Creating content is hard work and, sometimes, the results are not as good as expected. But, how about you create content that stays relevant over the years and gets traffic constantly?
This is what we call evergreen content, defined by website Digital Marketing Institute as “search-optimized content that is continually relevant and stays “fresh” for readers over a long period of time – as the name implies”.
It’s content that’s useful for the audience, therefore it increases its value and traffic over time. Some examples of it include tutorials, product reviews, guides, tips, how-tos, etc.
But what exactly classifies as evergreen content? Keep reading!
The traits of evergreen content
Not all content is classified as evergreen. Those pieces that are susceptible to time and trends are content that is seasonal and is only popular for a period of time. However, once that period passes, the content expires. Some examples of this are content pieces related to elections, sport games or seasonal holidays.
On the other hand, evergreen content is the kind of content that it’s not sensitive to time. As we mentioned before, guides, tutorials and reviews are content that, even if time passes, it will still be useful for the user. Why? Because it’s original, it has high quality, it’s relevant, appropriate and reaches a specific goal.
How many times have you searched for a cooking recipe or how to fix something? This kind of content is ageless, it’s something that all people will search on the internet at least once in their life.
Why you should invest in evergreen content
Knowing the characteristics of evergreen content, you can probably guess why it’s time for you to create this kind of content.
First of all, evergreen content saves time. Creating long lasting content can help publishers optimize times since it doesn’t need to be updated or rewritten as often as other kinds of content. For this reason, you could also say that it basically sustains itself.
It can also help you increase the volume of organic traffic driven to your site. While non-evergreen content will have a burst of traffic during the period it’s posted, due to the nature of this kind of content, this traffic spike is short-lived. However, evergreen content can drive steady levels of organic traffic for a continued period of time. That’s why, for publishers, it’s more profitable and sustainable!
How can you create evergreen content?
Now that you know what evergreen content is, you may be wondering, how can I create this kind of long-lasting content?
1. Know your audience
Even though you’re trying to please a lot of people, remember that you need to stick to your business’ goal, mission and values. Talking about topics that are not related to your business will leave your audience confused.
That’s why you need to focus on creating something that reaches a specific goal and has the particular purpose of creating a solution for your audience’s problems and needs.
2. Select the right topics
Choosing the correct topics is also one of the most important aspects of creating evergreen content. You need to talk about something that provides value to your audience.
There are a few methods to look for the best topics:
- Look for keywords with high volumes of traffic.
- Check keywords with high and consistent search intent over time.
- Search for keywords that have an increasing trend in terms of traffic. This means, topics that are gradually gaining popularity.
- Check what your competitors are doing and fill in the holes of their content by creating pieces with higher quality.
3. Create high quality content
In order for your potential audience to click on your content, it needs to be engaging, useful, unique, optimized for SEO and have high quality. In short, it has to be better than the content from your competitors!
Also, remember that this kind of content is content that is not sensitive to time, so it’s important to avoid using overly-trendy terms and references that will become forgettable once the hype dies down.
4. Repurpose content
If you have pieces that are already getting good amounts of traffic for a long period of time, you need to take action before the traffic starts declining.
Keeping your content updated and optimized will help you maintain the levels of traffic for a longer period of time. For instance, you can update the info, stats, broken links, as well as obsolete videos, photos or other additional media.
You can also adapt your content to other channels to keep pushing the piece and help it gain traffic from other sources.
Evergreen content is a great asset to have in your content strategy as it will allow you to drive organic traffic during a long period of time. Thankfully with these tips, you will be able to start creating useful, long-lasting content for your audience!
What is evergreen content?
Evergreen content is a type of content that stays relevant and original over a long period of time.
Why is evergreen content beneficial for publishers?
Evergreen content is useful for publishers because it allows them to increase the levels of organic traffic of their site and it can help them optimize times.