What would you say is the more effective content strategy tactic: to create content that’s only relevant for a few months, or to write articles that stay valuable for years?
I would say the latter. If you work in content marketing, you may have heard the phrase “evergreen content” referenced in various industry blogs. Evergreen content describes articles that are timeless and can be a resource to clients and customers for years after the piece is first published. While minor updates may need to be made, evergreen content, for the most part, remains unchanged and requires little upkeep.
While seasonal, event and other date-focused articles can be a part of your marketing strategy, it’s essential that the majority of your content is evergreen. Evergreen content leads to higher search-engine rankings, an increase in website traffic and more lead-generation opportunities. This is because evergreen content remains relevant, and in the future people will continue to search for the information you’ve provided, whereas topics that aren’t considered evergreen might never be searched again.
Now that we’ve established the importance of evergreen content, let’s talk about what evergreen content is and what it isn’t. More than likely, your blog already has timeless articles – you just might not realize it. These are popular blog formats and topics used to create evergreen content:
- “How to” guides
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Top tips
- Definitions
Using these formats to create content, however, doesn’t mean your words will automatically be timeless. To ensure your blog will stay relevant for years, avoid writing:
- Statistics (if you do use stats, be prepared to go back in and update them periodically)
- Dates
- Seasonal trends
- News articles
- Holiday or seasonal-focused articles
- Event summaries
These types of articles still have their merits, but no matter what industry you work in, a vast majority of your blog’s content must be evergreen. While seasonal and timely topics can boost traffic momentarily, timeless content will help your readership and business grow steadily for years.
Take us for all we’re worth. Check out these related articles: 3 Reasons FAQs Make Ideal Evergreen Website Content, Calculating the Lifetime Benefit (and Cost) of Evergreen Content
