Writing Evergreen Content

SEO content works for you weeks, months, even years after you post it. It’s meant to be that way, but you still need to refresh your content occasionally to keep it relevant. But another content type lives on without needing much or any attention — evergreen content. This post explains writing evergreen content and why you want it on your site.

Understanding Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is content that’s not time-sensitive. So, it can last on your site without needing to be updated. It stays relevant to your audience and continues bringing new readers in via search.

It’s called evergreen content, named after the trees. Evergreens stay green year-round. So, they always look fresh and new, regardless of the season.

The key to evergreen content is not to include information (think stats or references to current events) that will go out of date. While you still may need to refresh this type of content eventually, it doesn’t need updating as frequently as other content and, if the SEO is correct, should continue bringing traffic to your site for a long time. Also, because of the educational nature of many evergreen posts, they tend to get backlinks from other sites, which also helps with search.

Evergreen Content Formats

Certain types of content automatically tend to be more evergreen than others. That doesn’t mean these types of content are automatically evergreen. But they lend themselves to being written in that format.

Types of evergreen content include:

• List or tips posts
• How-tos
• Informative/educational posts (Like this one!)
• Product reviews
• Some videos and graphics

Basically, any type of content that doesn’t include news, pop culture references, or data that will age can be evergreen. Knowing that you can write content that stays fresh longer may encourage you to focus only on evergreen content. But remember that it’s best for SEO and your audience if your blog contains a mix of content types. 

Wondering what this type of content looks like? We’ve done some of this posting here at Content Journey.

Examples of evergreen posts from our site:

• What is a Lead Magnet, and How Can It Make Your Business More Profitable
• Best Practices for CTAs
• How to Write a “How To” Article

Tips for Writing Evergreen Content

In many ways, you write evergreen content like you would any other post. The primary difference is that you don’t include any material in it that would quickly become dated. Here are my tips for writing long-lasting content.

Know Your Audience

Never write content for your site that doesn’t focus on your reader. Evergreen content is no exception. Before even choosing a topic, you must understand your audience and their needs. What will people search for that will lead them to your site? Do any of these topics lend themselves to long-lasting content?

Choose Strong Keywords

Once you have a general topic in mind, do some keyword research. What precisely is your audience likely to type into search? Some research suggests that long-tail keywords — those that are a little longer and more specific phrases — work best for evergreen content. You may want to keep that in mind when determining the approach you want to take.

Write Intentionally

Evergreen content probably won’t happen by accident. You write the post knowing you intend for it to last. So, you purposely avoid the types of material that automatically date the post. This content includes dates, timeframes, trendy words, anecdotes that won’t age well, and data. It’s unnecessary to avoid links in evergreen posts, but make sure they’re new and relevant. That way, it’ll be a while before you need to update them.

Optimize the Post

Optimize your evergreen post like you would any other content on your site. That means making sure it has an enticing title, is well written, and has critical components before publishing.

Items to check before publishing:

• Keyword. Add the keyword in the required locations on your site for optimization. Consider using a tool like Yoast to ensure that everything is optimized and good to go.
• Title Tag. Make sure the title tag and title use the headline you chose.
• Meta Description. Write a meta description that uses the keyword and entices people to read the post.
• Images. Add photos or graphics. Compress them beforehand, so they don’t bog down your site.  
• Alt Text. Be sure that images include proper titles and alt text to ensure that your post is accessible to everyone.

Review as Necessary

Just because you wrote an evergreen post doesn’t mean you’ll never need to update it. Go ahead and review these posts as part of your regular content audit. But only refresh these posts if they become irrelevant or are no longer bringing in the traffic they once did.

Let Content Journey Help!

We love writing all types of content at Content Journey. Do you like the idea of evergreen content working for you long-term but don’t have time to write it? We’d love to help you out. Reach out, and let’s chat. We make writing our full-time job, so you don’t have to.