The Definition of Evergreen Marketing
Let’s elaborate on what we just touched on.
So you know what evergreen means in relation to nature, but how does the term translate to marketing concepts?
To understand what evergreen content is, it’s beneficial to know what it’s not. You know how pop culture includes trendy content that lasts a short while? In other words, these fads have a short life span. Something that is popular one minute isn’t the next.
Evergreen content will stay relevant despite how much time has passed. When creating evergreen content, content marketers will focus on a static topic. Static isn’t negative in this connotation. It just means something unchanging in the foreseeable future.
You may be thinking “well, isn’t every blog post a piece of sustainable content? It doesn’t suddenly disappear from the internet.” You’re right that it doesn’t disappear unless it’s manually taken down, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be continually relevant.
What are Examples of Evergreen Content?
Here are some specific examples of common evergreen formats. The following examples are not automatically evergreen, but these formats lend themselves well to evergreen topics:
- Numerical lists (also known as listicles)
- “How to” tutorials
- Product reviews
- Glossaries
- “History of” articles
Here are some evergreen content titles that would be considered evergreen articles:
- “25 Inspirational Quotes for Motivation”
- “How to Do Effective Keyword Research”
- “Scariest Horror Movie Reviews”
- “Definition of Popular Cooking Terms”
- “History of Billboard Advertising”
You’ll notice that these are all broad topics that don’t correspond to a particular time. The information in these evergreen pieces will not go out of date.
The best content marketing strategy will integrate this sort of evergreen content. It will always be relevant to your target audience and what they may be searching.
Will I Ever Need to Update Evergreen Content?
There may be some cases where you have to make minor tweaks or additions to keep the content piece evergreen and up to date. Using the evergreen writing examples above, new findings might emerge about researching keywords. In which case, you may want to add that at the end or include it.
For the most part, however, this content evergreen doesn’t require much attention after it’s published.
Think of these topical articles as a gold mine because they will always attract more traffic with minimal maintenance.
What is Not Evergreen Content?
Now that you’re familiar with good examples of evergreen content, let’s look at some examples of other posts that are not considered evergreen:
- News articles statistics
- Seasonal content
- Ad copy for a time-sensitive marketing campaign
There are other formats that can be considered not evergreen; these are just the most popular. The above examples will all “expire” at some point. Either the information will be outdated, the sale will have ended, or something else could change.
Is Non Evergreen Content Bad?
Not at all! Of course there are times when you’ll want to post about breaking news in your industry. Or when you’ll run a short-term campaign. A good content marketing strategy is all about balance.
Not to mention, popular trends trigger a lot of search traffic which can be instantly gratifying for your site. In other words, evergreen content is not the only way to bring about success, but it is the most sustainable way.
Just because it has a short lifespan doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it. These popular articles can be great for increasing brand awareness and promoting a time-sensitive sale, getting more sign ups for an event, etc.
Tips for Creating Evergreen Content
Wondering how to write great content on evergreen topics? We have some easy-to-follow tips for you to ensure that your content doesn’t go out of date. You can also subscribe to our email list for updated tips and guides on effective content marketing.
When writing evergreen content, the best question to ask yourself is “will someone want to read this in 5 or even more years?”
If you’re not confident that the content will be of interest further down the line, you should change your approach. The topic itself may be relevant, but you may need to come at it from a different angle.
Instead of writing about a recent development in real estate trends, write about how to spot real estate trends. Other businesses will probably take the first route, but by choosing to dig deeper, your article will gain more traction overtime.
We recommend following these tips when creating evergreen content:
1) Write for SEO
You could write awesome evergreen articles, but if they don’t target relevant keywords, they won’t have high search rankings. Do your research and figure out what long tail keywords and search queries exist around the topic. There are even free tools you can use to discover keyword opportunities.
Be sure to structure the article in a way that is easy for search engines to crawl. The evergreen content should contain clear and logical headings, images, and should be unique. Never duplicate content! It’ll damage your chances of ranking.
2) Avoid Overly Technical Language
Evergreen content (as with all site content) should always be accessible. With organic traffic, you’re pulling readers from a variety of backgrounds. You’ll want to ensure that the information is digestible for beginners, but also compelling for people who are more familiar with the topic.
3) Link Evergreen Content Together
Internal links are always a good idea and keep people on your site. If you mention a concept in your article that relates to another published article, link to it. This brings even more traffic to your evergreen articles. It also decreases the likelihood that someone will leave your site to find information somewhere else.
4) Find Gaps in Search Results
This one will take a little bit of research, but it will pay off. If you’re struggling to come up with a good content evergreen topic, look into what information isn’t already out there. It may take some digging, but there are undoubtedly gaps in information that you could fill.
Your business can be the first to address a particular topic in your industry. Be a trail-blazer!
Promoting an Evergreen Blog Post
Promoting an evergreen article isn’t too different from how you’d promote any other content. Email distribution and social media marketing are great options for pushing content and encouraging engagement.
The main difference with evergreen marketing strategies, however, is that since evergreen topics are always relevant, it’s smart to continually promote the content overtime.
Every so often, re-promote the evergreen article across different platforms. Frame the content in different ways each time and find creative ways to tie it into current events. Even slightly changing the description on social media can entice someone who wasn’t very intrigued before.
It’s essential that you don’t bury your evergreen content on your site. Since it’ll be relevant for a long time, chances are you will have it live on your site for an extended period of time. Be sure that it doesn’t get lost in the mix of all your other posts.
Consider organizing your blog posts so that they’re categorized by topic as opposed to publication date. There are lots of ways to get creative with this. Understanding your users and their typical site journey is the best way to determine how you should organize your site.
Evaluating Evergreen Content Performance
With evergreen content’s extended lifetime, there’ll be a long time period during which you can analyze the content’s performance. Impressions, click rates, and dwell time are good metrics for gauging how successful a piece of content is.
Google Analytics is a great tool for analyzing your evergreen content performance data. You can segment the data into different timeframes so that you are able to note fluctuations in engagement.
Is there a certain time of the year when the content gets more views? Is promoting on one social media platform more effective than another?
Evaluating your evergreen content is helpful and informative for future posts. You’ll learn what types of evergreen content are more successful and how people are discovering it.
I Need Help Writing Evergreen Content!
We’re sure you’ve already got a lot on your plate and content creation takes time! A growing number of businesses are choosing to outsource their article writing to save time and ultimately money.
Our experienced content writers specialize in creating high quality content for a variety of industries. Check out our service page to learn more about how we can offset the content creation burden for your business.
Many freelance writers are well-versed in writing evergreen content. They know how to make it accessible, SEO friendly, and interesting to read.
All you have to do is provide your topic of choice and any other criteria you want. Freelance writers adhere to strict deadlines and can turn around an awesome evergreen article in no time.
Final Thoughts
No content strategy is complete without evergreen marketing. Evergreen content stays fresh over time, ensuring that the traffic will keep flowing. You’d be surprised by how well a single piece of content can perform.
Popular formats of evergreen content include lists, “how to” tutorials, history articles, and glossaries. When crafting evergreen content, be sure to utilize SEO efforts. Target relevant keywords, link to your other content, and write in an accessible way.
Creating high quality evergreen content takes time and energy, which is why outsourcing is a popular option. Consider enlisting the help of a content writing agency to produce evergreen content for your site.
What Do You Think?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on evergreen content. How much of your company’s content strategy includes evergreen content? Have you noticed a major difference in performance between evergreen content and more time-sensitive content?
Leave a comment and tell us what you’re thinking. Also, share this post on social media to start a larger conversation. We hope you learned something useful from this article and wish your business as much growth as an evergreen tree!
