We live in the world of constantly evolving trends and the never-ending cycle of FOMO (fear of missing out). It seems that in order to always have a perfectly tailored content strategy for each of the clients, it is a must to be a part of this relentless chase for yet another new, flashy and tempting thing to write about, try or create. By the looks of things, anything that aims to stick around a little longer not only fails to provide any immediate gratification but also does not appear to be interesting enough to grab the attention of other people in the first place.
Although it may appear that, nowadays, no one cares about timelessness whatsoever, quite the contrary now is that it’s actually the perfect time to reevaluate your perception of what effective content marketing and relevance truly mean thanks to your new favourite type of content. Evergreen content.
What Is Evergreen Content?
To explain it in the simplest terms, evergreen content is not limited by time. It does not follow any recent trends, events or hot topics that will lose their popularity in a matter of weeks. It aims to provide valuable information that over months or even years, will still be considered useful. It lasts.
Imagine you are writing a piece on ‘How to write evergreen content’. The useful tips and tricks you provide in your article, such as step-by-step instructions or what to include and avoid will be meaningful for your readers, even months after the initial publication. Over time, you might learn a thing or two about evergreen content and decide to update your article with new, interesting insights but the overall structure, message and intent of it will remain the same.
What Isn’t Evergreen Content?
If it still sounds a bit vague, then let us dig deeper into what evergreen content is not. For instance, writing about seasonal holidays such as Easter, Christmas and Valentine’s Day will attract traffic only throughout a specific time of the year and will be abandoned as soon as the celebrations come to an end. Posting hot news about what is going on in pop culture might only last a week, not to mention a few months or longer. Any trends, statistics and reports will also quickly go out of date, and for that reason are not considered to be evergreen either.
It does not mean that time-sensitive topics should be left out of the picture altogether. It is still equally important to keep your readership informed, especially if they are on the lookout for a trusted source that will engage them with what is happening in the world. The critical part here is to find the right balance between evergreen and topical content to ensure that your website is diversified, informative and interesting.
Examples of Evergreen Content
Some of the best examples of evergreen content are, for instance, how-to guides, tips, tutorials or pieces based on FAQs. These types of content have a high chance of being looked at months after the publication date as they provide timeless knowledge, instructions or guidelines. If you want to go a step further, instead of publishing only blog posts, you can get creative with adding evergreen videos, diagrams or a series of images. Reviews, testimonials and interviews are also great formats to play with.
For instance, you can create an infographic dividing your topic into simple steps and turning your content into an instructive guideline.
You can also opt for a handy checklist, listing all the essential items to bring or tasks to complete.
Here, it is important to remember that choosing the right format does not automatically make it evergreen. In order for the content to be truly lasting, the choice of an appropriate topic plays a crucial role.
A good example of such content is ’How to Start a Business: A Step-By-Step Guide’ from Business News Daily. The article conveys timeless information on how to set up a business and is formatted into an accessible step-by-step guide with a clear list of what actions need to be taken in order to achieve the goal. The content is relevant months after publishing and, with frequent updates, can be a valuable source of knowledge even years later.
Another good example is a ‘List of Newborn Baby Essentials’ such as the one created by Pampers. The content provides helpful information about preparing for the arrival of a baby in a checklist format – from baby nursery and bath time, to on-the-go essentials, and an entire section dedicated to health and safety. That type of knowledge will not expire. It will stay relevant to all new parents regardless of whether they will stumble upon the article right away or not.
Why Evergreen Content Is Important for SEO
Successful content strategy is a long-term commitment that requires a huge amount of persistence, consistency and patience. It is not easy to quickly rank high in SERP and for that reason, implementing evergreen content into your plan might be the missing puzzle you have been looking for.
On top of that, creating content that is not time-sensitive in combination with SEO can not only have a positive impact on ranking but can also generate leads, build brand authority, drive traffic, grow backlinks to your website and so much more. Not to mention, it can be a fantastic opportunity for you to gradually build up extensive topic clusters around your area of expertise. That way you will also make use of your resources in a smart and sustainable way.
Tips for Creating Evergreen Content
The most important part of the process is to do the proper research beforehand. Prior to anything else, you need to figure out your niche and what evergreen topic your audience find genuinely interesting. You may also have a look at different topics and consider if there is any particular one that could be divided into a few pieces of content. That way, you can additionally create more than one high-quality material related to one umbrella topic which, over time, will help you gain authority on this specific subject.
The next important step in the creation of evergreen content, particularly if you are writing a blog post or a long article, would be to choose the most relevant keywords with the help of tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Semrush. Additionally, a fantastic way to not only learn about your audience’s interests but also how to plan a proper structure of your content, is to explore the Google SERP feature People Also Ask. That way you can make great use of long-tail keywords in the form of different sections separated by subheadings.
As already mentioned above, another significant factor is to think about the right format. If your audience is used to visual materials, an effective solution is to opt for an instructional video or a mindmap, and when one of the biggest strengths of your site is actually a blog, do not forget about SEO and spend a great amount of time writing some high-quality pieces. If you want to get some inspiration on SEO-friendly writing, we wrote a separate article covering 11 tips on how you should optimise your blog posts for SEO, and if you are still not entirely convinced whether SEO is worth the hassle, read our article on why you should optimise them.
Pay attention to the difficulty of your language and try to avoid technical jargon, whenever possible. Choose words that make your content pleasant and easy to understand. As an expert, your intent is to explain an issue and reach the widest audience from your target demographics. Your content should also exhaust the topic and cover it in-depth to increase your chances of getting a relatively high position in the ranking and boost its E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) quality ratings.
Make sure to frequently update your evergreen content, including hashtags, internal links and images, so that it stays relevant long after the initial publication date. Think about whether it is useful, sharable and clear and put it in a visible location on your website so that your audience can easily access it, either as a highlighted post or a part of the homepage. Lastly, do not hesitate to repurpose it. It is a great way to consistently engage with other people by reusing your content in another form.
Evergreen Content Ideas
- If you have expertise in any particular field, you could choose to write a guide such as the essential guide to writing good Instagram captions or the ultimate guide to marketing campaigns.
- You could also structure your content around how to do something, for instance how to create a website or how to market NFTs.
- Another good option would be to make a list of tips, tricks or ways to achieve something and add a number to it like 10 ways to cope with stress, 5 tips on how to verify information acquired from the internet or 9 tricks to learn anything faster.
- Depending on the type of business, you may also want to consider creating a case study, which will increase your credibility and positively impact your brand image.
- If it applies to your niche, opt for a handy glossary comprising the most important terminology within your industry such as the ultimate dictionary of marketing terms you should know.
- Or create a resource list to encourage your audience to frequently visit your website and refer to your content as much as possible.
- You could also explain the history of a specific topic, product or service which can be another, easy and entertaining idea for content that lasts.
- Last but not least, you could create useful instructions for beginners and help your new audience navigate through the industry from the start.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a healthy boost of organic traffic, evergreen content might be exactly what you have been missing all along. Material that is not time-sensitive is also a fantastic opportunity to educate, build a long-lasting relationship with your audience and refine your brand image.
If you would like to create a competitive content marketing plan and incorporate evergreen content into your strategy, do not hesitate to contact our team. GA Agency can guide you through every step of the process and help you achieve some outstanding results along the way with our variety of services offered.
