People have improved on the art of multitasking—some more than others. But for the most part, we all have numerous roles in our personal and professional lives. Even as you’re reading this blog, you may be answering emails, getting the kids ready for school, or drinking a cup of coffee. Rarely are we ever doing one thing at a time and designating all of our attention to it.
In this fast-paced, ever-changing, digital world, having the time to focus on one sole task is a luxury. As an agency, we know time is money. When it comes to your content strategy, you shouldn’t need to balance updating and revamping old content amongst the other roles you play at your company. Your focus is to spend your time as efficiently as possible while getting the results you’re looking for.
That’s where evergreen content comes in.
What is Evergreen Content?
Just like evergreen plants that retain their green leaves throughout the year, evergreen content is created and optimized to stay relevant and drive traffic for a longer period of time—hopefully, years. Well-crafted evergreen content will not just drive traffic to your website, but it will also grow your traffic over time.
Anything featuring time-sensitive information is not considered evergreen content. For example, these pieces all have elements that “expire”:
- News articles
- Numerical reports
- Pieces about a holiday season
- Articles focused on current trends or fads
These content pieces are certainly all valuable, but unfortunately don’t have a long shelf life.
While creating evergreen content is not a 100% set-it-and-forget-it tactic, it does allow you to save time by not having to constantly update your content or create new content. Because it isn’t based on timely events, this content lasts much longer before you’ll need to update. And for the most part, updates are only needed if a strategy changes, new research or tools are revealed, or your content becomes less relevant over time.
Evergreen content, in general, is a valuable part of any good marketer’s content strategy. However, when you combine this content with results-driven SEO techniques, you’ve created the content power couple to drive prospects to your website.
Examples of Evergreen Content
Still a little confused as to what counts as evergreen content? We’ve generated a list, as well as some examples, to clear that up for you:
- Lists
- Checklists
- General Guides
- Ebooks
- Product Reviews
- Videos
- Blog Posts
- Case Studies
- Tutorials
While creating content for the above items does not automatically make it evergreen content, these formats tend to work well with evergreen writing strategies. And even though videos may not be thought of as traditional content marketing, users are more likely to watch videos than read articles or longer content pieces.
Adding Evergreen Content to Your Website
When creating any content-heavy piece that will be added to your website, a best practice to establish is conducting keyword research before crafting your message. Keyword research on the topic you’re writing about will empower you to create SEO-friendly content that will get you found easier, driving more traffic to your website, as well as increasing your organic rankings in search results.
Even the longest-lasting piece of evergreen content isn’t worth much if people aren’t finding that content or your website when they search for the topic you wrote about. Bringing it full circle: When time is money, the reach and engagement of your content matter. The more search-friendly your evergreen content is, the better.
In addition, you’ll also want to make sure the content piece is easily shareable on social platforms. The more people want to share the content you worked so hard on and spent time—possibly hours—on, the more backlinks will track back to your website, increasing your domain authority. Plus, valuable content equates to a lower bounce rate on your website. If someone is searching for a specific topic and finds it in your content, they’ll spend a longer time reading the content and journeying deeper throughout your website—hopefully to that call-to-action button you strategically placed.
Caution: Don’t Rely Exclusively on Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is arguably some of the most important and valuable content you can create and add to your website. However, take caution in not relying solely on your evergreen writing tactics. While timely content doesn’t last as long, it is normally highly searched and is still valuable to craft (guided by keyword research, of course) and add to your web as well.
Uncommon Marketing Works can help you find the balance in your content marketing strategy. How many pieces of timely content should you have and how many pieces of evergreen content? Plus, do you even have the time to create either type of content in the first place? Let our experts do the heavy lifting and strategic development of your content plan. Take advantage of your free 30-minute strategy meeting with our traditional and digital marketing experts. Contact us today!
