How Does Google Treat Date Ranges For a Specific Keyword or Query?

[andrewv]

How are date ranges interpreted by Google - ie if you type "1993-2003" does Google know 1995 is incl. and should be referenced for a query? What is the best practice for an ecomm site when it comes to a landing page for multiple years? Should be list out each year (looks spammy, "2003,2004,2005...), go with a full range (1993-2003 ), or is a two digit range suffice (88-95)?

[Everett]

Hello Andrew,

It sounds like you're asking about how you should format your on-page factors to rank for searches in which people are typing in a specific year, or range of years. If this is the case, I think you will need to include each of the years. When I search Google for a date range as part of the query (not as part of an advanced search, more on that below...) it shows me exactly what I typed in. So if I search for "shoes 2005-2009" I get pages for that exact date range first, with some single year results for 2005 and/or 2009... but without any 2006, 07, or 08 results.

If I search for "shoes 2006" I don't get any of those 2005-2009 results, and instead get results from only 2006, or those with 2006 as part of the listed range (e.g. 2006-2007, 2004-2006, etc...).

In other words, when searched like that it just treats the date/s as part of the query like any other number - meaning you'd have to include that date in the on-page optimization.

However, a searcher can search within a custom date range on Google by going to Search Tools --> and changing "Any time" to "Custom range", then selecting the range from the calender. This isn't going to show those pages that are "optimized" for the dates, but rather the ones that were discovered by Google on those dates.

If you give us a little more detail about what you are trying to accomplish, what types of products you have, etc.... we may be able to provide more assistance with regard to best practices surrounding date-based archives/campaigns/products Vs "evergreen" landing pages that are frequently updated.

Good luck!

[andrewv]

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[andrewv]

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