Creating content takes a lot of time and effort, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Evergreen blog posts are perfect for bloggers because of the many benefits they offer.
So, let’s talk about evergreen content, what it is, and how to use it to your advantage when developing blog content strategies.
What is Evergreen Content?
Evergreen content should be an important part of your content strategy.
Evergreen content is timeless information that stands the test of time, meaning it will remain relevant for years to come.
Think of evergreen content as content that has no expiration date.
This type of content doesn’t need constant updating or revising because its main points are still relevant regardless of when the post was written.
Evergreen vs Timely Topics
It’s important to understand the difference between “evergreen” and “timely” topics in order to create effective blog posts.
Timely topics are great for taking advantage of trends or current events but won’t be as useful down the line unless they are updated regularly.
These are some examples of timely content:
- Events
- Holidays
- Latest news
- Offers / promotions / launches
- Trends
Evergreen content, on the other hand, requires less maintenance since they information they include doesn’t change as often.
Some examples of evergreen posts are:
- Case studies
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Glossaries
- Guides
- Information about your products or services
- Lists (tips, ideas, tools)
- Recipes
- Reviews
- Testimonials
- Tutorials
Advantages of Evergreen Content
With evergreen content, you can create valuable blog posts that last over a long period of time. But in addition to longevity, there are many other advantages to publishing evergreen content on your blog:
Less Upkeep
Creating evergreen content is a great investment of your time. Evergreen posts require less effort, not to create, but to maintain.
Evergreen posts don’t need to be updated as frequently because they don’t become irrelevant or outdated as quickly as timely posts.
Drive Consistent Traffic
Evergreen topics are timeless because they continue to provide value to readers regardless of when they were published.
If you publish evergreen content that is optimized, it can continue to bring traffic on a regular basis to your blog. Old content you published a few months or even years ago can still bring traffic to your site.
If you need help driving organic traffic to your site, we have some tips to help you write more SEO-friendly blog posts.
Establish your Expertise
Your site can become a reference point in your niche or industry and reinforce your brand message and expertise when you publish evergreen content. Your readers will come to your site when they need information about your main topics.
Attract Backlinks
Evergreen content can help you earn backlinks over the long term as you gain more domain authority and establish trust with search engines and readers.
Grow Your Socials
You can use your evergreen content to grow your social media followings.
Evergreen content is extremely popular in social media since they typically provide answers and solutions.
Evergreen posts get lots of interaction and engagement – likes, comments, saves and shares – all of which can help you grow your social media accounts.
Increase Your Revenue
If you tie in your evergreen content strategy with monetizing ideas like affiliate links and digital products or services, you can increase your revenue and create consistent streams of passive income.
Not monetizing your blog yet? Find some ideas here on how to make money blogging, even if you are a beginner.
How to Create Evergreen Posts
There are a few ways you can use evergreen content for your blog.
Your ideal audience will always be at the center of your blogging strategies and even more so when it comes to evergreen content.
First, you can start your evergreen content creation by answering frequently asked questions related to your topic or industry. What are common questions your audience always has or problems they always face?
For our blog, our audience might have questions like “What is SEO?” or “What are some blog mistakes to avoid?”
If you blog about selling products online, your readers might wonder things like “How do I start an eCommerce business?” or “How do I choose the products for my store?”
These are great examples of evergreen topics because these types of questions will always exist and thus do not require regular updates. Write evergreen content that provides answers to those questions or problems in a clear and simple way.
You could also discuss best practices that apply in any given situation no matter how much time passes by—this type of content provides readers with valuable information they can digest now and use in the future as well!
Updating Evergreen Blog Posts
Did you think you could simply publish and forget about your evergreen posts? That’s not the case!
Although evergreen blog posts don’t require much upkeep, you should update them every now and then to make sure the information is still relevant and useful to your audience.
When the content from your evergreen posts is no longer useful, it can increase your bounce rates. If that’s the case, your evergreen posts will still drive traffic to your site, but visitors will leave quickly once they see that the information is outdated.
To avoid this, you should go back and revise older evergreen posts at least once or twice a year. If you have evergreen posts that are especially popular, keep an eye on them and aim to update them a bit more frequently (maybe every quarter).
When you update your content, you want to scan your paragraphs and look for information that needs to be up-to-date.
This is how you can update your evergreen posts:
- Update Your Statistics
If you have included any statistics on your posts, make sure they are still relevant. Check for percentages, quantities and dates. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to update numerical data – update if the new numbers are very different from what you have already published.
- Elaborate on New information You Include
Improving the post length can help with your SEO rankings (given that, among other things, the information is valuable to your audience and matches their intent). If possible, give some additional information about anything new you add.
- Add More Value to Existing Information
Even though you aren’t re-writing your post, you might want to see if you can add more value to it. One easy way to do this is by looking at any lists you have shared. You can add additional information about each item on the list. Instead of simply mentioning the item, you write a few useful sentences or even a paragraph for your audience.
- Update Your Images
Remember not to overlook your visual content. Infographics, screenshots and graphs can contain data that is outdated as well.
- Fix Broken Links
Click on your links to make sure they still work. Replace them with new, relevant ones if they don’t. Linking back to sites, pages, products or services that no longer exist can be really annoying for your audience.
- Add New Links
If you haven’t updated your evergreen post in a while, chances are you have published new content related to it. Take the opportunity to link back to your evergreen posts and connect some of your newer posts to them. You should also add new external links to provide extra resources to your readers and improve your SEO rankings.
- Identify New Keywords to Target
You can add secondary or tertiary keywords to boost your rankings. We have a guide to help you with keyword research if you aren’t familiar with this topic or could use some tips.
- Improve Your Site Navigation
Look for ways to make the user experience better. You can add a table of content or outline at the beginning of the post if it is very long in order to make it easier for your readers to find what they need. You can also break down long paragraphs, add titles, tags or categories.
Promote Your Evergreen Posts
Since evergreen content has no shelf life, there is no reason not to share them periodically with your social media audiences.
Creating any type of post, whether is evergreen or timely, requires effort. You should take advantage of your posts and add them to a consistent rotation on social media.
Once your evergreen posts are updated, don’t be afraid to promote them again in your social media channels. Sharing your updated evergreen posts will put them in front of the new followers you have gained on your social media platforms since you first published them.
You can share your blog content in the original format you used for social media or repurpose to a new format that can be more appealing to your audience.
Lastly, promote your updated evergreen content to subscribers on your email list.
Conclusion on Evergreen Blog Posts:
Evergreen topics are timeless pieces of information which will remain relevant over a long period of time. Readers can refer back to them even after months or years have passed by since their original publication date.
Creating effective blog posts does not have to be difficult if you focus on creating evergreen content that stands the test of time!
Leverage this tactic for your blog and watch your traffic grow!
By focusing on creating quality, informative pieces geared towards answering common questions related to your industry, discussing best practices or solving recurrent problems for your audience, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success with your blogging endeavors