Creating Evergreen Content: Why It Matters and How to Do It
In the fast paced world of digital marketing, some things come and go faster than a TikTok trend! When it comes to your business’s blog, there’s only one kind of content that stands the test of time: evergreen content. If you’ve ever wondered how to go about creating evergreen content, what that even is and why it’s so important, you’re in the right spot! Let’s dive in. :-)
Creating Evergreen Content 101
What is Evergreen Content?
How did “evergreen” content get its name? Named after the evergreen pine and fir trees that keep their green color year-round, even during the winter, evergreen content is content that does not die/expire. Unlike trending topics, news, or timely pieces, evergreen content doesn’t lose its relevance over time. These are the types of content that folks will search for and find useful at any point, even years from now!
For example, blog posts titled “How to Change a Tire” or “The Ultimate Guide to Meal Prepping” will continue to remain relevant because the information will never go out of style. On the other hand, a timely post like mine last year, “Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Algorithms in 2023” was popular then, but quickly lost its shine and my audience could certainly benefit from a refresher.
Why Does Evergreen Content Matter?
Now that we know what evergreen content is, let’s talk about why it’s such a big deal for your blog and overall content strategy:
Long-Term Traffic: Evergreen content is your ticket to consistent traffic over a long period of time. People will continue to search for keywords related to your content, driving traffic to your site without much effort beyond writing the initial post. It’s smart strategy!
SEO Benefits: Fun Fact: Search engines (like Google) LOVE evergreen content! It tends to rank well in searches given that it remains relevant, and therefore leads to more organic traffic for websites. Plus, if your content is seen as valuable within your niche, other websites may include a link back to it and that will boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) even further!
Saves Time and Effort: Once you’ve written an in-depth post on each topic, you won’t have to keep churning out additional posts. Instead, you can focus on updating these how-to guides over time to keep them accurate and refreshed, saving you a lot of effort and time long-term.
Builds Authority: A lot of evergreen content is created by way of all-encompassing “The Ultimate Guide for X” or “Everything You Need to Know About X” how-to articles. This type of content will help to establish you as an expert in your field, and when folks repeatedly identify your blog as the go-to source for reliable, relevant information within your niche, they’ll be more apt to trust you and your brand.
How to Create Evergreen Content
Evergreen content may feel intimidating, but it’s not as hard to create as it sounds! Get started with these steps:
Choose the Right Topics
It’s key to pick topics that have long-lasting appeal. Think about the frequently asked questions, challenges, and pain points that your client or customer has, and those that don’t change over time. These will include how-to guides, tutorials, best practices, and 101 knowledge. For example, if you are a leadership coach, a post on “How to Lead from the Heart” will remain relevant no matter what time of year it is. Avoid any trendy or time-sensitive topics unless you’re prepared to update and rewrite on a regular basis.
Focus on Quality
It’s not just about staying power, it’s also about quality! Evergreen content needs to be well-researched, thorough, and offer tangible, actionable value to your people. The more helpful and comprehensive the post is, the more likely it will get shared, bookmarked, and revisited by the masses. This type of content should always be detailed and accurate, so don’t be afraid to go in-depth with it!
Optimize for SEO
To make sure your evergreen content gets seen, you’ll need to optimize it so that search engines favor it. You’ll need to implement relevant keywords, create catchy and informative titles, add meta descriptions, and link to both other resources on your own website AND other resources on external sites (“inbound” and “outbound” links, in other words). SEO helps your content show up higher in searches, making it extra easy for people to discover it, and since evergreen content should be relevant long-term, some extra effort in the SEO department will pay off big time.
Update Regularly
All this being said, even though evergreen content is designed to last, I don’t mean to encourage a “set it and forget it” mentality. I still go through my 101 guides periodically and swap out any outdated tidbits! Evergreen content isn’t foolproof and changes aren’t 100% unavoidable. It’s still important to revisit these posts every now and then to ensure that the information is still up-to-date - this might mean updating any broken links, adding additional supportive data, or tweaking your tips & tricks to reflect any industry updates. This will help your evergreen content maintain its value over time and avoid confusing your audience.
Promote, Promote, Promote!
In order to give your evergreen content a good boost to start, don’t forget to promote it far and wide! Include it in your email newsletters, share it to social media, and link to it from other places on your website. You may even consider asking a colleague to share it from theirs! The more visibility your content gets, the more likely it is to ultimately end up generating niche authority and website traffic over time.
Creating evergreen content is one of the smartest moves you can make for your small business blog. It delivers consistent traffic, SEO benefits, and overall brand benefits, all while providing meaningful content of value to your target audience. Take time to identify the topics that will stand the test of time and start building out that library, boss!
