In this day and age things move fast. Opinions change, technology develops, and the media moves on to the next big thing. Looking back at 2011, we have seen the introduction of the iPad 2, witnessed a royal wedding and followed the ongoing problems of Charlie Sheen and his battles with the media. However, will these subjects be as popular in 2012, 2013 or 2014 (probably not) and how does this fit into a blog post about SEO?! Simple…Google loves dates and will stop at nothing put a date to your content!
If you work in SEO you should have already noticed that Google displays dates in its SERP’s. In most cases this has enhanced the users searching experience by making it easier to locate the latest information on evolving subjects (e.g. technology, music & fashion). For these types of subjects it is fair to say that the latest content should quite rightly be rewarded with better search engine rankings and higher click through rates. After all, who wants to read laptop reviews from 2005?
However, what if your content is historical or is not going to likely to change at all? Is a 2012 blog post on daily calorie intake more useful than something written in 2005? Have we seen major breakthroughs in dieting? I think not. The point is, providing Google with a date may not always be in the best interest of your websites long term prosperity. Including a date in the header, comments, content or URL is sufficient enough for Google to time stamp your page and consider the information less useful over time.
Allow your content to live forever
- If you content is “evergreen” (not likely to change), hide all date references from Google!
- Utilize WordPress “date exclusion” plugins to keep your blog looking fresh.
- Create “living URLs” for recurring events and update the content as needed. Preserve all existing link equity and do not change the URL’s! You’ll have a head start on the competition. For example, example.com/world-cup-results can be used for the next world cup.
- Block date archives from being indexed.
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