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Should you remove the dates from your blog?
kurt
Posts: 83
Joined: 10 May 11
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11 Jul 12 8:42 pm

Should you remove the dates from your blog?

In some cases you obviously wouldn't want to remove the dates. In fact, a lot of people get annoyed when a blog doesn't show the dates. And of course the dates can also let your visitors know the order in which the posts were written.

But on the other hand, if you did a review of a product that you were promoting and you allow people to see the dates of the posts, that could cause you to lose some potential sales if the date is over a year old. I just came across a site like this that was reviewing a product I was trying to find out more about, but once I saw that the post was written three years ago (2009), it made me think that the product (which was a course) might not be up-to-date. Now, if that's what you're visitors are thinking, they're not going to buy, because they aren't going to want out-dated information.

Of course this depends on the kind of product you're promoting. Some products get updated more frequently. Probably not the best products to promote, but sometimes you might want to cash in on a current trend. And, I know I would want to cash in on it for as long as I could. Seems like showing the dates of your posts would cause your sells to fizzle out faster, wouldn't you think?
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esolutions
Posts: 713
Joined: 28 Apr 09
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11 Jul 12 10:52 pm

 Hi,

I think you covered it all... It really depends on the intent. If you are building set and forget sites, then leave the dates out.
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PremiumMember
mynameis
Posts: 15
Joined: 30 Apr 09
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16 Jul 12 1:42 pm

 You've got it right Kurt.

Either you use WP as a tool to build a website (meaning dates aren't necessary) or your build a blog with weekly updates.

You also felt by yourself why leaving the dates may kill some sales.

Joe.
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liferidergillespie
Posts: 12
Joined: 16 Jul 12
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16 Jul 12 2:01 pm

 If it is a timeless content, remove the date. If it is like seasonal or question & answers, or tech blog, you must keep the date. Otherwise users will go out of your site immediately. I personally experienced this.
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PremiumMember
kelly2
Posts: 3
Joined: 19 Jul 12
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21 Jul 12 3:29 pm

 Anyone know how to remove the dates in posts? Is there a plugin ....
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Site Admin
cecille.l
Posts: 4134
Joined: 25 Feb 11
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23 Jul 12 10:09 am

 Hi kelly2,

You can use the Date Exclusion SEO plugin to remove the date but this is a dated plugin. I am not sure if it still works with the current version of Wordpress. You can edit the code. There are tutorials in the below pages:

Remove Author, Date and Category from Posts
How to Remove Dates From WordPress Posts

Hope that helps. Have a good day!
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seogorilla
Posts: 27
Joined: 18 Jun 12
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24 Jul 12 2:24 pm

 Thanks to the new changes in the search engine algorithms, it's to your benefit to leave the dates in. Google prefers to see this. As far as having an older post just make some changes and update the date. This will actually help you in the rankings.
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anil
Posts: 105
Joined: 03 Jun 12
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27 Jul 12 5:41 am

 I agree with seogorilla on updating. Consider:

writing a post > set a reminder on a calender for a 6/12 months time > after this period, update your post with relevant content and the date you updated it. This way you can leave the original date and the updated date in the post and its a win win situation.

Alternatively consider writing a new post and linking to the new post from the old post. The advantage of this, is you don't have to think up new ideas for blog posts after 6/12 months!
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mark schaaf
Posts: 372
Joined: 04 Oct 10
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26 Aug 12 6:31 pm

 I think it all depends on what the blog is about because some people find a blog they like to read but don't know how often to go to the blog to see if there are up dates. I know of bloggers who post every 2 or 3 weeks and they have followers who almost expect something new in that time frame, So I guess it depends on how often you plan on writing for the blog. I have dates on all my posts and try and post every 3 to 4 weeks.
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Mark
 
sacredmpp
Posts: 5
Joined: 22 Sep 12
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22 Sep 12 12:50 am

 My new rule of thumb is to leave the dates off on all my sites! I would fully agree and second what seogorilla stated!
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andlosek89
Posts: 20
Joined: 19 Sep 12
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25 Sep 12 12:29 am

 Hi kurt,
Thanks for your meritorious post. I believe in this point you wrote
But on the other hand, if you did a review of a product that you were promoting and you allow people to see the dates of the posts, that could cause you to lose some potential sales if the date is over a year old.
.
Now I can understand that why my fiend failed to earn from his Cell phone review site. I must suggest this point.
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