The other day I was asked to optimize a website, something I do time and time again. And like the others this site suffered what the others did too. Bad copyright date.

A copyright on a website basically tells the viewer that its contents are protected from duplication from others and the date it was created or last updated.

The problem occurs when the copyright date hasn’t changed in years.

So that website that was created in 2006 still is being listed as copyright 2006.

Thats a big deal because?

Well, for starters it’s almost 2018 and your 2006 website is now 12 years old.

So in essence it tells the search engines that you haven’t updated the website in almost a decade.

Sure maybe you have updated the blog or even some of the content but you neglected to update the copyright date. And that my friend tells the search engines your content is old and may not be relevant.

I make it a point when optimizing websites to always change the date of the copyright to the current year.

It may sound trivial but it tells the search engines that your site is being maintained and they should keep indexing it. Plus, keeping the date current adds in the credibility of the site and provides the readers with added trust value.

Plus, for legality purposes a copyright tells the viewers that the content on your website is currently up to date and is off-limits to duplication.

So that 2006 copyright needs to be updated. That 2010 website copyright needs to updated. Yup, even the 2017 date will need updated very shortly.

So make sure you keep the copyright date current to protect your website content and to tell the search engines to keep indexing it.