Dates in URLs: What They Are & Why They Matter

Published: 22 Sep 2025

Ever wondered if you should put dates in your website links? Many people get confused about whether adding dates to a URL helps with SEO or makes content look old.

In this article, we will clear that confusion by explaining what dates in URLs mean, when they are useful, and when you should avoid them.

Table of Content

By the end, you will know the best way to set up your URLs for blogs, services, or news websites.

What Are Dates in URLs?

Dates in URLs mean adding the year, month, or even the day inside a web address. This tells both readers and search engines the exact time when the content was published. It works like a built-in calendar mark inside the link.

Example:

With date: example.com/news/2025/09/22/title-of-story
Without date: example.com/news/title-of-story

Many websites follow this style because it gives a clear record of when something was first published. But knowing when to use dates in a URL and when to avoid them is very important, especially in blogging. Let’s explore this in the next section.

Updated Rules: When to Use Dates in URLs

Dates inside URLs (like /2025/09/22/) are not always bad. In fact, in certain cases, they are the best choice. The key rule is: use dates when time is a core part of the content.

News Websites
Press Releases & Official Announcements
Event Coverage
Legal, Government, or Regulatory Content
Historical Archives & Research Material

Here are the main situations explained in detail.

1. News Websites

News is always linked to time. A breaking story today won’t be relevant tomorrow in the same way. Including the year, month, and day in the URL shows readers and Google the exact publishing date. Without a date, users may get confused about whether the news is fresh or outdated.

Example:

With date → example.com/news/2025/09/22/election-results
Without date → example.com/news/election-results

Why it matters:

Google News and search engines often give preference to URLs with dates for fresh news.
Readers trust content more when they see time proof directly in the link.

2. Press Releases & Official Announcements

Companies, organizations, and governments publish press releases that must be tied to a date. Example: A product launch, merger, or financial report. Adding dates gives authenticity and prevents confusion between old and new announcements.

Example: example.com/press/2025/05/product-launch

Why it matters:

Journalists and researchers may reference your press release years later.
The date in the URL acts like a permanent stamp of when the news was published.

3. Event Coverage

Annual or repeating events need clear separation. Example: Olympics, concerts, trade shows, or cricket matches. A date in the URL makes it clear which edition or year is being covered.

Example:

example.com/events/2024/world-tech-expo
example.com/events/2025/world-tech-expo

Why it matters:

Avoids SEO issues like duplicate content.
Makes it easier for people to search and archive past events.

4. Legal, Government, or Regulatory Content

Laws, policies, regulations, and government notices often change over time. Adding dates in URLs is crucial because it shows which version of the law or policy people are reading.

Example: example.com/laws/2023/07/tax-policy-update

Why it matters:

People can confirm if the document is current or outdated.
Provides credibility and trust, especially in sensitive legal/government cases.

5. Historical Archives & Research Material

Some websites exist mainly as archives (journals, magazines, research papers, or personal diaries). In these cases, dates help build a clear timeline. Perfect for educational content, historical blogs, or science research.

Example: example.com/archive/2019/11/space-research

Why it matters:

Easy to navigate old content.
Students, journalists, and researchers often rely on dates to cite sources.

Key Takeaway

Use dates in URLs when:

The time of publication is a key part of the story.
Readers need to know when something happened, not just what happened.
You are publishing news, events, policies, or archives where date = credibility + clarity.

In short: If your content’s value depends heavily on time, then dates in the URL are the right choice.

Updated Rules: When NOT to Use Dates in URLs

Dates in URLs can sometimes do more harm than good. For many websites, adding dates makes the content look old, even if it’s still relevant.

The Golden Rule

Do not add dates when content is evergreen or meant to stay relevant for years.

Some major scenarios I am mentioning here:

Evergreen Guides
Product or Service Pages
Company & Business Pages
SEO-Driven Blog Posts (Non-News)
Educational Resources
Marketing Campaigns & Landing Pages
Case Studies & Portfolio Work

Let’s explore the main cases in detail.

1. Evergreen Guides

Evergreen content is content that stays useful for years — like guides, tutorials, and how-to articles. These don’t lose value quickly, unlike news.

If you add a date in the URL, readers may think: “This post is from 2021, so it must be outdated”. They might skip it, even if you updated the content yesterday.

Correct: example.com/how-to-start-a-blog
Wrong: example.com/2021/05/how-to-start-a-blog

Detailed Reason:

Evergreen posts need updating from time to time.
With a date in the URL, every update still looks old.
Without a date, the guide always looks fresh and more clickable.

2. Product or Service Pages

Products, services, and online stores should never have dates in URLs. Why? Because a product page is not tied to time.

If someone sees a date like “2022” in the link, they may assume the product is discontinued.

Correct: example.com/store/laptop-model-x
Wrong: example.com/store/2022/02/laptop-model-x

Detailed Reason:

Customers want current, valid products.
A date makes the offer look expired.
Shorter, date-free URLs are easier to share and trust.

3. Company & Business Pages

Important business pages like About Us, Services, Contact, Careers should never carry dates. These pages are about your brand identity, not a timeline.

Correct: example.com/about-us
Wrong: example.com/2023/about-us

Detailed Reason:

These pages are long-term and rarely change.
A date makes them look temporary or unimportant.
A clean URL feels more professional and builds trust.

4. SEO-Driven Blog Posts (Non-News)

Many bloggers try to include dates thinking it helps SEO, but it actually works against them for non-news posts.

For example, an article like “Best WordPress Plugins” is an evergreen SEO keyword. If the URL has a date, it instantly looks outdated.

Correct: example.com/best-wordpress-plugins
Wrong: example.com/2021/best-wordpress-plugins

Detailed Reason:

Google updates ranking based on content freshness, not the URL date.
Date-free URLs let you update the post anytime without affecting SEO.
Keywords stay stronger in shorter URLs without numbers.

5. Educational Resources

Educational content like tutorials, courses, lessons, or study notes are not tied to a single date. People can learn C++, history, or marketing tips at any time.

Correct: example.com/learn-cpp-arrays
Wrong: example.com/2022/09/learn-cpp-arrays

Detailed Reason:

Learning material doesn’t expire in a year.
A date in the URL makes the resource look out of date.
Students searching years later may skip it if they see an old year.

6. Marketing Campaigns & Landing Pages

Landing pages are designed to stay fresh for every visitor. If you include a date, it gives the impression that the campaign is old or finished.

Correct: example.com/free-trial-offer
Wrong: example.com/2023/07/free-trial-offer

Detailed Reason:

Landing pages need to feel timeless to keep converting.
Dates make them look expired, reducing conversions.
Clean URLs can be reused for new campaigns.

7. Case Studies & Portfolio Work

Case studies and portfolios show results, not publish dates. If you add a date, clients may think the project is too old to be relevant.

Correct: example.com/case-study-brand-x
Wrong: example.com/2021/case-study-brand-x

Detailed Reason:

Success stories stay valuable for years.
A date may make them look old.
A clean URL lets you show your work without age bias.

Key Takeaway

Very simple:

In blogging, tutorials, SEO guides, and evergreen posts — never use dates.
In brand, product, service, or landing pages — never use dates.
Use dates only when time defines the content (like news, events, or legal updates).

Keeping URLs short, clean, and timeless helps both SEO and user trust.

What Professionals Say About Dates in URLs

Here’s what experts say on why to avoid years or discrete date values in non-news URLs:

John Mueller (Google Search Advocate, Google)

John has often shared that shorter and cleaner URLs are better for long-term SEO. He explained that adding years in a URL makes the page look fixed to that time and reduces its usefulness if you update the content later.

Neil Patel (Digital Marketing Expert)

Neil Patel strongly advises not to use dates in evergreen content. He says when a year shows in the URL, many users assume the post is outdated, even if it’s freshly updated. This lowers the chances of people clicking.

Backlinko (Brian Dean’s SEO Research)

Brian Dean’s research team found that evergreen articles with simple, clean URLs (without dates) usually rank better over time compared to those with year-based addresses.

Ahrefs (SEO Research Company)

The content team at Ahrefs noted that using dates in non-news URLs can confuse search engines when you refresh posts. This often leads to weaker long-term traffic, especially for blogs, tutorials, and guides.

Learn with GA (Ghulam Abbas – SEO Expert)

Ghulam Abbas also explains it very clearly: No ⇒ if your website is a blog, services site, or general content site. Yes ⇒ if your website is a news site. Dates belong in time-sensitive news, not evergreen blogs or service pages.

How to Remove the Date from a WordPress URL

Sometimes you may want cleaner links for your blog posts without the year, month, or day. In WordPress, this is very easy to fix by changing the permalink settings.

Step-by-Step Guide

Log in to WordPress Dashboard: Go to your website’s admin panel by logging in.
Open Permalink Settings: From the left menu, click Settings → Permalinks.
Choose a Clean URL Structure: You’ll see different choices for how WordPress creates your URLs. Select Post name. Example: example.com/sample-post This will remove any year/month/day from your links.
Save the Changes: Scroll down and click Save Changes. WordPress will now use the new structure.

Important Things to Keep in Mind

Broken Links Risk: If your site already has many posts with dates in the URL, changing the structure may break those old links. To fix this, you should set up 301 redirects so visitors and search engines are sent to the new links automatically.
Update Internal Links: After changing your structure, some of your posts, menus, or widgets might still point to the old date-based URLs. Go through your site and update internal links so they match the new format. This keeps the user experience smooth and avoids redirect loops.
SEO and User Experience: Removing dates makes the URL cleaner, but readers won’t know when the content was published just from the link. To keep your posts trustworthy, show the publish or last updated date inside the article.
Navigation Impact: If your site uses date-based archives (like monthly archives), removing dates in URLs may slightly affect how those archives work. Consider this before switching.
Backup First: Always create a backup of your WordPress site (files + database) before making changes. This ensures you can restore everything if something goes wrong.

Final Note

In this guide, we covered everything you need to know about dates in URLs — what they are, when to use them, when to avoid them, and how to remove them in WordPress safely. I hope this clears up the confusion for you. If you follow the steps, your blog or website will have cleaner links, better SEO results, and a smoother user experience.

This guide is shared by Am SMSEO Guider, with insights also learned from Learn with GA (Ghulam Abbas). We’re here to make SEO simple and easy to understand for everyone.

FAQs

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions related to using date in URLs:

How to find date in URL?

A date in a URL usually looks like numbers separated by slashes. For example: /2025/09/22/ means year 2025, month 09, day 22. You can spot it in the middle of the web address. If there are no numbers like this, the URL has no date.

How do I pass a date in a URL?

You can add the date as part of the web address. For example: example.com/news/2025/09/22/post-title. Websites decide their own date format, often year/month/day. It only makes sense if the content depends on the exact date.

Does URL affect SEO?

Yes, URLs matter for SEO. A clean, short, keyword-rich URL can rank better. Dates in URLs can make pages look old, which may reduce clicks. Search engines also prefer URLs that are easy to read and understand.

How do I remove a date from a URL in WordPress?

Go to your WordPress dashboard → Settings → Permalinks. Choose the Post name option instead of date formats. Save the changes, and WordPress will create clean URLs without dates. Set up 301 redirects so old links still work.

What is the format for date in URL?

The common format is year/month/day. Example: /2025/09/22/. Some sites use only year and month, like /2025/09/. The format depends on how the website is set up.

What’s a good URL structure for a blog or service site?

A good URL is short and focused on keywords. Example for a blog: example.com/how-to-start-blog. Example for a service: example.com/services/web-design . No dates, no long numbers, just clear words.