When you run a blog, you need to publish lots of new content. Especially in the first year of your online business. Constantly editing out-of-date posts uses up your precious time. So how can you avoid this problem? The solution is to create evergreen content. But what is the definition of evergreen content and why does it matter for your blog?
1. What is the Definition of Evergreen Content?
Named after evergreen trees that never lose their leaves, Evergreen Content is any piece of content that remains valuable for a long time. It doesn’t have an expiry date or limited shelf life, for example, ‘How to Sew a French Seam’ is timeless. Evergreen content can be referenced again and again without losing its value. You’ll discover it makes your life a lot easier as a blogger and website owner.
2. Why Is Evergreen Content Important?
Evergreen content is important for a few key reasons…
- First, it’s got an incredibly long shelf life and can be referenced for years. If these are your money posts then you’re making money for a long time, and this is what we refer to as passive income – ka-ching!
- Topical content is often quickly outdated. So, you’ll be annoyed at updating these posts more often.
- If you have the type of blog that covers seasonal events. You don’t want to publish a piece of content that becomes useless a few months after it’s published. Think of all the work you put into it.
- Another reason why evergreen content is important is because of search engine optimization (SEO). Over time these posts will mature (like a fine wine!) and gain trust and authority with Google and your audience. You can then link from these posts to your newer ones to gain momentum for them too. It’s a Win-Win!
- Search engines don’t like outdated content. So, they usually won’t index those articles. With evergreen content, you’ll have a lot more to work with and the information can be useful for years for your loyal audience.
- The more evergreen content you have on your site, the more likely your blog can be found and enjoyed
- You can also spin these valuable posts into other types of channels, like YouTube videos, Infographics, Podcasts, Diagrams, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook Videos.
3. Examples of Evergreen Content
According to Hubspot types of evergreen posts can include:
- FAQs
- How to’s
- Answer a Question
- Testimonials
- Solve a Problem
- Case Studies
- Best of Lists
- Reviews
Here are examples of lists: 10 Tiny Dog Breeds for Apartments, 10 Dogs that don’t Shed, 25 Exercises to Strengthen your Back, and 15 Affiliate Marketing Tips.
To find this type of content for your website why not channel your inner historian and think of topics that are timeless with sustained interest over time?
Travel has a lot of timeless subjects – Paris in the Springtime, Famous London Landmarks, The 7 Best Greek Islands, Top 5 most Romantic Pacific Islands. (Feels like it’s time to book a vacation!)
Technology is such a fast-moving topic that it may be difficult to create evergreen content. Although The History of Apple might be a goodie for a few years.
‘How to reach your goals’ is a nice broad topic. You can apply the same concepts to any goal, from financial goals to fitness goals to life goals to business goals.
If you’re running a parenting or grandparenting blog there are two ways you can go. You can write about how to raise a child who is good at sports. Or you can write a more general article about how to be a better parent/grandparent. While both articles will work for evergreen content, the second one is much broader.
Here are a few more Evergreen Content Examples:
- How to plant tomatoes in sandy soil / clay soil / peaty soil / chalky soil / loamy soil
- The best workout for men over 50
- 7 Benefits of cardio exercise for women
- How to make a healthy pineapple smoothie / green smoothie / banana smoothie
- The History of the Eiffel Tower
- FAQ Solar Power
- What pet is easy to take care of?
- Wealthy Affiliate Review
What is the Definition of Evergreen Content:
Evergreen content is content that is optimized to stay relevant and drive traffic for months or even years at a time. It doesn’t have an expiration date.
Neil Patel
4. How to Create Evergreen Content for your Blog
a. Do your Research
Like any blog post as part of your research think about what information and advice your audience needs help with. Head to Quora, subreddits, and forums to find out what questions they’re asking.
I’ve searched for ‘Healthy Living’ on Quora and here are some questions people need help with:
Living a healthy life are concerns that people will always have, no matter their stage of life. This is where you can step in and help them with their worries, sharing your expertise and solving their problems.
To choose evergreen topics, decide if the topic has topical or long-term interest and queries. For example, for millennia people have worried about their weight, finances, and their love life! (I’m guessing!) But the point here is to consider the history and the relevance of the subject.
Ask yourself – How long is its shelf life? Will it go out of fashion? You can also look at Google Trends to find topics that are steady and stable.
See the results for Yoga on Google Trends – it’s been popular for a reasonably long time – see the steady line over a year…
So yoga looks like an evergreen topic with constant interest and commercial intent, e.g. here are some keywords – Yoga Bali, Yoga Benefits, Yoga Clothes, Yoga Ball, Yoga Equipment. You can also tie this in with healthy living!
b. Keyword Research
Next, it’s time to do your keyword research as you would for any blog post. Look for long-tail keywords with 3 or more words or a phrase with low competition.
Head over to Answer the Public for more specific long-tail keywords that have lower competition, and are easier to rank for.
Some of the many results for ‘Healthy Living’ on Answer the Public:
Here’s the result in Jaaxy for How to Plant a Rose Garden:
- Avg: this is searches per month. You’re over 50 which is good.
- Traffic: this is traffic to your site, if you’re on page 1. 16 is good.
- QSR: this is competition and should be below 50. 33 is good.
- KQI: keyword quality indicator is great.
- SEO: this result is 94/100 which is good too
When should you plant roses is also a great long-tail keyword:
You can try Keyword Research for Free with Jaaxy here:
c. Check your Competition
- See who’s on page 1 and what type of post is successful. For example – are they all best-of lists or case studies? Don’t try and buck the trend and do something different, they’re on page 1 for a reason. Keep your post in the same format (but better).
- Check the top 3 or 4 content and headings – without copying content do you get any ideas that you can add to your research?
- Also, see how many words these articles have, and aim for a higher word count.
d. Write for your Audience
So now it’s time to create a helpful article that will stand the test of time and offers lots of handy tips and actionable takeaways.
Create an intriguing title, your intro, conclusion, and subheadings, with images. Focus on the benefits for the reader and get them excited about planting roses/making smoothies/doing cardio/traveling…
Hot Tip: don’t forget to link to your evergreen content in your e-mails to your subscribers.
e. Even Evergreen Content may need Tweaking over Time
For example, you could jazz up the title, change the designs, add or edit links, update old statistics, and add new graphs, graphics, and tables.
5. The Benefits of Evergreen Content for your Blog
- This content builds trust with your audience – you can use these posts as pillar posts and link to newer posts. Internal linking is a powerful SEO (search engine optimization) strategy so utilize your evergreen content.
- This content can have an incredibly long shelf life, with enduring keywords that mature over time.
- These posts build your authority and expertise (for your readers and Google).
- They’re also great for search engine optimization (SEO) – You don’t have to worry about your articles becoming obsolete.
6. Key Takeaway – What is the Definition of Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is any piece of content that ages gracefully (like us!) and remains valuable for a long time. It doesn’t have an expiry date. Unlike topical content that is only relevant for a short time, evergreen content can be referenced again and again without losing its value.
It also helps strengthen your blog with SEO. Focus on creating quality content that lasts longer and you’ll have a profitable blog.
