Evergreen Content: What it is and How to Write it
Evergreen content is the big buzzword in the marketing world. But what is it and how do you write it? Evergreen content is essentially content written about a topic that won’t go out of style regardless of how much time has passed.
If you’re looking for content that’ll boost your content marketing strategy and be a source of long-term growth, look no further. Keep reading to learn more about evergreen content and how to write it.
What is evergreen content?
Think evergreen trees – instead of dropping their leaves they keep their lush foliage throughout the year.
The same concept applies to evergreen content. Evergreen content should be about a topic that will always be relevant to your audience no matter how much time has passed. This type of content won’t become outdated and will remain fresh over time.
You’ll know if you’re writing about an evergreen topic if it will have consistent interest and search volume over time. Answering FAQs, providing advice and tips, or explaining complex topics related to a specific industry are all examples of ways to approach writing evergreen content.
The information you include in this content should be consistently relevant to your audience over time and won’t quickly go out of date. Specific formats lend themselves well to evergreen content more than others since they can better stand the test of time.
Here are some evergreen content ideas:
“How-to” articles (for beginners or experts)
Tips and tricks
Listicles
History of something
Case studies
Evergreen Content in the Wild
If this is starting to make some sense, let’s look at some evergreen content examples in the real world.
Let’s be honest, who hasn’t searched this before? Recipes tend to be excellent examples of evergreen content. Information about making this breakfast staple likely won’t change much, and people will always seek out this how-to.
Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Moz’s SEO guide is a prime example of evergreen content. This guide does a great job of walking marketers through a very complex topic: SEO. And it’s not going out of style anytime soon.
The fundamentals of budgeting haven’t changed over time – subtract expenses from income and budget the rest. People will always be interested in how to create a simple budget no matter the season or year.
Okay, so now we know what evergreen content is, but let’s spend a quick minute on what it isn’t.
The Opposite of Evergreen
To better grasp the concept, it might be easier to think about what isn’t considered evergreen.
Trends or fads - For example, the latest fashion trends have a short content lifespan before being replaced by something newer.
News articles - While essential to write about, news articles won’t have consistent search volume over a long period.
Statistics or reports related to a specific time - Articles about the “best of 20XX” are helpful in that year and become irrelevant after the new year.
Seasonal topics - Take topics like Halloween costumes or decorating Easter eggs. These are only searched once a year and wouldn’t have consistent interest year-round.
All of these topics wouldn’t cut it for writing evergreen content. These are likely to become outdated quickly and wouldn’t stand the test of time.
However, keep in mind that timely or trendy topics are still great to write about if you want a quick boost in traffic or leads. While this type of content can create a short-term spike in traffic, it won’t be a long-term growth solution.
Not all content has to be evergreen, but it’s a good idea to create as much content that’s evergreen as possible.
Importance of Evergreen Content
So you may still be wondering why evergreen content is so vital to your content strategy. Let’s go through the main reasons why content marketers love evergreen content so much:
Keeps your search engine ranking growing.
Evergreen content will stay relevant over time and have consistent search volume. Search engines look for sites that provide people with answers to their queries and bump those higher up in search results. If people get answers from your evergreen content, this will help improve your search rankings.
Drives continuous traffic to your site over time.
The same concept applies here. As long as your content is relevant, people should constantly be visiting your website. Evergreen content helps maintain a stream of traffic rather than having it drop off over time.
Gain more regular organic traffic.
As your search engine ranking improves, you should see an increase in regular organic traffic. The better your evergreen content is, the higher you will rank. If your content is outdated, it won’t rank, and you won’t have as much organic traffic.
Do more with less
Creating evergreen content is a great way to see the benefits over time. Writing about trendy or time-sensitive topics will get you on a hamster wheel of content creation and if you stop, your traffic will tank. It’ll save you quite a bit of time and energy.
Evergreen content is a content marketer’s best friend since it provides such long-term value – and it gets bonus points for being a time-saver!
How to Write Evergreen Content
So, now you may be asking how do I create evergreen content? Here’s how:
Step 1: Choose your keywords wisely.
Good keyword research is the basis for a successful article or blog. You want to look for keywords with search volume. Try using Wordtracker to see the search volume and search potential.
You can use other tools like Google Trends to see the trends for your keyword and related keywords.
Choose keywords that have had a positive trend over a long time. Your keyword shouldn’t have declining search popularity or seasonal spikes.
The graph below shows the Google search interest over time for the keyword “Halloween costume.” Look at the spikes at certain points throughout the year — this would be an example of a keyword that wouldn’t work well for evergreen content.
“Halloween costumes” is an example of a keyword that has a seasonal trend.
On the other hand, take a look at the trend on the graph below. The Google search interest for “content marketing” portrays a positive trend. This keyword would be an excellent example of a keyword to consider using for writing evergreen content.
“Content marketing” is an example of a keyword with a positive trend.
Step 2: Use SEO best practices.
Don’t forget about optimizing your piece for SEO. Be sure to add alt text to any images you plan to use throughout the piece. Add your keyword to your content title and the URL. Sprinkle it throughout the body of your content and in some of the headings.
Remember, don’t overdo it. You don’t want keyword overload so be sure to choose quality keywords over quantity.
Be sure to also use internal links throughout your content to any of your other evergreen content!
Step 3: Create high-quality and unique content with authority.
Evergreen content should be very accessible and easy to read. Evergreen content should be written so that a beginner can easily understand what you’re trying to say.
Most often, experts won’t be searching for broader topics. Your evergreen content should cater to larger audiences, rather than more niche groups.
Avoid using overly-technical jargon that only experts will understand. By sharing your expertise in an easy-to-understand way, you’ll capture a wider audience.
Your content must be unique and extremely high-quality – it should be 10X content. This means that you should strive to make content that’s 10 times better than the next best piece of content written on a similar topic.
The content needs to be interesting and engaging, while also answering a question or solving a problem. What’s going to make someone want to read your content over someone else’s?
You also want the entire experience of reading your content to be enjoyable and easy. Be sure to make the overall website experience high-quality and user-focused. Show that you’re an expert on that topic, without overdoing the technical piece.
Step 4: Write timeless content.
Now this might seem impossible at first, but it’s actually quite simple – I promise.
The easiest way to make timeless content is by leaving out any pop culture, trendy, or news-related references. These references will go out of style quickly and leave you with content that’s outdated.
You’re also going to want to avoid language that references a certain time frame. This can date your content. Writing “Best of 20XX” content can increase your ranking in the short term, but only for a limited time until the new year rolls around.
As long as you keep your content general and not tied to a specific year or time frame, you’ll be golden. Remember, you want your content to be able to be read 2, 5, or even 10 years down the line and still be helpful.
Step 5: Repurpose your content.
If you’ve managed to make great evergreen content, this should easily sustain your other marketing channels. Repurposing content is a great way to pull the maximum value out of your evergreen content.
You can use your evergreen content to create Ebooks, write video scripts, post on your socials, and more. The options are pretty limitless when it comes to repurposing content.
Allow your evergreen content to help you reach new audiences and get more value out of your fantastic content.
Step 6: Refresh the content and keep it up to date.
Now while we say you can write evergreen content and then it does the rest of the work by itself, there are some things that will need attention over time.
Make sure to periodically check all the links you used throughout to make sure none of them are broken.
If you did use any stats in the piece, be sure to update these too with any recent data.
Did your industry experience something new or did any processes change? Go back in and make those edits. Be sure to note the date that your content was updated. This shows readers that you’re maintaining your content and providing the most up-to-date information!
Evergreen content will be your best friend once you perfect the practice of creating it. It’ll take some time to get the hang of it, but once you do, I promise you won’t regret it.
Need help creating more evergreen content? Looking to kickstart your content journey? Quill & Pine is here for you! Reach out to schedule a consultation to learn more about how we can help.
