Update pages instead of republishing them

How to do it

An address keeps the links and history it has earned. Google's guide warns against changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh when the content has not changed. Bing asks you to update content when facts change and to remove or revise outdated information. Review every page that brought search clicks in the last 12 months at least once a year. Update it, merge it or remove it. Keep the visible date, the structured data and the sitemap in step, as Show the same date to people and machines says.

Examples

JavaScript example

const changed = currentHash(page) !== previousRelease.hashes[page.path];
assert.equal(page.dateModified !== previousRelease.dates[page.path], changed, `${page.path}: date and content disagree`);

Python example

changed = current_hash(page) != previous_release["hashes"][page.path]
assert (page.date_modified != previous_release["dates"][page.path]) == changed, f"{page.path}: date and content disagree"

How to check

A build test compares each page's content hash with the last release, and dateModified changed only where the hash changed. Every page with search clicks in the last 12 months has a review date less than 12 months old.

Sources

• Google Search Central – Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Bing Webmaster Guidelines

Related rules

• SEO-21 Show the same date to people and machines in SEO