Dates

Dates may not be a direct ranking factor for SEO, but dates can affect the following metrics:

• Content Freshness: For certain niches, Google prefers to show the latest content in response to search queries. In such cases, the date becomes a major determining factor of SERP rankings

More information on content freshness, please see our dedicated module on the subject.

• Content Relevance: This is a measure of how relevant the content has remained over time, through updates and/or modifications.

• Trust: Content that clearly mentions dates of publication and/or dates of last updates show transparency, which in turn helps build trust.

As part of its process of determining which pages are the best match for a particular search query, Google will consider the following dates:

• Date of publishing.

• Date the content was last updated.

• Dates mentioned in the structured markup.

• In some cases, Google may even consider the date in the URL in case no other relevant data about the content’s dating is available.

However, this doesn’t mean that merely changing the date on a piece of content will lead Google to change its perception of its relevance. Along with the date, the content too must have undergone significant changes to reflect the developments in the theme/topic being reported on.

It also needs to be noted that Google News requires pages to have the correct date to rank them in Search, Top Stories and News App.

3.6.2 Challenges Publishers Face With Dates

When it comes to dates, there exists a lot of confusion among publishers. We’ve explored some of these issues below to shine some clarity on the subject: