how to display last updated date in WordPress posts

Why Show the Last Updated Date on Your WordPress Posts?

Displaying the last updated date on your WordPress posts can significantly enhance user experience and SEO performance. Users often look for the most recent and relevant content, and search engines favor websites that are frequently updated with high-quality information. By showing when a post was last edited, you reassure your readers of the freshness of your content, potentially increasing dwell time and reducing bounce rates.

Choosing Between the Published Date and Last Updated Date

Before you proceed, consider whether you want to replace the published date with the last updated date or show both. Displaying both dates can be especially beneficial if your content is evergreen and frequently updated, as it lets the reader know that while the post was published some time ago, it has been kept current.

Update Your Theme to Show Last Updated Dates

Use Theme Settings

Some modern WordPress themes come equipped with an option to display the last updated date. Check your theme settings in the WordPress Customizer:

1. Go to Appearance > Customize in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to the Blog settings or a similar section.
3. Look for an option labelled Post Meta or Entry Meta settings.
4. Enable the display of the last updated date if available.

Modify Your Theme’s Template Files

If your theme does not support this feature out of the box, you may need to modify the PHP template files. It’s strongly recommended to use a child theme to make these changes to prevent losing them after a theme update.

1. Access your WordPress site files using an FTP client or File Manager in your hosting control panel.

2. Navigate to your child theme folder, typically located in wp-content/themes/your-child-theme/.

3. Locate the file responsible for displaying posts. This is usually single.php or content.php.

4. Find the code that displays the published date. This typically looks like:

   the_time(get_option('date_format'));

5. Replace or augment it with:

   the_modified_time(get_option('date_format'));

This line of code fetches the last updated date of the post. Optionally, you can add a prefix string to indicate that the date is the “Last updated” date:

echo 'Last updated on: ' . get_the_modified_time(get_option('date_format'));

Add Last Updated Date Using a Plugin

If you prefer not to edit theme files directly, you can use a WordPress plugin to add the last updated date to your posts.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using a Plugin

1. Install and activate a plugin like WP Last Modified Info from the WordPress plugin repository.
2. Once activated, go to Settings > WP Last Modified Info.
3. Configure the settings according to your preference, choosing where and how the last updated date should appear.
4. Save the changes.

Boosting SEO with Last Updated Dates

Google often displays the last updated date in search results, which can make your post look more relevant. To further enhance SEO:

• Ensure your sitemap includes the last modified date. Plugins like Yoast SEO automatically include this information.
• Use structured data (schema markup) to explicitly tell search engines the significance of the update dates. This is often part of SEO plugin features but can be added manually via additional plugins or JSON-LD scripts.

Formatting and Styling Last Updated Dates

The appearance of your last updated date should match your website’s design. Here are some tips:

• Use CSS to style the date. You can add custom classes within your template files or via your plugin settings and then define these styles in your style.css file.
• Consider the typography, color, size, and positioning to ensure that it complements the overall design without overshadowing the primary content.

Testing and Validating Your Changes

After making changes, always check your posts from various devices and browsers to ensure the date displays correctly. Validate your structured data using Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure search engines can interpret the last updated dates correctly.

By effectively displaying the last updated date on your WordPress posts, you not only foster trust and reliability among your readers but also boost your site’s SEO, encouraging higher visibility and traffic.