Undated Blog Posts: Evergreen Content or Thorn in Your Reader's Side?
April 25th 2010 22:16
Research Is Serious Business
I don't know about you, but I do a lot of online research—and I mean a lot. And I consider my research serious business. When hunting down relevant information for a blog post, article, or other piece of writing, I want to know the date the content was published. Frankly, I don't have the time to institute a diligent search of the site in an attempt to uncover this critical piece of information only to find that it's been intentionally hidden from me. I don't believe it's unreasonable for a reader to expect a website or blog to provide this information if its owner expects to be quoted as an authoritative source and have his or her content linked to and relied upon as being accurate and up-to-date.
Mere Datelessness an Evergreen Post Does Not Make
The problem is that too many bloggers seem to believe that by leaving their posts undated, they somehow make their work more immediate…more timeless…more evergreen. I believe they're wrong about that. A piece of writing requires more than mere datelessness to qualify for the "evergreen" descriptor. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a piece of writing that depends solely on this method for creating its sense of timelessness isn't really evergreen at all. Far from viewing an undated blog post as timeless or evergreen, I often feel somewhat irritated that I have no idea when it was written. That unknown creates a sense of uncertainty about the content that can encourage me to move on to a more citable source.
Granted, it's often possible to get a reasonable idea of when a post was published by looking at the date its first comments were left. But, should a reader really have to creatively search out a post's publication date or depend on comment dates as reliable time indicators? I'd say, "No."
Content—Not Date—Determines a Post's Longevity
In my view, a blogger whose content is truly timeless has nothing whatsoever to fear from dating his or her posts. If they are well-written and contain information or concepts that stand the test of time, people will continue to read them many years after they were published, since they'll continue to yield valuable information through the years. Even if their information should age a little less gracefully, finely crafted posts will maintain their historical value, which will ensure their continued usefulness despite their prominently displayed publication dates.
How Important Is this Issue?
I will admit that in many cases, undated blog posts are nothing more than a minor irritation. However, there are times (for example, when writing about technical topics) that responsible research practices require a writer to know whether the information he or she is relying on is up-to-date. Even certain historical events need to be placed on a timeline.
My view is, why make it harder for a writer to use your work (and in the process send a backlink your way) when all you have to do is place a date on your post to make it more "user friendly"? What could be simpler? What could make more sense?
Are You Willing to Take the Risk?
I can't help but wonder why a blogger would be willing to chance having a writer go elsewhere to complete her research and thus lose the opportunity to become an authoritative source. Even if your readers are simply reading your blog for their own enjoyment, why subject them to the uncertainty and irritation of wondering when the post was written? Why risk losing readers over a practice that offers minimal advantage at best? That's certainly not a risk I would want to take. How about you?
Here's to successful blogging practices,
Jeanne
What's your take on this issue? Are there any aspects you believe I'm missing? How has your own policy on dating blog posts developed or evolved over time?
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Comment by Aggie Villanueva
If there is no date, I go elsewhere, unless there is no timeliness to my research. Often I want to compare article posts from a year ago to today's, which I'm deprived of when there is no date.
At times I'll use the information with an old date, but inform my readers of the date so they can judge timeliness for themselves.
But if there is no date, I'd venture that alot of researchers are like me and pass on an article that could be really helpful. Very few will take the time to contact the author and ask the date.
This is great point to address. Thankx for speaking to this issue.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks so much for sharing your insight and experience with online research and undated blog posts. Responsible researchers always want to know the date a post was published. (Why would anyone expect otherwise?) Then, as you've mentioned, if it's older, they can make an informed decision on whether or not to use the data and whether or not they need to inform their readers that the source is less-than-recent.
I find it extremely frustrating when I find content that seems perfect for the topic I'm researching but I can't locate a posting date. In some cases, I can't even find a copyright date at the bottom of the web page. Sometimes, I'm able to use the content anyway, depending on the topic; but, many topics don't lend themselves to undated information, in which case, like you, I move on. I agree that the majority of serious researchers would tend to do the same--and with deadlines looming, few writers have the time or inclination to contact authors for publication dates that could have easily been posted at the time of publication.
As writers, we stake our reputations on the quality--and often the timeliness--of the research on which we base our work. And that's why I'm surprised that so many other writers (who should understand our position by virtue of being writers themselves) would deny us such a critical piece of information.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your insight!
Jeanne
Comment by Lillie Ammann
I agree with you completely. I get really annoyed when I can't find a date, even if I'm only reading something for my own information. I want to know how current it is.
And date obviously doesn't have anything to do with whether an article is evergreen or not. My most popular post by far is nearly three years old—and it is dated, yet it gets 300 to 400 page views a week, as many as my latest post.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
To me, it seems only common courtesy to provide our readers with the date our posts were written. After all, information can't be adequately evaluated in a vacuum, and every writer or blogger should already be well aware of that fact.
Some bloggers have decided to ignore the obvious, however, and engage in this practice anyway, many after having apparently been misguided by those who tell them their work will have greater longevity and perhaps even better SEO if they leave it undated.
Some very well-known bloggers leave their work undated, in fact, and they remain popular. Yet, when I visit their blogs, that irritating factor does absolutely nothing to increase my respect for their work. Am I being judgmental and unfair? Perhaps. But I do know the way their posts' datelessness makes me feel when I visit and how inconvenient it makes my work, and those facts are inescapable. I also think it's safe to assume that if I feel that way, many other writers do as well (as you and Aggie are helping to confirm).
Thanks again for the feedback!
Jeanne
Comment by dcr
dcrBlogs
The value to researchers has already been stated, but there is a value to readers in general too. Even readers want to know that what they are reading is up-to-date information. In some cases, such as a historical piece, the date may not be as important—the date of American Independence, for example, is not likely to change from 1776 to something else—but for anything else, it can be important. Medical information, technology, marketing strategies, and so on are all subject to change and it's important to know if you are reading something that was written yesterday or five years ago.
In terms of SEO, I don't see where the absence of a date is going to fool the search engines. Their extensive databases mean that they'll figure out whether your page is five years old or five minutes old. So, I don't think there is an advantage there. Additionally, if you regularly update your site, there shouldn't be an issue. Plus, people will know the info is fresh because they will see that you posted it earlier in the day, or whenever the actual post time is.
The way I see it, there really isn't a reason to not date articles. I don't think you have to date every page of the site, nor do I believe it is a necessity to put a date on everything. General information or sales information on an eCommerce site could be left undated as long as the info remains current. (And, having said that, I realize I have a few pages that need updating...) But, as far as content such as articles go, I believe it is a good idea to have the date indicated.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks for your well-thought-out comment. I so agree that all readers--and not only researchers--should be able to expect to see dates on posts. Though I focused on research, since that seems to be the time a lack of date frustrates me most, everyone should have a reasonable expectation that they'll have some inkling of how old (or new) the content is.
I also agree that SEO is a poor excuse for not dating posts since it's difficult to see how leaving a post undated could possibly help SEO. Search engines can access every version of a web page that has ever existed (or at least that's ever been indexed), and they know precisely the date on which it was originally indexed, as well as all the dates on which any modifications were later retrieved and cached by the search bots.
Some types of content are less important to date, but articles and blog posts should, in my estimation, always be dated, as you've said. Even though certain types of info included in articles and blog posts may not usually need dates, since they consist of facts or principles that change little over time, that's no reason to assume that the reader doesn't care when the content was written. There are many reasons why a reader might want to know that--one being that s/he may be studying the evolution of a certain idea or principle and need to put it into a timeline in comparison to other related content to place it in a historical context.
I really feel that the writer or blogger who doesn't date his/her online content is--perhaps unintentionally--ignoring his or her reader's needs.
Thanks for sharing your perspective!
Jeanne