You may have heard the term “evergreen content” used by content creators, but do you really know what it means? If not, you could be missing out one a great way to gain more traffic and improve your website’s SEO.
What is Evergreen Content?
You’re familiar with plants that stay green all year long. These include certain types of pine trees, holly shrubs, and more. These plants keep their leaves or needles all year long and stay green in the process. The plants always look fresh and alive. When it comes to evergreen content, this refers to online content that is always relevant and fresh. In other words, evergreen content is timeless and relevant.
Why is evergreen content so valuable? Because this is one of the main content marketing strategies. If you’re looking for new site visitors, then having fresh, timeless content will keep them coming. This is true even if the content has been published for some time.
You can use evergreen content to keep your business growing, while improving site traffic and visibility. However, the content needs to be informative and relevant to keep drawing new site visitors over time.
What’s the Difference Between Evergreen & Timely Content?
You may be wondering if there’s any difference at all between these two types of content. But there is a huge difference, which is important to understand.
Timely content is on topics that are time sensitive. This means the information is valuable at the time of publication. The relevance of timely content is usually within the first 24 hours after it’s been published.
An example of time sensitive content could be an article on an albino baby elephant that was recently rescued by an elephant rehabilitation organisation in South Africa. This information is only relevant at the time of publication, not later. It might make for interesting reading; however, if a reader finds the article 2-3 years later, the rescue is well in the past.
To make the topic of the baby elephant rescue evergreen, you could write about the elephant rehab organisation and their work with orphaned baby elephants. Of course, you could also include the story on the baby elephant rescue, but the main part of the article will be about the organisation. This is information that will remain important longer than 24 hours after publication.
Here are some examples of content that is not evergreen—these are time sensitive:
- Annual/monthly statistics
- Information about holidays or special occasions
- News articles and current events
- Information about latest trends
We’re not saying that time sensitive content isn’t important to your site. In fact, it is important, but you also need to balance this with evergreen content.
The Importance of Evergreen Content
Evergreen content should be used along with time sensitive content as a marketing strategy. It not only increases your site’s SEO, but it can gain rank in the search engines, leading to increased traffic, which may convert into paying customers.
The way to use evergreen content is to create a steady stream of traffic over time. Instead of looking at content as a one-time effort, take the long view and include content creation that maintains relevance for a longer time. This method can add quite a bit of value to your site. Value that site visitors are seeking.
Not only that, but your site will gain authority on the topic, especially if you regularly incorporate evergreen content over a long period.
This may seem like a huge investment in expense and time; however, evergreen content is an investment that never loses its value, and only requires a low amount of maintenance. The material may need to be updated once in a while, as needed; however, most of the information will remain valid.
How to Incorporate Evergreen Content
It’s not difficult to incorporate evergreen content on your site or blog. In fact, here are some very popular content formats that work to generate interest and steady traffic:
- Guides: are used to teach site visitors about topics on which they are looking for assistance. These are perfect for showing what you know through detailed information/instructions on a specific topic.
- How-to articles: are similar to guides but provide step-by-step instructions or tutorials on a specific topic, such as how to write a marketing email, for instance.
- Tips: share insights and skill with readers by compiling tips and advice that have helped you.
- Step-by-step instructions: these are used to help take readers through a specific process. The steps break the information into manageable tasks, making it easy for the readers to follow through the process.
Evergreen content, when done the right way, can become an effective reference online. In fact, readers may come back to it on a regular basis if the information is especially helpful. This is when your evergreen content becomes a valuable resource not only to current readers, but to new visitors as well.
How to Choose an Evergreen Topic
Remember to choose a topic that is timeless and valuable to your readers. Consider topics that site visitiors will find valuable and relevant.
To find evergreen topics, you’ll need to start out with keyword research. During this process, you’ll find those keywords and search terms that your site visitors would use to find information and businesses in your industry.
Once you’ve found the keyword(s), you can follow these steps to ensure your content is written in an evergreen style:
Optimise for SEO: this means using your keywords naturally throughout the article, but do not “keyword stuff.” Google penalises sites that keyword stuff. In addition, be sure to include links to relevant sources that are helpful to your readers. This also works to increase your site’s SEO and ranking in the search engines.
Write in easy to understand language: avoid using jargon, as readers will not understand it and will leave your site. Instead, use lay-terms and words for site readers who may not be experts on the topic. This way everyone will understand what is said, and your topic will remain evergreen.
Avoid using words that imply a time or period: this can include avoiding slang, but it also refers to using time references in your articles. Avoid phrases such as “Today, we’ll take a look at…” When you use terms that imply a period or a specific time, your article immediately loses its evergreen status. So, avoid using words such as: today, earlier this month, two hours ago, yesterday, and more.
Be detailed to look like an expert: this is the best way to come across as an expert but avoid jargon. Include only relevant information for your readers and don’t skip steps you assume readers may know. Never assume.
Keep Evergreen Content Updated
All evergreen content needs to be updated in order to stay relevant. For this reason, it’s a good idea to check older content to make sure it’s performing well, and that the information is still correct. Make any changes needed to update the content, yet keep it evergreen.
Evergreen content is a valuable content marketing tool; when used effectively, it can help keep current site visitors coming back for home, as well as gaining new visitors to your site. Just be sure to keep your evergreen content up to date and relevant, and you’ll have a valuable marketing tool for years to come.
