When to publish & update content using SEO insights

Here’s how to use SEO insights to decide optimal publishing times, when to update content and when to create new articles

Dec 02, 2024

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This week: When to publish content and when to update using SEO data/insights! Have you had conversations with editors about optimal publishing times for stories? Have editors asked whether it’s best to update an existing article or start a new file? We walk through what to consider for publishing times, when it makes sense to update and when it’s best to update a story.

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In this issue:

Why publishing times matter
What is Google’s QDF algorithm?
How to determine when to publish a story
When to update and when to publish a new file

THE 101

Why publishing times matter for news organizations

In the early days of newspapers, there was one publishing time — when the physical paper landed on your doorstep. Early online news content was often published all at once, either late in the evening or the next morning.

Now, news is immediate and the flow of stories — and updates — is constant. It's becoming increasingly important to think about when to publish content to get in front of as many people as possible.

As audience editors, it's important to consider your niche, location and volume of content to inform publishing times. Equally important is knowing when to update stories with new information (with a fresh timestamp) or write a new file entirely.

What is Google’s Query Deserves Freshness (QDF) algorithm?

Publishing at the optimal time ensures content is fresh for readers, something Google has said is important for ranking in search. Google's query deserves freshness (QDF) ranking system, first introduced in 2007, prioritizes recency and relevance for trending or rapidly evolving topics.

When readers search a query, the algorithm determines the search intent and if it is related to a trending topic or major news moment. From there, Google will prioritize new content that is recent, relevant and answers the search intent. This is why search results refresh a ton with new stories during big, breaking news moments like elections or sporting events.

Freshness is determined by factors like the publication date, frequency of updates and the content’s relevance to the term’s intent. QDR is directly related to news and topics that become news.

Therefore, audience editors need to monitor how search intent evolves and, when it changes, react accordingly.

THE HOW TO

How to determine when to publish a story

Every niche has peak interest times. Use Google Trends to determine when readers look for information on topics your publication consistently covers.

For example, interest in “news” peaks every day in the U.S. at 6 a.m. ET. After that, it drops off substantially throughout the day.

But last week, the pattern for interest in “sports” was abnormal because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. and the change in the NFL schedule. Normally, the spike (outside of Thursday) is around 5-6 a.m. ET, but it moved later in the day on Thanksgiving to align with the three games being played.

Topic-based examples like what to watch and easy dinner ideas showcase how search interest tends to follow an identifiable pattern.

We can use this data to inform the optimal publishing window.

Keep in mind your geography. A west coast publication that mostly covers environmental news, for example, will have a different publishing schedule than a European local site.

Conduct an audit of your current publishing times to uncover existing patterns. In your analytics platform of choice, export your top 100 stories over the last 6-12 months and add columns for publication time and the article’s main referral channel. Look for correlations between publishing times and performance, specifically on search and organic (which typically reflects direct visit from readers regularly coming to your site). If there is, there may be an optimal time that your audience likes to read your content.

Bonus: Make a copy of this template to get started with the analysis. ChatGPT can help with correlation analysis, but be sure to fact check its findings.

But remember: this is all subject to change. News is volatile, and “normal” is rarely something we experience. React and publish accordingly.

How to use search insights to inform various publishing situations:

Publishing times for a tentpole event: Look at the year prior (or even the past five years) in Google Trends to determine when interest picks up and when it peaks. This is likely the same every year.

Publishing times for breaking news: Publish the story as soon as possible. Consult Google Trends for the current interest levels and if they are dropping quick, dropping gradually or holding steady. Normally, interest spikes and then drops off fast, so publishing quickly after a breaking news moment is important. Publish supplementary stories based on the audience appetite, news value and reporting capacity.

Publishing times for a series of stories: Keep in mind your baseline topic interest trendline from before, and use your journalistic judgment. Editors likely want to publish everything all at once, but this will make it difficult to compete in search and not end up cannibalizing your own efforts.

Consider publishing one or two pieces immediately with a 15-30 minute gap in between. If the story is trending early in the day, you can likely publish another story later when the night spike happens. Otherwise, advise editors to publish in the morning when interest is higher.
Depending on the topic, consider an in-article module with links to all of the pieces, or an article summarizing/aggregating everything that links all of the work together.

Publishing times for a scoop/exclusive: Consider your competitive edge. You want to make sure your outlet is staffed to promote the scoop, but that you also have a buffer to capitalize on the trending interest that could accumulate post-publication. Some outlets like using 5 a.m. for this approach because you have the entire day to promote the story. Others prefer to publish late at night (9 p.m. - 11:59 p.m.), as it’s often harder for other newsrooms to turn around a story at this time. This enables you to have a head start on interest and be linked to from external sources, especially if they are unable to produce their own aggregation.

Pro tip: If you decide to publish at night, monitor SERPs the next morning to see how Google is reacting to a story that was published the day before. If it’s struggling or dropping off after other sites aggregate it, consider updating the headline/timestamp to stay relevant in search.

When to update and when to publish a new file

You've likely encountered a situation where someone suggests updating a days old news article when a story regains relevance.

Sometimes, this is fine. But when considering Google and the pace of the broader news ecosystem, adding a line to an old story is not enough.

Read the existing article first and ask yourself the following questions:

Is this an evergreen or news article?
How old is the article?/When was the article published?
Is the topic “live”? Are there a lot of moving parts/developments that require consistent updates?
Does the new information significantly update or alter the current story?
Is the new information substantive enough to build out a new story?

Use your journalist instinct and an audit of the Google landscape to decide what’s best.

Here’s what to consider for each article type:

Is it an evergreen explainer/FAQ/tracker? Update the explainer with new information that makes sense and update the timestamp, headline and image.
How old is the article? For same-day developments, refresh the existing story. For articles more than a day old, start a fresh file every day and link back to earlier coverage. This exemplifies expertise and authority to both readers and Google, because you have a series of stories on the evolving topic.
Is the topic “live” or have a lot of moving parts? Publish a live blog if bandwidth allows for news that is rapidly evolving. For multi-day news, consider a new blog each day, or updating the blog's URL to trigger a freshness update. John Shehata says it’s best practice to have a fresh URL each day for blogs as it performs better on search.
Does the information significantly update or alter the current story? If so, publish a new file and update as necessary. Link the stories together.

Consider the branches of the storyline here, too. An article shouldn’t focus on too many subtopics if they can be broken out separately.

As well, consult Google’s SERPs and look at your competitors to see what other outlets are doing. Do they update existing stories? Are they publishing new content? This can help you determine what is best for your audience, as well as what Google favours.

If an article does not have a substantive update, avoid updating the timestamp (for example, typos or spelling mistakes don’t need a new timestamp, nor does adding a single sentence). Vanity refreshes could cause Google to penalize your site, which would hurt you more in the long run.

Publishing a new story or updating an existing one depends on your goals and editorial capacity. As always, use your news judgment. Sometimes a story just needs an additional line or an updated headline.

The bottom line: Publishing times are very circumstantial, but having an understanding of the optimal times to publish and how to publish a story is vital to your success. Search is all about speed and relevance — ensure your publishing strategy aligns accordingly.

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