What Is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen content is the standard content marketing strategy for several online blogs. But what is it, how do you create it, and how does it help you?

That is exactly what we’ll cover in today’s article.

What is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen content is content that is optimized for search engines, has lasting relevance, and stays fresh for readers even years after it was created. It’s also the most sustainable content for any blog because of how it grows its search traffic over time even though it was only created once.

The most common formats of evergreen content are:

• Listicles
• “How to” content
• Guides
• Tips
• Product reviews

However, using any of the above formats doesn’t automatically make any piece of content evergreen. It’s the context and meat of the actual content that makes it evergreen.

What is NOT Evergreen Content?

Not all content out on the internet is evergreen.

Content that isn’t evergreen would be:

• News articles
• Statistics and reports
• Anything that covers trends
• Anything that covers elections, sports games, etc

Content that isn’t evergreen means it quickly goes out of style and loses its relevance.

Why is Evergreen Content Important?

Evergreen content is important because it positions your brand as a thought and industry leader. Your readers will trust your content more because of its lasting relevance and consistency.

Not only that but because evergreen content ranks higher in Google, your readers will see your articles in Google more often for their searches and since they already know your content has helped them before, they are happy to click and read a new piece from you.

As your traffic grows, so will your audience.

How to Make an Article Evergreen

Making an article evergreen isn’t at all a difficult process.

As with any content creation process, start with keyword research. Look for keywords people are searching for online, their monthly search volumes and any upward trends, and most importantly their competition so you have a higher chance of ranking higher with less competition in the ring.

I recommend Keywords Everywhere for this process. When you use the tool to search for any keywords, it shows you exactly how much the search volume is for that word and its competition. The lower the competition number is combined with a high monthly search volume, the better.

The tool also shows you recommended terms and their volumes if your original search didn’t yield the results you thought.

Once you have the topic you want to write about and the keywords you’ll target, it’s time to get to writing.

As with any article you write, the content should strive to be the best resource out there for your readers. This doesn’t mean the longest content either. You have to think about the quality of your content and its uniqueness too when compared to other samples that are currently out there.

You want it to outperform everything that is already available in that same topic so it becomes the new go-to resource.

What is a Real Example of Evergreen Content?

A wonderful real-life example of evergreen content would be this guide from NerdWallet on how to start investing.

The article is exceptional when compared to other articles on the same topic and currently ranks number two in Google for the search term “how to start investing” after Investopedia.

It is successful evergreen content and secured a high ranking spot in Google because:

• NerdWallet has a high domain authority and is a leader in the financial space
• The article covers everything from the basic beginner knowledge of how to start investing, the different options available, the different funds available, how to open an account, and how to pick a strategy to move forward with
• It isn’t super lengthy but it is clear, holistic, and easy to read so whoever is reading can quickly gather the information they need

Tips for Writing Evergreen Content

My number 1 tip for writing evergreen content is to start with writing for beginners.

Writing for beginners is the easiest way to start writing evergreen content and make it easier on yourself too. If you know a topic well, writing for a beginner is going to be pretty simple. The simpler you make your writing process, the simpler it will be for your reader to digest it.

Start with writing for beginners then branch out into other forms of content like maybe mini sub articles that stem from that giant beginner guide type of content.

An example of this could be a master guide for gardening in your new home and then several articles that stem from it (and link to and from it) that could cover topics like:

• Indoor plant care 101
• How to do indoor plant care with pets
• How to grow vegetables
• How to grow fruit
• How to protect your plants from wildlife
• And more

So you have your master evergreen article and then that could potentially set up the scene for several other evergreen articles that stem from it and even provide more of an expansion on a subject.

Other tips I recommend for writing the perfect piece of evergreen content are:

• Choose the right keywords and optimize for SEO (search engine optimization)
• Avoid overly technical language that can quickly bore the reader and make it difficult to read
• Find ways to repurpose and reuse pieces of your content
• Periodically go into older evergreen content that you created, to make some tweaks to update it, and republish it

Conclusion: Evergreen Is the Way

When writing any piece of content for your blog or even producing content for your podcast or YouTube, do your research first and take your time with it. No great piece of evergreen content was crafted without the time for proper research and thought.

You want to evaluate what sort of content is already out there, look for gaps, and see where you can easily excel. You don’t want to make this process harder on you, you want to leverage what it is you are already great at and make the process work to those strengths.

If you follow the tips in this guide, you will create lasting and successful evergreen content that readers will consume for years to come.

Alright, now go take over Google with that genius content of yours! You got this.