Regularly update news content to maintain freshness.
- Regularly update news content to maintain freshness2 cited sources1 category
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Why this matters
Freshness is a key ranking factor for time-sensitive news content in Google News.
Hypothetical standard operating procedure
Adapt this example to your site, access, tools, and change process. It is our suggested procedure, informed by the sources below.
- Publish breaking news quickly with accurate timestamps.
- Update ongoing stories with new developments and changed facts.
- Add modified date schema markup to reflect substantive updates.
- Archive or remove severely outdated articles to avoid misleading readers.
- Monitor content freshness metrics in Google News performance reports.
Watch for
Stale or outdated news stories decrease ranking and user trust.
Definition of done
News articles show recent timestamps and updates reflecting the latest information.
Sources & attribution
Original checklist wording and example SOP by Best SEO Checklist, using source-grounded AI assistance. Editorial contact: Ted Kubaitis, @tedkubaitis on Teams. Check current source guidance before implementation.