What is Evergreen Content?

Simply put, evergreen content is content that lasts forever. Like the healthy pine tree, this content stays green and fresh and never wilts. This type of content grows traffic over time because the content is always needed.

Many publications produce content that addresses events or happenings of that moment. This type of content is considered to be extremely timely. These articles touch on what is going on at that very moment. Often, by the the time the article published, it is already old news due to the timeliness of social media.  As a result, articles with this type of content have heavy traffic only during the time that its topic is relevant. Unfortunately, the measure of time in which an article is relevant can be extremely small, from a few hours to a few months.

However, once that topic is no longer relevant and falls out of the news cycle, so does its traffic. This becomes a problem for marketers because that means they have to find something else to grab their audience’s attention. It becomes a constant cycle of grabbing and losing attention. New articles are written quickly in order to grab the consumer’s attention, only to lose it again in a few hours or days.

Evergreen content is made to avoid that problem. These articles are about topics that people always need access to. This kind of content stays popular and engaging forever.

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Types Of Evergreen Content

Evergreen content comes in a large variety of forms, from lists to how-to instructions. The key is not always in the form of the content, it is in the subject of the content. A writer can list off the campaign promises for the candidates of the 2004 presidential election, but that does not make it Evergreen content. There is not a perpetual need to understand the 2004 election. Evergreen articles cater to the everyday need. This includes how-to articles about building a resume or videos about how to paint your house.

 

Another example of Evergreen content could be an article about the best arm exercises. This topic is one that people will need year-round. Everyone wants to know about how to stay healthy. A consumer can use this article in the winter or in the spring to prepare for the summer. Another consumer can make use of the article in the fall simply because their arms are hitting a plateau and getting used to other exercises. On the other hand, an article about the latest Kim Kardashian baby is not an Evergreen topic because it will not always be relevant. That baby will grow up or there will be a new Kardashian baby that is more scandalous than the first.

Evergreen content is not about the latest trends or the latest celebrity scandal. Both of these concepts are ones that can fall out of popularity. Fashion trends always change, the trends of today are not the trends of yesterday. Trends and celebrities are always changing and moving forward. Holidays are also not included in the realm of evergreen content. While a general holiday article will get traffic at the same time every year, they are not considered evergreen content because the traffic is not constant.

In addition, statistics about specific times are not Evergreen content, for the same reason. These statistics can become obsolete quickly due to new innovations. However, they can be used to compare to other statistics. Unlike evergreens that are a social media focus during certain times of the year, evergreen content needs constant attention year-around.

A Rule Of Thumb

A rule of thumb to consider when writing Evergreen content is to think of subjects that never get old. Think of subjects that are always in the background of discussions. This includes topics about romance or exercise. There are always people trying to fall in love or already in love. Consumers want to know different methods of staying healthy. While there are always new diet trends, articles about staying healthy overall would make great Evergreen content.  Articles about food and parenting could be considered to be evergreen content. Food is a part of everyday life and parents always want a little help in molding the minds of their children.

There are a million topics that can be considered to be an evergreen subject. However, bloggers and content curators should not overload the internet with a million articles about the definition of parenting. Aside from the monotony of a large number of articles about parenting, the topic is too broad. A comprehensive article on “how to be a parent” could be thousands of pages. Articles that are longer than a page or two often struggle with maintaining traffic and click rates.

The attention span of viewers today is much shorter than the average attention span before the internet. Evergreen writers should look into finding an angle that differentiates his or her article from the rest of the articles about parenting. This could be “how to discipline a 13-year-old” or “different teething methods.” Even these examples could become more narrow. Evergreen articles can be about a narrow angle on a general topic.  However, with the amount of evergreen content already on the internet, content writers have to work hard to find new narrow angles that still remain popular year-around.

Other topics that never get old depend on the experience of the consumer. People are often searching for things on Google because they need to know something. That means that they are a beginner on a certain subject. Beginners want simple information that meets their needs and there is not one time of year where all of the beginners jump onto Google at once. Beginners are more likely to enjoy and be the target market of evergreen content writers. The simpler style of writing increases its shareable quality. This is why how-to’s are excellent forms of Evergreen content. Learning is a year-around concept.

Evergreen Content And SEO

Evergreen content needs to be search engine optimized. This means that the search engine considers the article to be easy to understand and navigate. It also meets the needs of the consumer. A content creator can optimize their articles by making sure that their headings are concise and relevant to the subject of the page.

There also needs to be a healthy amount of keywords throughout the page. However, when it comes to keywords, writers should refrain from keyword stuffing and affecting the understanding of the article. Search engines love Evergreen content because it gets constant traffic. This constant traffic pushes an evergreen article higher up on the results page, which results in even greater traffic.

As mentioned before, evergreen trees are the major image shared on social media. The social media love for evergreens extends from the everlasting tree to the always popular content. These articles are shared often on social media because it brings more traffic to each personal account. Users will return to platforms or posts for certain content. This increased traffic results in more traffic for the evergreen article. Traffic sources for evergreen content increase exponentially and the content never gets old.

While Evergreen content is wonderful and very useful for gaining traffic, a marketer should not only create this timeless content. The ecosystem of the internet cannot survive an overpopulation of one type of content. The internet works like a natural ecosystem; there must be a diverse species population that works together to build and grow the environment.

Different types of content offer more opportunities for marketers and consumers to engage. This engagement creates more content and in turn expands the internet.  A great blog or marketing campaign should combine evergreen content with more timely articles. This will create a relationship with the target market that conditions them to rely on that blog for information.

Related: Are Content Clusters Good for SEO?

Wrapping Up

Evergreen content is called such because they act like all of the species of evergreen plants. This content never wilts because it is fed by attention and internet traffic. The flow of both of these concepts never falters. But like the evergreen tree, once the tree is without nutrients for a long period of time, its leaves will turn brown and fall to the ground.

Evergreen content needs constant attention or it will turn brown and fall to the recesses of the internet. Like not all plants are evergreen, not all content will maintain its flow of traffic. There is always a possibility that an article will fall out of favor or popularity. The key is to choose an article that can weather the storm and keep gaining nutrients.