Evergreen content.
The Holy Grail of Content.
Key to getting more backlinks (through its value).
Key to higher rankings (by better fulfilling user intent).
And key to high organic traffic (over time).
All reasons why…
Evergreen content should be the ‘backbone’ of every Content Marketers Strategy.
This blog post will discuss:
1. What evergreen content is and why it is important
2. How to identify evergreen content, and
3. How to create evergreen content.
Let’s dive straight into it!
1. What is Evergreen Content and Why is it Important?
‘
‘Timeless’ is the best word to describe evergreen content.
It is
content that revolves around a topic.
It is content that stays:
– Fresh
– Relevant, and
– On-Topic.
Day after day. Week after week. Year after year.
And even decade after decade.
It is constantly ‘on-trend’ and never goes out of style.
Regardless of the ‘date’ or ‘season.’
BUT…
Before diving into some examples of evergreen content let’s firstly go to the highest level and discuss:
Evergreen Content for Topics (with Examples)
How to Build Muscle – Train. Eat. Sleep. Recover. The ‘fundamentals’ of building muscle fast don’t change much regardless of whether it’s 2020 or 3020 – people will always want to gain muscle.
How to Cook Rice – Rice is a popular dish in most households. And it is unlikely that in next 100 years (our lifetimes) that people will stop eating it and learning how to cook it.
How to Cut your Golf Handicap – A highly popular sport around the world. And will continue to be for many years to come. And avid golfers will always be looking for tips to improve their handicap.
Non-Evergreen Content for Topics (with Examples)
Best Christmas Presents – A once a year event.
FIFA World Cup – A once every four-year event – next being in Qatar.
Sydney Olympics – A one-time-event held in 2000.
To Summarise: Evergreen topics are your ‘staple’ content areas that always have consistent interest (proven by search volume over time).
Evergreen Content (with Examples)
9 Scientifically Proven Ways to Grow Muscle Fast – First published in 2019 and no doubt will still be relevant in 3019. Science is science after all and these proven ‘muscle building’ methods won’t expire anytime soon.
How to Cook Rice on the Stove – First published in 2018 and likely to be relevant for decades to come. Stoves are a kitchen staple and families will continue to want to cook rice on it for years to come.
9 Ways to Lower Your Golf Handicap This Year – First published in 2014 but still relevant today and for years to come. Provides quick, simple and effective tips that are essentially ‘timeless.’
To Summarise: Evergreen content does not have a date expiry – it is relevant both today and most likely the total span of our lifetimes.
The Importance of Evergreen Content
Evergreen
Content immediately stops you from:
“Sweating
the Small Stuff” in terms of content creation.
Like…
Picking a keyword. Another keyword. And then another keyword.
Sound familiar?
Yes…
That’s the old-school SEO way of crafting content for users and search engines (as discussed in this blog post).
Evergreen
Content flips this scenario on its head.
Because
instead you focus on
Big-Picture
Topics that matter in your given market.
And these are not trends (that you can easily identify with Google Trends).
These are not controversial issues (that are in the news today but gone tomorrow).
And they are certainly not one-hit wonders (see a top list here!)
Because evergreen content (and why it’s the holy grail of content) is…
About a one-time big effort that results in:
Simplification – And when you simplify the ‘content creation’ process you are likely to achieve better results (through clarity and
focus).
Less Overall Work – As the content does not need to be updated or changed often in the future (saving serious time).
Regular Organic Traffic – Because you are satisfying user intent right now and for many years to come (as your content always
stays relevant).
And if those reasons are not enough for you to realise the importance of evergreen content remember…
Google is constantly changing its algorithm to favour topic-based content.
In fact ‘topics’ are the next evolution of SEO as reported here by Mimi An.
And if that isn’t big enough reason to switch your content marketing strategy to ‘evergreen’ then nothing will be!
2. How to Identify Evergreen Content
Before we
get to the ‘evidence’ behind creating evergreen content let’s discuss the
‘formulating’ of ideas for evergreen content.
We will use
‘weight loss’ as the example.
Put Your
Root Topic into Google (Idea Formulation 1)
Type ‘weight
loss’ into Google Search and you are presented with popular auto-suggestions
for the term.
Any of the auto-suggestions
may or may not be a great idea for evergreen content.
At this
stage just make a note of each topic.
Check
Related Searches to Root Topic (Idea Formulation 2)
Again type
‘weight loss’ into Google Search and hit ‘enter.’
Scroll right
to the bottom of Google Search results and you will find:
Any of the
searches may or may not be a great idea for evergreen content.
At this
stage just make a note of each topic.
Write 3
Topics Down from Your Own Expertise (Idea Formulation 3)
If you have expertise in the market, then why not use it?
After all the topics engrained with your brain right now might prove to be killer evergreen content ideas!
Just list:
1.
2.
3.
On your nearest notepad and write down what you believe are:
3 Big Content topics that should be addressed in your content marketing strategy.
Now, that we have discussed 3 ‘quick and easy’ evergreen content idea formulation methods let’s move on to:
The evidence behind creating evergreen content.
Keyword Research using Google Keyword Planner (Evidence Method 1)
Go to the Google Keyword Planner and enter any of the topics you have noted in the prior steps.
Note: You can enter up to 10 keywords in the Google Keyword Planner at one time to return results.
In this example we have entered in 8 keywords.
The first 3 returned results look like winners in terms of evergreen topics for weight loss.
All 3 have great search volume.
And most importantly just thinking logically they are:
3 big evergreen topic areas in the weight loss niche.
Tips
Programs, and
Motivation
Just make sense.
People will always be looking for content in this area now and for many decades to come.
Check Trends using Google Trends (Evidence Method 2)
Now that we have identified our topics have enough search volume we need to make sure it’s not:
– Seasonal, and
– On a declining trend.
Google Trends is the best tool for checking this.
With keyword terms like the ‘Olympics’ and ‘Christmas’ it is obvious that they are popular during the event but have less interest outside it.
But now
let’s take a look at the topic ‘weight loss motivation.’
This is the
trend of the topic from 2004 to the present and you can see slight movement in
the graph.
But the key
is to look at the overall movement of the graph (removing the peaks and
troughs) and look for:
Consistent
interest.
Weight loss
motivation certainly has that.
Check Competition
for Topic (Evidence Method 3)
Weight loss is incredibly competitive and we just used it as an example.
Because before proceeding to craft any amazing evergreen content you should check the competition for the topic.
You can do this easily using the MOZ SEO Toolbar when reviewing the results in the first page of Google.
Or you can use Ahrefs free keyword difficulty checker.
But whatever the results remember:
Competition is good (gives you something to beat), and
Bad (there is no point trying to beat something that will take years!).
But whatever choice you make based on the competition remember…
Great Content that fulfills user intent is unbeatable!
3. How to Create Evergreen Content
There is both an:
– Art (as we discussed in this blog post that Copywriting is 80% Art), and
– Science
To creating evergreen content.
Let’s start with the science.
Because the science is doing what all great Copywriters do and that is:
Research (and comprehensively).
So you are scouring Google for the best results on the topic and all the time you are looking for:
Weaknesses (any at all)…
That you can be improved upon.
And that must always be your thought process.
Because it is easy to say ‘wow’ what a great resource but when you really take the time to analyse it (digging deep):
Flaws can be found in any resource.
And their ‘hard work’ is your gain because any Copywriter knows:
It’s not about reinventing the wheel.
Watch your language.
And no not that language!
This is the other element of the ‘science’ of creating evergreen content.
Specifically avoid using:
‘Language’ and ‘angles’ in your copy that will require constant revisions in the future.
For example, it might be you are using examples from the Olympics just gone.
Or maybe you are saying ‘last year.’
Or you are focusing on the latest fashion craze.
Be super careful because:
Although the reality is no content is truly evergreen (revisions at some point in future will always be required)…
Constant content revisions in the future defeat the purpose of evergreen content!
Now to the Art of creating evergreen content.
Because the Art (as we discussed in this blog post) is what really gives your content the ‘wow’ factor.
And it ultimately all comes down to your attitude.
Because before even punching away ‘one word’ on your keyboard you must accept that you will craft only content that is:
Bigger (ideally long content as proven to be better)
Better (that fulfills user intent on all angles), and
Bolder (with personality!)
Because when you have that winning attitude (7 simple steps here) you will quickly realise that:
Crafting
winning evergreen content is not a race or a sprint!
After all –
this is a whole new ball game.
Evergreen
content is about crafting the highest quality content possible that quickly
builds:
Trust
Respect, and
Authority
With the
target audience.
And is there
any more art than that?
Passion
helps (tremendously) but ultimately, it’s:
Patience
that will enable you to win at the ‘game’ of evergreen content.
Because
again when you are patient you will just focus on the end-result:
One word at
a time!
Evergreen Content: The Holy Grail of Content Wrap Up
Work smarter
not harder.
Allen F
Morgenstern (an industrial engineer) in 1930 first coined this phrase.
And in 2020
it’s still relevant.
And in 3020
it will still be relevant.
Evergreen
content = the smart way (with a less is more results approach)
Other content = the hard way (that leaves you tired, stressed and worn out).
Because if you want ‘consistent’ traffic to your blog it is time to…
Stop sweating the small stuff (keyword after keyword after keyword).
And think bigger picture (topics that don’t change) to…
Embrace the future of content marketing……
Evergreen Content: The Holy Grail of Content.
Over to You…
Do you agree or disagree that Evergreen Content is the Holy Grail of Content? Or is there something missing or something you would like to add?? Would love to hear from you in the comments – any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Please contact me and let’s have a chat!
