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Removing dates from blog posts

by Sushiman1111
33 replies
Just curious what the opinions are about this:

I don't update my blog too much anymore, maybe once every couple of months at this point. SEO considerations aside, I'm thinking that seeing an old date on a blog post will probably make my readers discount the content more than if the date simply wasn't there. So I removed all of the dates and am waiting to see what will happen.

Has anyone else tried this, and if so, what was the result?

Thanks!
#blog #dates #posts #removing
  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    I have tried both ways and I can say it doesn't effect the clicks to much.
    You do know you have no link in your signature although you write as if there is a link there somewhere.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Sushiman,

      I have thought about this as well, but haven't tested and tracked the results or differences in each method.

      One thing to say in favor of leaving dates on posts - if you're fairly consistent your readers may like the fact that your blog has been around for a long time - it speaks to your discipline and not being a "fly by night."

      I'm not sure if the search engines notice the dates but it might be to your advantage to have posted quality content over a long period of time.

      Also, I'm wondering what happens to your archive pages if there is no date on the post? On my blog, for instance, my posts are archived into months and years. If you remove the dates, will the articles still be archived? Not sure.

      I guess I have more questions than answers for you. I hope others that have tested will speak up.

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        Sushiman,

        I have thought about this as well, but haven't tested and tracked the results or differences in each method.

        One thing to say in favor of leaving dates on posts - if you're fairly consistent your readers may like the fact that your blog has been around for a long time - it speaks to your discipline and not being a "fly by night."
        Yeah, I've got over 50 posts on the blog, which has been up since 2009. Used to be pretty consistent - a post a month or more - but recently I've more or less said what I can say about my niche, so I don't post as much.

        I'm not sure if the search engines notice the dates but it might be to your advantage to have posted quality content over a long period of time.
        I'm no SEO expert, but the pages are indexed already, so I don't think it'll be a problem. One other thought was to keep the dates, but have them reflect the "last updated content", so if you go back and update an old post, it'll show the new date. From looking around it seems like the search engines go by the latest update no matter what, so if you update your old content it could become "new" for SEO purposes. But again, I don't know. Maybe someone who does can chime in.

        Also, I'm wondering what happens to your archive pages if there is no date on the post? On my blog, for instance, my posts are archived into months and years. If you remove the dates, will the articles still be archived? Not sure.
        Seems like they are, at least according to the post calendar widget. I guess I should probably get rid of that as well if I really want to be thorough, hahaha.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
      Originally Posted by hustlinsmoke View Post

      I have tried both ways and I can say it doesn't effect the clicks to much.
      Okay, thanks.

      You do know you have no link in your signature although you write as if there is a link there somewhere.
      Eh? The two "here"s in my sig are the links. Do they not work for you?
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    • Profile picture of the author hometutor
      Originally Posted by hustlinsmoke View Post

      I have tried both ways and I can say it doesn't effect the clicks to much.
      You do know you have no link in your signature although you write as if there is a link there somewhere.
      Here is hyperlinked. Dude changed that hyperlink the whole sig f

      Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author misterkailo
    I remove the dates so nobody knows it's an old post
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    I remove the dates from pages but not from blog posts :-)

    Danny
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  • Profile picture of the author Fazal Mayar
    I think you remove dates from pages easily but not from blog posts.
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
    I absolutely HATE it when people don't have a date. I'd much rather see a date because then I know if the blogger is even active on his or her site. AND it's a courtesy for me to know if it's old news.

    I get pissed when there's no date and I don't go back.

    If you're a good blogger, then you're blogging regularly and you care about your readers enough to let them know when a blog post is 5 years old and recommending some out of date tactic.

    While we're on the topic, I also hate whatever Twitter thing is out there Tweeting old blog posts for people. I sit there looking at my feed and see something someone Tweets, thinking it's their new blog post - but no, it's some old archived crap.

    Irritating.

    I sound grouchy. LOL! I'm really not (right now), just sharing my $0.02.
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    • Profile picture of the author DeborahDera
      I was going to say it,but Tiffany said it first. The date on the post shows me that you're a current blogger giving me CURRENT information. If there is no date, I don't know how old and outdated your info is.

      Tiffany - I just unfollowed someone on Twitter today. I keep getting links to posts written back in 2010. Evergreen articles would be ok (sometimes) but the links to outdated fat-loss reviews are getting on my nerves very quickly.

      Originally Posted by TiffanyLambert View Post

      I absolutely HATE it when people don't have a date. I'd much rather see a date because then I know if the blogger is even active on his or her site. AND it's a courtesy for me to know if it's old news.

      I get pissed when there's no date and I don't go back.

      If you're a good blogger, then you're blogging regularly and you care about your readers enough to let them know when a blog post is 5 years old and recommending some out of date tactic.

      While we're on the topic, I also hate whatever Twitter thing is out there Tweeting old blog posts for people. I sit there looking at my feed and see something someone Tweets, thinking it's their new blog post - but no, it's some old archived crap.

      Irritating.

      I sound grouchy. LOL! I'm really not (right now), just sharing my $0.02.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
    No problem, but my blog doesn't deal with "news" much and isn't in the IM niche. Just info about how to get rid of tendon pain, and that doesn't change much from year to year.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tbyrd626
      I personally get very annoyed when there is no date. I feel like it is very deliberate and misleading when a blogger does it. It's like they are trying to trick me into thinking they update their blog regularly when in reality the content could be months, or even years old. I never buy anything from undated blogs. It's just plain inconsiderate and sneaky.
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  • Profile picture of the author FerdinandF
    I see a few members say they don't like it when there are no dates on posts. I have also found this amongst other people I work with. People seem to feel that if there is no date, they don't know how relevant the posts are. So for me it's really easy. If my readers want dates, they get dates.
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  • Profile picture of the author Laura Raisanen
    I personally really don't like it if there is no date. I like to know that the blog is active without having to second guess and it's also nice to know the content is still relevant.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberSEO
    Do you use Google sitemap plugin? If you do then dates are still there (in your sitemap.xml)
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      For me, whether the presence or absence of a date matters depends on the nature of the content.

      A recipe for barbecue sauce doesn't require a date. It either tastes good or it doesn't.

      A Wordpress tutorial, for example, demands a date simply because Wordpress is evolving and updating so quickly. I don't want to go through a whole process, and find out something was deprecated two versions, and two years, earlier.

      For something like tendon pain, I'd probably skip the dates on posts/pages. If the age of the content did matter, I'd find a way to work the date into the post/page itself.

      That's just me, though...
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  • Profile picture of the author C Rebecca
    I typically leave dates on content because I, personally, appreciate seeing a date. If it’s an industry leader or authority, I could not care any less about when it was published – it just helps to baseline when it was written. Wouldn't you read old posts from Google anyway?
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  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    "I get pissed when there's no date and I don't go back. "

    This is a massive over reaction. Most people are not like this.


    So, ignoring extreme reactions, there is a debate going on right now about gaming Google's freshness algo.

    I think you can.

    So my new site has the php post date stamp replaced with php to print todays date, with "Last Updated" next to it.

    It's the same trick nearly every news site in the world uses.
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  • Profile picture of the author dgiles63
    Yes, I believe that an old date can turn people off.

    If I have a website that I won't be building new content for, I used to use a wordpress plugin, old post promoter--but it isn't being maintained so I'm looking for a replacement.
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    • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
      I absolutely HATE it when people don't have a date.
      I agree with Tiffany, perhaps for a different reason. If I am hunting for information and find something good but that has no date, I hate it because I don't know whether the content is up to date and therefore whether I can rely on it.

      I generally won't call other people's attention to an undated blog post.

      Marcia Yudkin
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve B
        Good discussion thread and obviously there are serious and intelligent marketing opinions on both sides of the fence. Maybe, as with many issues in Internet marketing, you test, track and go with whatever gives you the best results.

        I would like to comment on Marcia's statement.

        Originally Posted by marciayudkin View Post

        I hate it because I don't know whether the content is up to date and therefore whether I can rely on it. Marcia Yudkin
        In WordPress and many other content platforms, the date associated with a blog post can be changed to whatever the poster wants it to be. So really, you (the reader) have no clue how up-to-date the information might be.

        More importantly, you are saying that you can only rely on information that is up-to-date. It's my feeling that up-to-date information can be just as unreliable and faulty as out-of-date information.

        Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author agmccall
      Originally Posted by TiffanyLambert View Post

      I absolutely HATE it when people don't have a date. I'd much rather see a date because then I know if the blogger is even active on his or her site. AND it's a courtesy for me to know if it's old news.

      I get pissed when there's no date and I don't go back.

      If you're a good blogger, then you're blogging regularly and you care about your readers enough to let them know when a blog post is 5 years old and recommending some out of date tactic.

      While we're on the topic, I also hate whatever Twitter thing is out there Tweeting old blog posts for people. I sit there looking at my feed and see something someone Tweets, thinking it's their new blog post - but no, it's some old archived crap.

      Irritating.

      I sound grouchy. LOL! I'm really not (right now), just sharing my $0.02.
      Originally Posted by Tbyrd626 View Post

      I personally get very annoyed when there is no date. I feel like it is very deliberate and misleading when a blogger does it. It's like they are trying to trick me into thinking they update their blog regularly when in reality the content could be months, or even years old. I never buy anything from undated blogs. It's just plain inconsiderate and sneaky.
      Originally Posted by Laura Raisanen View Post

      I personally really don't like it if there is no date. I like to know that the blog is active without having to second guess and it's also nice to know the content is still relevant.
      Originally Posted by jazbo View Post

      "I get pissed when there's no date and I don't go back. "

      This is a massive over reaction. Most people are not like this.


      So, ignoring extreme reactions, there is a debate going on right now about gaming Google's freshness algo.

      I think you can.

      So my new site has the php post date stamp replaced with php to print todays date, with "Last Updated" next to it.

      It's the same trick nearly every news site in the world uses.
      These responses make absolutely no sense at all.

      I am building a few sites on weebly, guess what, no date. The information is no different from what I would do on a WP site but because it is a HTML site there is no date. Am a forgiven by you folks and you will no leave my site. Thousands of sites all over the internet do not have dates, do you get pissed and leave those sites too??

      Tiffany, Your own site PLRminimart does not have dates with the products. How do I know these plr packages are not outdated, should I get pissed and leave?

      I, myself, judge by the content and not the little date stamp, that, by the way, can be changed in about 3 seconds.

      al
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      • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
        Originally Posted by agmccall View Post

        These responses make absolutely no sense at all.

        I am building a few sites on weebly, guess what, no date. The information is no different from what I would do on a WP site but because it is a HTML site there is no date. Am a forgiven by you folks and you will no leave my site. Thousands of sites all over the internet do not have dates, do you get pissed and leave those sites too??

        Tiffany, Your own site PLRminimart does not have dates with the products. How do I know these plr packages are not outdated, should I get pissed and leave?

        I, myself, judge by the content and not the little date stamp, that, by the way, can be changed in about 3 seconds.

        al
        Remember though, there's a difference between knowing if something's outdated or not being sure. If you're looking up a review of an Internet marketing product and see the review is 5 years old, the review may mean very little to you because stuff changes so much in that industry. SEO advice given 5 years ago may be horrible today - so if you see it's written that long ago, you'll most likely not even consider it. Whereas if there was no date on it, you'd have no way of knowing which is at least a little better.
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      • Profile picture of the author hometutor
        Originally Posted by agmccall View Post

        These responses make absolutely no sense at all.

        I am building a few sites on weebly, guess what, no date. The information is no different from what I would do on a WP site but because it is a HTML site there is no date. Am a forgiven by you folks and you will no leave my site. Thousands of sites all over the internet do not have dates, do you get pissed and leave those sites too??

        Tiffany, Your own site PLRminimart does not have dates with the products. How do I know these plr packages are not outdated, should I get pissed and leave?

        I, myself, judge by the content and not the little date stamp, that, by the way, can be changed in about 3 seconds.

        al
        I suppose it depends on the subject. The book I wrote on self-defense for kids against bullies (guess what NO HUGS!) is pretty well timeless. The human body has not changed a sufficient amount to warrant a rewrite of a self-defense book.

        Rick
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  • Profile picture of the author GetBack2it
    I not only remove the date, but I always make that my permalinks are also changed to not reflect any type of date.

    Unless it is a news website/blog, I don't feel dates are really that necessary. If I want to let me know the date I will post it within the article
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  • Profile picture of the author Story
    It pretty much depends on the content. How to get a six packs won't change, even if it was an article from last year. Date of content does not matter here.

    Question is, is it necessary for the content to be new? If it's a blog post about SEO techniques, I would want to be sure that I am reading the newest content I can find.
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    • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
      Originally Posted by agmccall View Post

      Tiffany, Your own site PLRminimart does not have dates with the products. How do I know these plr packages are not outdated, should I get pissed and leave?
      Are you talking about a blog or a content store?

      Two different things to me. And yes, if you get pissed, leave! LOL!

      I don't care when I BUY plr when it was created because I'm the type who tweaks and edits and reads through it to make sure it's got my personality in it anyway.

      But when I go read a blog, I want to know when the blog was posted. Doesn't have to make sense to you - I'm telling you what my experience is when I see a blog URL and visit and there's no date. Doesn't have to be YOUR experience, and you don't have to like it
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  • Profile picture of the author mervp
    I agree that when the niche is date critical, like a news oriented blog, you really must put real dates on it. Otherwise, for evergreen or non news-dependent sites, it doesn't matter.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    Why not just schedule posts...

    I often create 52 articles for a new site and just schedule them up :-)

    Saves the problem of a a site "looking" fresh :-)

    Danny
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  • Profile picture of the author bluefirepro
    It's only helpful when someone is reading an outdated content and as far as Search Engines are concerned they already have the exact publishing date of your content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
    Appreciate all the comments, on both sides. I'm going to leave the posts undated for a while and see if it affects anything. If I get any decent data out of it, I'll let everyone know.
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