Does content freshness affect rankings?

Confirmed Based on 7,588 data points
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What the Data Shows

Content updated 30-90 days ago gets the most impressions. The spread is huge (~96%) — freshness has a strong correlation with visibility.

Bottom line: Pages updated in the last 30–90 days win the most impressions.

How to Read This Chart

The x-axis groups pages by how recently they were updated. Each bar shows relative impressions for that freshness bucket. Look for the tallest bar at 30–90 days, then note the large spread (~96%) between buckets.

Background

Many teams treat freshness as a tie-breaker, not a ranking input. That leads to stale winners that slowly bleed impressions. Across 7K+ pages, updates from 30–90 days ago earned the most impressions. The gap between age buckets is massive (~96%), which shows a strong freshness-to-visibility link.

What to Do Next

  1. 1

    Pull pages with the biggest impression decline in the last 90 days high

    Sort by impressions change, then pick the top 20 pages to refresh first.

  2. 2

    Set a 30–90 day refresh calendar for your top 50 pages high

    Assign owners and dates so winners never go stale.

  3. 3

    Use a refresh checklist for every update medium

    Add sections, replace stale facts, and rewrite titles to match current SERPs.

  4. 4

    Log each update and compare impressions 28 days before vs after medium

    Keep only refresh patterns that beat your baseline.

Best Practices

  1. 1

    Refresh top pages every 60 days

    Work your top impression pages on a 30–90 day cycle. If you wait 6–12 months, you leave demand on the table.

  2. 2

    Add 1–3 new sections per update

    Expand the page to cover new subtopics and questions. Small edits often fail to move the needle.

  3. 3

    Update titles and intros to match current SERPs

    Align wording with today’s intent and modifiers. If you keep old framing, you lose CTR and long-tail coverage.

  4. 4

    Prune and replace outdated facts in one pass

    Fix dates, prices, screenshots, and step lists. Old details can drag rankings even if the rest is strong.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Changing the date without meaningful edits

    Google still sees thin updates, and performance stays flat or drops.

  • Refreshing low-value pages first

    You waste crawl and writer time instead of protecting pages that already earn demand.

  • Updating content but breaking URLs and internal links

    You lose equity and create index churn that can erase gains.

What Works

  • + Aligns the page with current query intent shifts and SERP features.
  • + Triggers recrawl and faster discovery of new sections and entities.
  • + Improves CTR when titles and snippets match today’s wording.

What Doesn’t

  • - Minor edits can waste time with no ranking change.
  • - Frequent rewrites can cause keyword drift and cannibalization.
  • - Changing URLs during a refresh can drop impressions for weeks.

Expert Tip

Don’t refresh everything. Refresh pages that already rank in positions 4–15 and have stable intent. Those pages often need “now” signals and better coverage, not a full rewrite.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I update SEO content?
Start with a 60-day cycle for pages with steady impressions. Move faster for topics that change weekly.
What counts as a “fresh” update for Google?
New or replaced content that changes what the page answers. Typos and date swaps rarely count.
Will updating old content always improve rankings?
No. Some pages are capped by intent mismatch, weak links, or bad templates.
Can freshness outweigh backlinks and authority?
Not by itself. Freshness can boost relevance signals, but authority still sets the ceiling.
Is content freshness a myth for evergreen topics?
It can still matter. Evergreen pages often win when they add new examples, steps, and FAQs tied to current searches.
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Methodology

All data comes from real websites tracked by SEOJuice. We use the latest snapshot per page so each page counts once, regardless of site size. We filter for pages with at least 10 Google Search Console impressions and valid ranking positions (1-100).

Data is refreshed weekly. Correlation does not imply causation — these insights show associations, not guaranteed outcomes.

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