Evergreen Content: What it is, Why You Need it & How to Create it

by | Oct 17, 2022

Heard the term evergreen content and wondering what it is? You’re in the right place.

Before I explain why you need it and how you should go about creating it, let’s get some basics down.

What is evergreen content?

Evergreen content is search-optimized content that revolves around topics that remain relevant to readers, regardless of current news cycles or publication date.  If you think about it, it’s in the name evergreen — plants that retain their green leaves all year round.

Here’s a couple of examples of evergreen topics:

  • “How to Lose Weight” — today, next month or in ten years from now, people will always want to lose weight.
  • “How to Care for a New Puppy” — an instructional piece for new pet owners.
  • “10 ways to Enjoy Hot Chocolate” — coming into colder months twists on old classics can be a great way to get a lift.

So, quick recap…evergreen content is SEO content about an evergreen topic that continues to be relevant long past when it was first published. Fun fact: even if the information is ‘old’ if you look at the publication date, that particular piece of content still has the ability to rank high on Google.

So, why is evergreen content important?

Evergreen content around evergreen topics attracts organic reach. More and more users turn to search engines to solve their problems. One of the most successful ways to answer a user’s question is thru providing free useful guides and tutorials that can be easily found thru Google.

How do you do it? Here’s some tips for writing evergreen content:

  1. Identify evergreen topics – Remember, evergreen topics are NOT time-sensitive. Focus on topics with consistent search traffic potential. To understand search traffic potential, you need to do keyword research and look at keyword trends. An evergreen topic means it shouldn’t be on a declining trend  — look to see if a topic is gaining or losing popularity.
  2. Write for beginners. Remember you’re writing to generate content for a large and recurring audience so you need to cater to beginners. Avoid technical language.
  3. Choose the right keywords. Even the best piece of evergreen content isn’t worth much if people aren’t searching for that topic so make sure you spend some time doing keyword research.
  4. Optimize for SEO. Once you have your keywords, use best practices for on-page optimization. Things like — adding alt text to images, keywords in the title, and hyperlink related evergreen articles together!

PRO TIP: Links are essential for evergreen rankings. Google said backlinks are an important ranking factor.

More Evergreen Content Ideas

Creating evergreen content for your business should be an ongoing goal. Still raking your brain for some evergreen formats — Here’s a list that may help. Refer back when you’re feeling stuck.

  1. Best or Worst Practice to Meet a Specific Goal
  2. How-to for Beginners
  3. How-to for Advanced Users
  4. Resource List
  5. Best Free or Paid Tools
  6. Successful Case Studies
  7. “What Went Wrong” Case Studies
  8. Common Mistakes
  9. How-to Checklist
  10. Everything You Need to Know About…

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Take a deep breath, grab a latte and a blanket for coziness if you’re working from home these days, and let me help break down the basics of why your business needs an effective content marketing strategy.  Click here to book a 15 minute discovery call.