well your article is set up for search and AI engines. Here's what it checks.
To see your score: publish your article, open it in your browser, then right-click anywhere and choose Inspect or Inspect Element. Click the Console tab. Look for a line that says 🗞 Masthead Pro — AEO Readiness. Click the triangle to expand it.
This only shows up when your site has WordPress debug mode turned on — it's not visible to your readers, only to you.
Structured data present
The invisible article label is attached and working. This is the foundation — everything else builds on top of it.
Breadcrumb trail set
Google can see where this article sits in your site's structure (Home → Category → Article).
FAQ cards added
You've added Q&A pairs — these are eligible to appear as expandable cards in search results. The single biggest boost you can make.
Featured image set
Articles without a featured image rarely appear in visual search carousels or image-rich previews.
Meta description written
The two-line summary shown in Google. Without one, Google picks its own — usually not the best choice.
Excerpt set
The WordPress excerpt field — a hand-written summary that AI engines often prefer over auto-generated ones.
Keywords added
Topic signals that help AI parsers understand what your article is specifically about.
Category assigned
A WordPress category tells Google what section of your site this article belongs to — building your topical authority.
Example score — before and after adding FAQ cards
Before — no FAQ added
After — FAQ cards + keywords added
No conflict — Masthead Pro automatically detects these plugins. If they're active, Masthead Pro steps back and lets them handle the basic meta description and social sharing tags, while it focuses on the structured data (schema), breadcrumbs, and FAQ cards that those plugins handle less well. You get the best of both.
Masthead Pro is being built in stages. Module 1 is live and ready. Modules 2 and 3 are already in development and will be delivered as free updates to everyone who purchases.
Module 1 · Live · v1.1.0
Everything covered in this documentation — structured data, breadcrumbs, FAQ cards, Open Graph tags, the AEO score checker, and the one-click AI FAQ Generator with usage tracking.
Available now ✓
Module 2 · Coming v1.2
An animated reading progress bar at the top of every article. Estimated read time displayed automatically. A table of contents generated from your headings. A "Read Next" panel at the end of each piece.
Free update for all buyers
Module 3 · Planned v1.3
A "Coming Soon" article grid for your blog index — showing upcoming pieces with status badges (Researching / Writing / Coming Soon). Makes your site feel like a living, active publication.
Free update for all buyers
One-time payment · All three modules included · Free updates forever
Includes the one-click AI FAQ Generator — just bring your own Anthropic API key (typically less than $0.01 per article). No monthly fees, no subscriptions: pay once, and every future update — including Modules 2 and 3 — arrives free.
Sold via Gumroad · Instant download · 30-day refund policy
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