1. Look Directly on the Page
Most articles display the publication date right under the headline or near the author’s name. If it’s not there, scroll to the bottom of the page for a copyright date or check the author bio section. Some sites also include the date in the URL — look for a year or full date in the link. You can also glance at the oldest comment under the post to estimate when it went live, though that’s less precise.
2. Search with Google
You can use Google search operators to uncover the date. Copy the page URL, paste it into Google with inurl: before it (e.g., inurl:example.com/article) and hit search. Then, add &as_qdr=y15 at the end of the URL in your browser and press enter. This advanced search trick can reveal when Google first indexed the page — often close to its publication date.
3. Use the Wayback Machine
Visit web.archive.org, paste the webpage URL, and press enter. If the site was archived, you’ll see a timeline of snapshots. Browse the earliest snapshot to see when the page first appeared online. This is especially handy for older or frequently updated sites.
Whether for academic citation or verifying content freshness, these methods help you confidently pinpoint a website’s publication date and assess how current the information is.
