What is evergreen content and why do you need it on your blog?

Wouldn’t it be great to write an article that will bring a steady stream of search engine traffic to your blog for years to come? It is possible and you don’t need magic to make it happen. Get to know the concept of evergreen content and learn how to create texts that earn you money while you sleep.

Evergreen content definition

Simply put, evergreen content is timeless content that remains popular for a long time, attracting traffic to your website for even longer. As the name suggests – this content does not age, it’s still attractive and relevant as the years go by. It wins the highest positions in search engines and is widely shared on the web.

What kind of content has a chance to achieve such a status?

First and foremost, content on topics that are constantly in demand, for example: comprehensive guides, instructions, comparisons of various solutions, FAQs, dictionaries, and reviews of products that remain in sale for a long time (e.g. books).

Features of evergreen articles

The selection of a universal topic is one thing. It is also important how it is presented. You should aim to stand out among your competitors while writing about similar issues: with the insight, length of the text, or attractive photos, infographics, and other elements. Of course, readability is important too, both in terms of language and formatting – investing in the services of a good copywriter can pay off many times over.

Another feature of evergreen articles is that they have SEO support – they are created with the real customer needs in the mind, contain relevant keywords, internal linking, and are additionally promoted in social media.

Which content will not become evergreen content?

Some types of content have an extremely short life cycle and rather small chances to become evergreen content. These include:

news about current events,
texts describing current trends,
information about premieres, new product launches,
reports, columns, and opinions.

It is not only the form of content that determines whether it will be evergreen – the popularity of the subject also matters. There are topics that gain a lot of attention from the community for a relatively short time and then disappear into the depths of the Internet. It concerns all kinds of temporary fads and fascinations. When planning content that will provide constant traffic, it is better to focus on universal topics that will always be useful.

Can seasonally popular topics be evergreen content?

There are also topics that become relevant only once a year, for example on holidays, summer vacations, during winter. Is it worth creating content that relates to them? Absolutely! Well optimized, comprehensive, and refreshed from time to time, it can serve us for years, even if they are being read for one month a year.

How to create evergreen content?

Okay, we already know what evergreen content is and what it is not. Is there any magic formula that allows achieving the effect of ever-popular articles?

Topic selection

It is worth starting by asking your audience directly what kind of content they would like to read and what information they are missing. To be sure that this type of content will become popular, it is worth using Google Trends, which allows you to track the popularity of various searches over the years. If it remains stable or, better yet, increases, you can confidently choose a particular topic as the subject of your next blog post.

Competitor analysis

The next step is to analyze your competitors who have published on a similar topic – at least those whose articles appear on the first page of search results. A good approach is to calculate the average number of characters in their articles and write a text that is longer. However, it is not about artificially increasing the length – additional paragraphs should address issues not found there and supplement them with valuable conclusions, figures, research, definitions, or experts’ statements.

Writing in the right tone

Among recommendations for a copywriter creating evergreen content, it is worth including information that he/she should avoid formulas referring to dates and time, such as: last year, last month, or using year in headlines, which is quite popular in news articles.

Speaking of language, it’s also a good idea to keep it fairly simple with short sentences. This will increase your chances of reaching a larger audience that will stay on the page longer. People nowadays have shorter and shorter attention spans. Too many complexities or specialized language in longer texts rather deter them.

Formatting

Text formatting is also important: aim for shorter paragraphs, more subheadings, lists, tables, and infographics. In longer articles, it is also good to use tables of contents and summaries, e.g. in the form of FAQs.

Supplement content with keywords and links

The main keywords on which we focus in the text should appear from several to even over a dozen times, depending on its length. It is also worth taking an interest in long-tail keywords, so not: “running shoes”, but rather “running shoes for asphalt” and “running shoes for supination”.

If an article contains any reference to a topic that is already described on your blog/site, it should be linked. Properly done internal linking is one of Google’s ranking factors.

CTA – call to action

If evergreen content is created to collect leads it should contain a call to action. In longer texts, this may be more than one CTA, preferably in a distinctive form, such as a contrasting banner.

Evergreen content ideas

According to research, the most frequently read texts on the Internet are those that have a question in the title and answer common problems, describe step-by-step solutions, or are guides for beginners in some field. No less popular are any enumerations, such as “20 best…”, |10 ways to…”, etc.

Here are some types of evergreen content in form title templates:

What is the best …
When is the best time to…
Why X is better than Y…
How to make/build/start … in a few simple steps…
How to (solve a problem) from a scratch…
How to create a successful …
20 ways to … in less than X minutes …
10 (item/activity) that will make (the desired effect) …
How to (the desired effect) with a new technique/subject …
20 quotes/opinions/statements by experts about X…
10 well-known experts’ advice on how to (desired effect)…
Summary of X most popular (subject) for (audience)….
How X achieved Y – case study…
X’s success story – case study…
Glossary of terms related to (field)…
X secrets of (industry/person/institution)…

How to turn old content into evergreen content

Occasionally, it’s a good idea to do a review of the existing articles on your company blog. Some of them certainly have the potential to turn into evergreen content after some simple modifications. Checking the phrases by which users find them may give a clue about what information is worth adding to them.

Sometimes it’s just about a few new paragraphs, photos, infographics, updating statistics, and supplementing an article with research results, and an average text can become the most read on the blog. Therefore, it is worth adding content audit to the duties of your marketing team.

Benefits of evergreen content

As we mentioned earlier, evergreen content strategy pays off with long-term benefits for the site. It allows to:

constantly attract new users – potential customers,
build the position of an expert in your industry,
present your brand as focused on quality (as opposed to the competitors, which often focus on large amounts of cheap, but less valuable content),
gain high positions in the search engine result page,
gain backlinks from other websites and blogs,
keep traffic on your site even during periods when no new content is published.

These and many other reasons make it safe to talk about evergreen content as a business investment.

Does it mean that it is only worth creating evergreen content?

Of course not. Articles referring to current situations and news also have their potential and can attract customers who are determined to buy here and now. With a larger budget, it will be best to base your content marketing strategy on both types of articles, interweaving their appearance on the blog. Each serves a slightly different function, and each brings slightly different benefits.

Evergreen content FAQ:

What is evergreen content?
Evergreen content is content that does not age, remains relevant for a long time, and describes issues that are popular with users and provide them with value despite the passage of time.
What are the best evergreen content ideas?
The easiest way to achieve the effect of evergreen content is to publish comprehensive guides, instructions, extensive reviews, and comparisons, described in an insightful, accessible way.
What content won’t become evergreen content?
Content that becomes outdated quickly, i.e., all news or articles on current trends.
What is the recipe for evergreen content?
Analysis of needs and expectations of recipients, SEO support, accessible language, high readability, and regular data updating.
Does evergreen content need to be refreshed?
It is definitely worth doing – even if the topics described in the article do not change, you can always enrich the article with better photos, add a new infographic, or add supplementary paragraphs using new keywords.