How often should you update your website?

There is no useful universal update schedule

Pages that state facts which change need updating when those facts change. Everything else needs updating when it stops being true or stops matching what people search for. That may mean updating a restaurant’s opening hours the same day they change, reviewing a service page every six months, or leaving a strong explainer alone for three years because it is still accurate and useful.

A calendar can help you remember to check pages. It should not force you to rewrite them for the sake of activity. A page does not become better because someone changed three sentences on the first Monday of the month.

What the freshness myth gets wrong

Google has said freshness matters for queries where newer information is expected, but freshness is not a general ranking bonus for every page. A search for “US election results” needs current information. A search for “how to bleed a radiator” usually does not.

Google’s systems try to understand when people want recent information. Queries containing words such as “2026,” “today,” “latest,” “price,” or “opening hours” are obvious examples. News, product availability, legal rules, local events, software releases, and transport times can also become outdated quickly.

Changing a publication date without changing the substance does not make an old article fresh. It can make the page look careless to readers, and Google has specifically warned against changing dates simply to appear current. If the facts did not change, the date should not pretend that they did.

Freshness matters when the search deserves fresh information. It is not a reason to rewrite every page on a timetable.

Which pages decay first

Pages decay when the facts, choices, or expectations behind them change. These pages deserve a regular check because a small error can send a visitor away or create a customer-service problem.

• Prices and offers: A service page saying “boiler repairs from £89” becomes misleading when the minimum price is £129.
• Opening hours and contact details: Holiday hours, phone numbers, addresses, booking links, and emergency availability need checking whenever they change.
• Staff and team pages: A page naming a dentist, solicitor, trainer, or manager becomes wrong when that person leaves or changes role.
• Anything with a year in it: “Best accounting software for 2025” needs a review before and during 2026. The year is a promise that the research is current.
• Comparison pages: Product features, plans, integrations, warranties, and competitors change often. A comparison can become wrong even when its writing still sounds polished.
• Rules and requirements: Tax thresholds, planning rules, visa requirements, industry standards, and eligibility criteria may change after a new announcement.
• Inventory and availability pages: A shop’s “in stock” claim, a hotel’s room types, or a course’s next start date should match what customers can actually buy.

Which pages can stay useful for years

A good explainer can sit unchanged for years when its advice remains accurate, its examples still make sense, and it continues to answer the search clearly. Age alone is not evidence that a page needs a rewrite.

For example, a plumber’s guide to “how to stop a tap dripping” may stay useful for a long time. The basic steps are stable. A page explaining what a power of attorney is may also remain accurate for years, although legal content needs a careful check when the law or official guidance changes.

Do not confuse an old-looking date with an old answer. Some pages rank because they explain a stable topic better than newer competitors. Rewriting one just to add a recent statistic can remove the clear definition, useful example, or wording that made it work.

How often should each page type be reviewed

Use the schedule below as a starting point for checks, not as a demand to publish changes. Update a page sooner when a fact changes, a customer spots an error, or search results show that people now want something different.

Page type | Check at least | Update when ---|---|--- Prices, offers, opening hours, contact details | Monthly and whenever changed | The fact changes Staff, locations, services, availability | Monthly or quarterly | A person, place, service, or booking option changes Legal, financial, medical, or safety guidance | Quarterly, plus official announcements | Rules, evidence, guidance, or risks change Year-specific guides and buying advice | Every 3–6 months | The year, products, prices, or recommendations change Comparison and alternatives pages | Every 3 months | Features, plans, competitors, or suitability changes Core service and product pages | Every 6–12 months | The offer, audience, proof, or search intent changes Evergreen explainers and how-to guides | Every 12–24 months | The instructions become inaccurate or less useful Case studies and testimonials | Every 12 months | Results, dates, services, or customer permission change

A review can be quick. Check the title, main promise, prices, dates, links, examples, calls to action, and the first page of search results. If all still match reality, record the check and leave the page alone.

Why rewriting a page that ranks can hurt

Rewriting a page that already ranks can reduce its traffic if you remove the wording, detail, links, or structure that helped it satisfy searchers. A rewrite is not automatically an improvement.

Suppose a barber ranks for “skin fade barber in Bristol.” The page may be working because it clearly says “skin fade,” names Bristol neighbourhoods, shows prices, and answers whether walk-ins are accepted. A broad rewrite that replaces those specific details with fashionable phrases such as “premium grooming experience” may sound nicer but match fewer searches.

There is also a conversion risk. Removing a frequently asked question, a service limitation, or a clear price can make the page less useful even if rankings stay the same. Traffic is not the only measure of a successful page; enquiries and bookings matter too.

How to update a page without losing what works

Preserve the parts that already work, then make targeted changes around the new facts or search need. Treat a successful page as something to improve carefully, not as a blank document.

1. 1.Record the current results: Note the page’s main queries, ranking range, organic visits, enquiries, sales, and important inbound links. Google Search Console and your analytics tool can provide most of this information.
2. 2.Read the page as a customer: Check whether the answer is clear, the offer is still available, and the next step works on a phone.
3. 3.Check the search results: Search the main query and related questions. Look for new expectations, such as pricing, delivery information, a calculator, reviews, or a comparison table.
4. 4.Change only what needs changing: Replace incorrect facts, add missing information, update examples, and improve unclear sections. Keep useful headings and wording unless there is a reason to change them.
5. 5.Keep the URL where possible: A stable URL preserves the page’s history and links. If the URL must change, redirect the old address to the closest new one.
6. 6.Monitor after publishing: Compare impressions, clicks, rankings, enquiries, and engagement over the next two to eight weeks. A short-term fluctuation is not always a problem, but a sustained decline deserves investigation.

Make a copy before a major rewrite. If performance drops, you can compare the old and new versions instead of guessing what caused the change. For high-value pages, update in stages: fix factual errors first, then add genuinely useful information, then review the results.

What a sensible maintenance process looks like

Keep a simple page list with the URL, page type, last factual check, owner, key facts, and next review date. The owner might be a business manager, not a developer. The point is to know who can confirm that a price, service, or claim is still true.

Start with pages that affect money or trust. Check the pages people visit before contacting you, the pages that rank for valuable searches, and anything that promises a current fact. A small business may only need to manage 20 important pages rather than inspect its whole site every week.

Automation can help find possible problems. A crawler can flag broken links, and a spreadsheet can highlight dates or pages not reviewed in a year. Tools can identify candidates for review; they cannot decide whether a statement about your service is still true.

If you have many pages, RubyFlow can help identify copy that no longer matches current searches or business information. You still need a person to approve claims about prices, policies, availability, and results.

The practical answer is accuracy, not activity

Update a page when its facts change, when its advice becomes inaccurate, or when it no longer answers the way people search. Review high-risk pages monthly or quarterly, core pages every six to twelve months, and stable explainers every one to two years.

Do not change a date or rewrite a useful page just to signal freshness. A current, accurate page that answers the question well is more valuable than a constantly edited page with no meaningful improvement.