Is a date-based permalink structure bad for SEO?

  • I have a blog that I have been using for several years with over 1,000 posts. The URL structure I am using is domain.com/YYYY-MM-DD/post-name/. Is this format bad for SEO? I have read many articles about SEO that say having the year in the URL can negatively impact rankings. Users may think the post is old and outdated, leading to a higher bounce rate.

    However, my question is: how do search engines view this? Do search engines themselves rank these pages lower because of the date in the URL?

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

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  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    It’s not bad for SEO, but it could be bad for you if you don’t want your users thinking your old posts are outdated.

    If you have content that’s generally not time-dependent, like blog posts, book reviews, etc, it’s no concern, because your old posts wouldn’t be outdated.

    If you have content that can become outdated, like medical advice, then visitors would rightfully look for something more current.

    We have further recommendations at https://www.ads-software.com/documentation/article/search-engine-optimization/

    Having a date in your URL does not directly hurt SEO, but it can affect how users view your content:

    • Search engines: Google and other search engines don’t lower rankings just because of a date in the URL. What matters more is content relevance, quality, and freshness.
    • User perception: Users may assume the content is outdated if they see an old date, leading to higher bounce rates, which could indirectly affect rankings.

    If your content is evergreen, consider switching to a structure without the date to avoid users thinking it’s old.

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