Okay guys, I would like to clear up what kind of dating I mean. Date as in dating these blog posts with the month, day and year.
Rest assured, I am still with my beloved Dave…
[ insert ridiculously adorable picture where I look totally different because I did my hair, make-up and wore something other than yoga pants. ]
…and I am also not a fan of date as in the food. 
An idea I picked up from The Blog Maven is to remove the dates from blog posts and comments. I was intrigued at first, but I actually like doing it every once in awhile.
Why to Stop Dating Your Posts
Why would someone do such a thing? It’s pretty simple.
- To give the blog staying power.
- To emphasize that the date of the post does not matter since the content is still relevant.
- Or to take away the pressure to have the most recent post that shows up on the homepage be very current.
[Tweet “Why to stop dating your blog posts. #blogging”]
But does it truly change the outcome on a blog or website?
My experience with removing the date from my blog posts.
This has been a glorious experience the couple of times I’ve done it. Almost freeing. The race to put up the next post has turned into more of a marathon experience. Slow and steady and meaningful posts have been the result.
1. It seriously decreases my stress levels when I realize that I haven’t posted in a week and when you look at my blog you would never know it. Of course those subscribing by e-mail or bloglovin’ are more aware, but if I share a post via Twitter or Facebook, no one really knows whether I published it today or a year ago.
[Tweet “The secret to stress-free blogging!”]
2. I’ve received more comments and shares and social media discussion on old posts since taking the dates away. I feel like the tendency is to only comment on recent posts because we assume the blogger doesn’t check old posts for comments. Or for whatever reason we feel like a post from last year is “old news.”
The thing is, most posts aren’t really old news, the content can still apply today. Especially things like recipes, tips, workouts and informational posts! Personal posts get a little tricky since a person can wonder “is she still struggling with this issue?” “is she still in school?” “is she still living in x location?”
3. If you’re not planning on posting for awhile, this eliminates the need for an “I’m taking some time off” post. Who wants to read a blog where the last post up says that blogging is too hard and that he or she has other things to do with his or her life? I feel that a blog can still have meaning even if the blogger isn’t posting twice weekly.
[Tweet “Don’t post a “I’m taking some time off from blogging” post. Here’s what you do:”]
I only posted 6 times in December because of food issues and family slash holiday shenanigans, but guess what? My pageviews were not affected negatively. I still reply to comments, read other blogs and share on social media regularly via my phone. I have just had less opportunity to sit down on my laptop and hammer out meaningful posts.
I’ve also been away from home quite a lot in the last couple of months, so recipe creation has kind of gone out the window.
It’s okay though because I have 4 years worth of posts…hundreds of them in fact that a person can peruse through.
Tips if You Are Going to Stop Dating Your Posts:
1. Make sure to check in (however often you decide) to reply to comments AND make sure comments are allowed on all posts. While you’re at it, make sure you have some form of comment reply notification so the reader will see your reply. (PS always let me know if you’re not receiving a reply via e-mail! I respond to pretty much every comment with the exception of giveaway posts or some of the two-word comments.)
2. If you are able, rotate the first post showing on your blog. At the time I’m typing this, the last post I wrote says Merry Christmas, so that alone shows that I haven’t posted in a week. Not all themes allow this, but I love how the Foodie Theme (<-affiliate link) allows you to customize the posts that show up on your homepage. You can also do this by editing the date the post was “published” to today’s date. (If the idea of changing the date drives your control freak self batty, seriously consider switching to the Foodie Theme. You don’t even need to be a food blogger to use it!)
3. Continue to share posts on social media. There is a WP plugin called Tweetily that will automatically share old posts at an interval specified by you on Twitter. I have mine set up so the post title shows first and then something like “in case you missed it.” Many bloggers recognize these as auto-tweets, but they still get a lot of engagement as far as I’ve noticed.
You can also set up tons of social media posts automatically straight from your blog using CoSchedule. (<-affiliate link) There’s been lots of buzz about this product lately in the blogging world and I concur that it is a lifesaver!
4. Continue to read and comment on other blogs even if you haven’t posted recently. There’s no reason you should have to drop off the face of the internet world since you haven’t posted in awhile. Continue to stay as engaged as you wish!
5. Make an effort to make each post timeless. Sure, you can share about what’s currently going on in your life, but also try to make sure you would be proud to share the post years from now.
To Sum it All Up
We bloggers tend to think that we need to be constantly updating to be relevant, but I’ve been delighted with going through old posts and sharing them. Since I’ve made a serious effort to make each post awesome, I am still proud to share them.
One cool thing about blogging is that all those hours upon hours of work can still mean something months, even years later! I’ve even added some cute buttons to the bottom of the blog for my most popular topics. Be impressed as they match my logo..yay for creative use of PicMonkey! (<-affiliate link)
[Tweet “The cool thing about blogging is that all your hard work now can still hold value years from now! #blogging #truth”]
———-
I won’t say taking the dates away is the perfect solution, nor is it necessarily a permanent one, but I think sometimes it helps to take the posting pressure that most bloggers feel away. It can also be a great way to take some time off of blogging to work on another project.
[Tweet “Need to take some time off of blogging? You can and should! Here’s how!–“]
Personally, I have been taking some time to share all of my recipes on Food Gawker and Healthy Aperture as well as sifting through the reader surveys.
[Tweet “To date or not to date? That is the question… #blogging #discussion”]
And playing with Miss Zoey. 
Eat and move happy! 
Tell me….
What do you think about taking the date off of posts as a reader? As a blogger?
How is your 2015 going so far? I personally cannot believe it’s almost February!
PS I’m all about Pinterest this year, so I would LOVE IT if you could pin one (or two!) of these images!
Pin with me!
Linking up to:
Thinking Out Loud with Amanda at Running with Spoons
(All of the lovely link-ups I participate in here.)
Disclaimer: Sometimes I use affiliate links which generate a small kickback when you purchase a product. You should know that I only use them with products I use and love PLUS there is no difference to you when you click on them..only the benefit of helping a girl out. As always, thank you for your support!
This is a very interesting bit of info. I had never thought about before. But you’re right! I could see how it would especially allow readers to feel like they CAN comment on older posts and you would still reply in full or care about what they have to say.
Yes and that’s exactly what I want! I hate taking all the time and effort to write a post only to feel like it won’t be valuable a month later.
Yes! I’ve read this many times! Once I switched over to self-hosting though, it took care of the problem itself!
It took care of it? Like dates stopped showing up?
Great idea. Although I do find that when I’m reading articles about technology, I do look for dates because I want the most recent information. Great for health and fitness bloggers though.
Very good point! I don’t post a whole lot about technology…maybe just in my how-to blogging posts. 🙂
i don’t think i’ll ever take the dates off my posts, but this year i AM making a huge effort to revamp old content. I’m cleaning up old posts, making pinable images, repinning olders stuff, scheduling tweets of old posts…because you’re right, I’ve been blogging for 4.5 years. I have a lot of good stuff that i want to bring back to the surface!
YES! That’s such a great tip to make posts pinable! 4 years ago there was no such thing as Pinterest!
This is actually super interesting as one of our SEO consults at my work told us to switch our URLs from date-based to content-based. But, after a little research, I found out that doing that can really mess up your blog structure – bad! So, I abandoned the thought of having our evergreen content.
I kind of love the thought of essentially hiding the date. Yes, the savvy can still look in your URL, but, I get all your points. Very interesting! I just might try it.
Yeah I’ve tried to change the structure of the url and it broke the blog ha!
You should try it for like a month and let me know what you think!!
PS what does evergreen content mean??
As a reader, a blogger and a former journalist (and web editor), I like dates. I don’t mind reading older content, but I think it’s important to have an element of time on each post. Take, for example, if someone is searching for a specific topic. How would they know whether a post (on your blog or any website), if there is no date and time? In my opinion, it adds another level of honesty and integrity. Removing the date and time feels deceptive. I know I might be in the minority, as I’m considering the reader rather than page views or blog traffic. In the end, they are what matters.
I’m not gonna lie..this comment hurt. To imply that I (and most bloggers) don’t care about readers and that we only care about pageviews is just wrong and mean. I very much resent the implication. I’m sorry if it came off that way..but this is simply the opposite of my perspective.
Why would I discuss this subject on the blog (instead of hiding the fact that I’ve been toying with this idea) if readers didn’t matter?
Why would I have created and have spent hours on sifting through the results of a blog survey this month if readers didn’t matter?
Of course they matter.
The heart of this idea is taking pressure off the blogger to create LOTS of posts and shifting the mentality to creating QUALITY, meaningful, timeless posts. In my eyes, both sides win. It also works for those who need to take some time off of blogging. A soon-to-be mom friend (and reader) emailed me about this and it’s going to help her while she takes some time off with her new baby. If the posts are still relevant, and the blogger will still remain active on social media and the comments.. why put a date on them which could then “date” them?
I’m not saying there aren’t flaws to this idea..I clearly stated my apprehensions. But I really disagree that there is any malice in this idea. It’s just a different way of presenting content.
Hi, Amanda. I appreciate the response. I don’t think that your decision meant that you were disregarding readers. i do stand by my assertion that removing dates helps bloggers more than readers. I actually just came across this disclaimer in doing research for an article: http://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/dieting-to-lose-weight-health-news-195/could-turning-the-thermostat-down-a-notch-help-shed-pounds-684079.html
The disclaimer is there even though there is a date. As a blogger, if you’re featuring older content (and I did this at my last job all the time), there’s a greater chance of sharing out-of-date information, broken links and the like.
Blogs are a medium, just like newspapers, magazines or TV. I think for them to considered sources of information rather than entertainment, it is imperative to retain a date. As the Internet grows more crowded, those among us (like you and like me) who aim to share information to help others lead healthier, happier lives face more challenges. Everyone else on the internet can disagree with me, but I think that it helps suss out really good, up-to-date, relevant content when there is a date on it. Good content doesn’t become outdated. This comes from six years of managing a blog and three large websites. We recycled content, and we kept the dates. Sometimes people noticed, but mostly it showed them that good content didn’t need to disappear.
Again, I hope this does not come off as aggressive. I come from a different perspective than most bloggers, having worked for traditional and then online media for quite a long time. I aimed only to share a different perspective.
Thanks for the dialogue.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. It did seem as if you were hinting that bloggers care more about pageviews than readers and it’s frustrating to hear something like that especially when one of my main goals this year is to focus on the reader.
I do understand the perspective that this helps the blogger and I guess I do see the point that content can get out of date. The thing is, I don’t think a lot of readers enjoy reading old posts like you do simply because of the date. Or maybe that’s just my perspective since it seems like I get more comments on recent posts. I want there to be a way to make it clear that the discussion is open on all of my posts, not just new ones..does that make sense? I’m still not sure how to do that exactly.
The fact that I don’t get in my own head about needing to post again soon because I haven’t posted in x number of days is probably more for my benefit, but I like to think that quality posts are a result, which in turn benefit the reader.
I do appreciate your feedback. Definitely got my wheels turning!
I definitely see your point, even more so after your thoughtful responses. Thank you for being a blogger who lets through comments that don’t wholeheartedly agree with you. I think that shows a lot about your character and integrity as a blogger.
I think you’re right that I’m of the minority who would seek a date when they read. My last point (I promise!)–I LOVE to read people’s back stories when I find new blogs to follow. The dates help put things in perspective when reading the personal stuff, even if it’s sprinkled into informative posts.
Again, thanks for the chance to voice my opinion. I like your approach to healthy living–a voice of reason and moderation, for sure!
Yes I do agree with the personal aspects wanting a date and things like training for a race (as mentioned in another comment), but (as someone else pointed out) my date shows up in the blog address as the month and year and in my sidebar, I also have a calendar that would show the exact date of the post that is opened. I even have a drop down of all of my archives so if someone wanted to..he or she could read all my posts from beginning to end. I think the exact date is just less obvious when it’s not at the top of the post or in the comments. Again, maybe it is more for my benefit, but I like to think it will help the reader as well!
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your perspective! I value honesty and like to think this is a space where people can speak freely so thanks for helping me prove that! 🙂
Great insight! I find that this would work well for myself as I am so up and down with posting or coming up with good content and sometimes I find what I wrote a few months ago gets so lost in posts! Will try it and see how it goes xoC
Yes do let me know! I find that when I’m less stressed about posting, better content is a result! 🙂
Very interesting idea! I feel like I’d be scared to do it for some of my time-relevant posts (like, oh, I’m training for such-and-such marathon) but it totally makes sense for “evergreen” content! I’d love to hear an update from you in a few months to see how going dateless is affecting you down the road!
Very true! And that’s my one apprehension is the personal things or time-relevant posts (edit to add: I guess that’s two apprehensions haha). The date does show in the link as the month and year and I do have the calendar in the sidebar that would show the current post…it’s just not as obvious, you know?
I should do an update in a couple of months. Thanks for the idea! 🙂
To be honest, this topic never even crossed my mind, nor did I know it was a thing at all.
For me personally, I like the dates, it appeals to my linear mentality and the whole diary aspect of blogging. I would miss the dates if they went awol suddenly. Some days, I’d even like to see a time stamp. To each their own, yeah. Our uniqueness is what makes life interesting.
Yeah I definitely see that point and I tend to be conscientious of the date too…but I like the freedom I feel with leaving the dates “off” (the month/year still shows up in the url and the little calendar at the bottom of posts shows the month too.). It’s helping me change my mindset on blogging in a good way and it makes it more fun and less stressful which hopefully translates into my content! 🙂
This is really interesting. For some posts I do like to see the date to see if it’s still relevant (since anything to do with Pinterest pre-smart feed wouldn’t be relevant) but you’re right, most everything else doesn’t much matter. Honestly? I’d be kind of scared to remove the dates from my posts – but that’s probably why I should do it, right?! 🙂
That’s a great point about discussing social media..it changes so fast! I’m listening to an online marketing podcast and I do get frustrated when I wonder..when was this published? Is this info still relevant?
The date and month do show in the page url and below the post you can see the month it was published with the little calendar thing…so I really only half committed to the no dating thing after all. It still makes me less stressed to know all the dates don’t show on my homepage so I don’t feel like I have to be constantly updating.
Let me know if you try this! I’m interested to see what your experience is!
Very interesting! Definitely never considered the power of NOT DATING my posts before! Can I ask how you go back and undate all your old posts?
Hey lady! It’s a simple change in the settings! I will try to update this post with a screenshot, otherwise shoot me an e-mail! 🙂