Can Stale Content Hurt a Site's Current Search Rankings?

Dec 12, 2007 - 7:27 am 4 by
Filed Under SEO Copywriting

A WebmasterWorld thread has Labnol asking, "Can rankings vanish because a site is not updated?" If you do not update a site's content, can it set off a red flag at Google or another search engine and have the site lose its current search rankings?

The consensus in the thread is that having stale content should not penalize the site. There are many sites that are rarely updated but continue to rank well for both competitive and long-tail keyword phrases.

It is always good to update and add fresh content to your site. Fresh content is useful for your end user, it encourages the spiders to visit you more frequently, which helps search engines pick up new pages quicker. It also gives you the opportunity to rank well for new keyword phrases, on those new pages you create. But if you decide your content is super and there is no need to update it because you rank well already, then not updating it should not impact your current rankings.

Everyone seems to be in agreement that there is something else at fault in this situation. Not updating content or having a stale site is not a reason for a downgrade in search rankings.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google

Google AI Mode Compare Checkboxes For Products & Local Business Listings

Sep 1, 2025 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: August 29, 2025

Aug 29, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update, AI Mode Changes, ChatGPT Does Use Google, Search Ad News & More

Aug 29, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Updates

Google August 2025 Spam Update Impact Felt Quickly

Aug 29, 2025 - 7:51 am
Bing SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools Sitemaps Index Coverage Button Missing For Some

Aug 29, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Tests Rounded Search Results Snippet Design Again

Aug 29, 2025 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Google Testing Scrolling AdSense Ads