Should I Update 'Published Date' If Update Content?

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I use wordpress. If I update the content of a particular (important) post, should I update the published date to the date modified for SEO purposes i.e. does Google like more recent content?

Thanks
#search engine optimization #content #date #published #update
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  • Neat trick Yukon. Had any positive SERP movement after implementing such a change?
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    • Banned
      I've had my pages setup like that for a long time so can't really say If the date has moved a page in the SERPs, I'm usually messing around testing different things.

      I can prove that Google is looking at those dates by doing like I said earlier, do a site: search & then change the SERP date/range to either day, week, or month, which will show all the dates for pages that Google has reindexed on my domain that hasn't been updated with new content/pages/post in at least 6 months. I just checked & Google shows my Index page was last updated less than 24 hours ago, lol, which isn't true, it was actually updated a few months ago.

      My content is evergreen, so it's not like I'm doing anything to try & trick traffic (doubtful that traffic cares either way), showing todays date isn't anything unusual.

      Anyone that tries this make sure you remove all traces of dates on the live web page or it will probably skew your results by letting the G bots see a date other than todays date.
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  • Banned
    I'll tell you an easier way to take advantage of dates for making evergreen content look like it's new content in the SERPs.

    First remove the default dates from your Wordpress template files in your theme. Next add php/date code in your sitewide header.php or footer.php WP theme template file. Or you can add the php code anyplace on the page you want, assumes you know how to edit your theme templates.

    Here's the date code: Display Current Date - PHP HTML Current Date

    That php/date code will display todays date, so it looks like the evergreen content/pages are constantly being updated & Google does look at that date which is easily proven by doing a site: search of your domain in Google SERPs, then changing the date/range of the search results to only show the last day/week/month search results of the site: search.

    What you'll see is all the pages/dates Google has reindexed in that time frame (day/week/month), so Google acts like those pages are being updated.

    [edit]
    I was making a post edit & my browser locked up, so I'm down here now, lol.
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