Why Every Blog Post Needs a Publication Date

Have you ever found a blog post without a date and instantly wondered if it was still relevant? That single missing detail can turn even the most informative content into something useless. Without context and a publication date, how can you trust what you’re reading?

The note on my door: A lesson in context

I recently spent a couple of weeks in my second home in the mountains. When I came back to Berlin I found a note on my door saying ‘There has been a broken pipe, do NOT use the water and do not put anything down the drain.’

It was Sunday evening, and I had spent most of the day driving, and I really had to use the bathroom.

So, I tried to figure out if this was still relevant.

No date on the note, no reference to a weekday, nothing. 

But when I had entered the building, I had seen the son of the family living downstairs from me. My conclusion, a family with two kids could not be there when they cannot use the water.

This little moment of uncertainty reminded me of countless blog posts I’ve come across online: informative on the surface, but impossible to trust without a date.

All this confusion because the note was missing a date. It could have been so easy to clear things up.

And it dawned on me that I have seen this same thing with blog content. Information that could be relevant – or not. Depending on the date it was published but without that information the blog post was totally useless.

Why publication dates make content relevant – or useless

The Internet has a good memory. You can find information that has been published years ago. While some bloggers and publishers regularly update information on their website – some don’t. 

Once content is published it is there for everyone to see and with virtually no control whether it is accurate or not.

But facts change. Information gets outdated. 

A publication date can at least give some hint about how relevant information is. With a recent publication date, we can assume that the content is fairly accurate. With a date that puts the publication years ago, the content loses credibility.

Why accurate dates matter – Even for dog food

Recently a friend of mine found information that the dog food we both use is produced in China. We both were kind of shocked, because it is a reputable brand we chose for the benefit of our dog. We don’t want genetically manipulated ingredients or produce that is grown with the use of pesticides. ‘Produced in China’ is not exactly what we are looking for in dog food.

So we researched and found information dating back to 2011 that the dog food is produced in Germany. That was reassuring – back in 2011. But it didn’t answer our question in 2025. The brand has grown, maybe they’ve changed their production process? So we had to research more – until we found a piece of content from 2024.

Social media tips only matter if you know when they were true

Pinterest changed how they treat hashtags back and forth – and no, I don’t know if hashtags are a thing right now or not. But there was a time when I tried to figure it out. I found blog posts about this topic – a lot. But they did not answer the question I had, because they were not dated. You can find both answers:

• use hashtags
• don’t bother about hashtags

Both have been true at one point in time, I am already aware of that.

The only relevant answer would be: As of May 2025 do or do not use hashtags on Pinterest – but that is hard to find.

This is exactly why dates matter: I can’t give you a definitive answer because I can’t find recent, dated information.

And similar to the note on my door, without a date, some information you can find online is rendered worthless when it does not include a date.

Outdated statistics: The fastest way to lose credibility

I have asked ChatGPT for information. For instance, I like to provide statistics to give background to some of the information I present in my blog content. And ChatGPT often provides interesting numbers.

The problem: These statistics are only good, if they are from recent data. What good is research about online marketing, if it dates back to 2014?

And when you dig deeper into the ChatGPT information, you either find sources from 2010, a lifetime ago when it comes to online marketing – or you end up with ChatGPT answering: I tried to find a source but it looks as if these numbers are widely used but no original research is provided.

Conclusion: I could simply invent some numbers and hope that nobody invests the time to find the source…

Why content dates matter for SEO

Search engines aim to provide the most relevant answers. So yes, they care about freshness. Content that is several years old may no longer reflect best practices, trends, or accurate information. While evergreen content can still rank, Google often favors recently updated pages, especially for time-sensitive queries.

That’s why including a publication date isn’t just about being transparent with readers, it also impacts how search engines evaluate and rank your content.

That said, SEO experts often advise against putting dates in URLs or time-sensitive phrases like “last week” or “this year” in titles. These can age your content quickly, even if it is still valid.

For example, a post titled “The Best Instagram Tactics for 2023” sounds instantly outdated in 2025 even if most of the tactics still apply. And if the content isn’t updated, Google may push it down in search rankings in favor of more recent results.

By clearly showing when your content was last updated – and actually keeping it current – you signal both to readers and to search engines that your content is relevant, trustworthy, and maintained.

Should you include a publication date on blog posts

I would always include a publish date for your blog posts. It is a matter of content credibility and earning trust with your audience.

The only reason to hide the date when your content was published, would be to make it seem new when it actually is not and that is a shady tactic.

The intuitive strategy would be to be honest about publication dates. If your content becomes outdated, just update and republish it. But even then I pledge for honesty: A sentence like ‘this post was originally published on DATE and updated on NEW DATE’ is what your audience needs to make an educated decision if the content is still relevant or not.

Content recency turns content into value. If your content is recent, you should not hide it.

How to keep content relevant over time

Instead of hiding your publication date to make your audience believe your content is newer than it actually is, you should consider updating your older content.

Facts change, tips get outdated, you learn more, you can explain better: There is always something to improve about an older blog post. And once you updated the content, brought it up to date, you can re-publish the same article with a new date to make it clear that this content is ‘new’ and relevant.

How to update outdated blog content

Here are the most common ways to update old content:

• Bring facts and data up to date: Even evergreen content can get outdated. New research, new knowledge, new best practices come up. You find better examples or more expressive statistics. 
• Add new insight and answer questions: Questions in the comment section, comments on social media, or other people’s content you read can all inspire new angles and additional information for a blog post. They give you ideas you may not have thought of.
• Add images and other visuals: When I started blogging, I had no idea how important images in blog content are. I had no idea how to create them. Updating older posts with relevant images is a great way to add value – and SEO power.
• Optimize for more or new keywords: This is more for SEO reasons but it may also help users if they use different words than you used in your content.

You can learn more about updating blog posts in this article.

Conclusion: Dates build trust, relevance, and SEO power

Content without a publication date has left me guessing whether it’s still relevant or not more than once. And guessing breeds distrust. Whether it’s a blog post, a product guide, or a note on your front door, context matters. And that context often comes down to one simple thing: when it was written.

Dates are not a liability, they’re a credibility signal. For your readers, they provide clarity. For your SEO, they boost relevance. And for you as a content creator, they offer a roadmap to keep your work useful and trusted over time.

So don’t hide the age of your content. Embrace it, update it, and let your audience know they can rely on you not just for what you say, but for when you said it.