A reader can see when the page was updated

What this is

This is the little line you see on good web pages: “Last updated 3 September 2026.” A person reads it and knows the page is current. A robot reads it too.

There is a way to write that date so a robot cannot mistake it for a phone number or a price. It uses a tag called <time>. The tag holds the date in a fixed format that machines read, while people see the normal words.

Why it matters to you

When two pages say the same thing, an AI system tends to prefer the one that looks maintained. A visible, marked-up date is the cheapest way to say “this is current.”

That only works if the date is true. If your page says “updated today” every day and nothing changes, a robot that comes back learns the date means nothing. Then it ignores it, and it may trust the rest of your page a little less too. A fake date is worse than no date.

This is a 2-point check. It is small, quick, and worth doing right.

What we look for

We read the visible text and the code of your homepage.

• Pass: the page has a <time datetime="..."> tag, or the visible text says “updated,” “reviewed” or “last modified” close to a year like 2026.
• Warn: a year appears somewhere on the page (often just the copyright line in the footer) but nothing marks it as an update date.
• Fail: no year and no date appear anywhere.

Whether you can fix this yourself

Yes. This is a line of text you add to your page, the same way you would add any sentence, and it takes five minutes.

The one rule: only write a date you would stand behind. Pick the day you last made a real change to that page. If that was 2023, write 2023. Then make a real change, and update the date honestly.

Every platform lets you type this line. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and SimplePractice all allow it in a text block. The <time> tag is a bonus. Plain words pass on their own.

How to fix it

The plain-words way (any platform)

Add a short line near the top or bottom of your page:

Last updated 3 September 2026

Use your real date. That alone passes.

The marked-up way (WordPress, Shopify, your own site)

If your editor lets you paste HTML (WordPress has a “Custom HTML” block; Shopify pages have a code view button), use the <time> tag. The datetime part is the machine format, year-month-day. The words inside are for people.

<p>Last updated <time datetime="2026-09-03">3 September 2026</time></p>

Squarespace or Wix

Use the plain-words way in a normal text block. Both have an HTML embed, but for one line plain text is enough and easier to keep current.

Keeping it honest

Look at the page every few months. If you changed something real, update the date. If not, leave it. Your sitemap has its own version of this date. See Your sitemap looks maintained.

How to check it worked

Open your homepage and look for the line. If you used the <time> tag, right-click, choose “View page source,” and search for datetime. Then run the free check again.

Do not worry about

The copyright year in your footer (”© 2026”) gets you a warn, not a fail. It is not an update date and robots know it, so do not count on it. But you do not need to remove it either.