The 2019 footer

1 · The crime

What goes wrong

A school's homepage banner says "Enrolment for 2021 is now open". The footer says © 2019. Parents start to wonder whether anything on the site is still true.

2 · The law

Old dates make people ask: are they still open?

• Visible dates are trust signals: a stale one undermines every other page.
• Placeholder text ("Lorem ipsum", "coming soon", "TBC") says the site was never finished.
• Expired offers and events are worse than none at all.

3 · The tool

Check it yourself, for free

• Search your own site for the last two years' numbers and for "lorem", "coming soon" and "TBC".
• A content calendar with a review date for every time-sensitive page.
• WebPo's free site checker, which spots old copyright years and placeholder text.

4 · The fix

Step by step

1. Make the footer year automatic.
2. Give every offer, event and announcement an end date, then remove it when it passes.
3. Replace placeholder text with two real sentences, or remove the section.
4. Review key pages (prices, hours, team) every quarter.