Publishing dates in SEO
To determine which websites are most relevant for a particular query, Google considers the following two criteria:
- Publishing date
- Date on the page
Especially when it comes to urgent requests, such as articles or blogs. Thus, the publication date has a huge impact. Since Google regularly updates its algorithm. The user wants to see information about the most recent main update.
Does publishing dates matter for SEO
In a recent interview, John Mueller stated that “changing publishing dates on web pages will not improve search rankings if no significant changes were made to the content.” So, in other words, publishing dates do matter for SEO.
How the date on the page is determined by Google
It turns out that Google uses a variety of factors to determine the date of a page. Thus, the spider bots will automatically search for all significant listings on a page. As it clearly indicates when the content was uploaded.
Additionally, the date of a page is determined by checking the structured data or schema of that particular page. However, the search engine is not limited to these methods only. It can also use other means for the examination of the pages and thus determine the publishing date.
Google indicates that it uses numerous methods to reduce the risk of error. Publishers sometimes forget to include the publication date or their structured markup might not generate correctly. So, by looking at these multiple factors, it allows the search engine to make a more accurate determination.
Do publishing dates on blog posts affect rankings
Yes, publication dates can definitely affect rankings. Google will more likely provide the most relevant and recent search results per the user’s search. Especially when it comes to trending topics, news or recent events.
In conclusion
Remember that Google always compares the latest version of the page to the recent version. So, changing the publishing date without any content change is not going to help your SEO. Thus, it is recommended to make significant changes to the page in order to improve it. This will eventually work in your favor for higher rankings.
