We’ve all been there. Desperately scouring the internet for the answer to our burning question. Suddenly you find an article with the crucial information you need! But something’s not right. Cultural references are old. Stats out of date. Charts with aged graphics. You glance at the date and there it is, “Published February 23rd, 2005.” 

An old publishing date isn’t a death sentence for old blogs or articles on your website, but outdated information is. The challenge is to provide relevant content that will last through the ages and keep bringing in traffic, despite trends coming and going. A great way to do this is through evergreen content. So what does evergreen content mean in marketing?

What is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen Content is information that remains relevant and true for your audience despite the passage of time. The name takes inspiration from evergreen trees that remain alive and well throughout all seasons, never shedding their leaves. Similarly, evergreen content has a timeless nature to its helpful information that won’t die off quickly, or even 5 years down the road. 

An example of evergreen content could be answering common questions, the history of your brand, or basic information on your industry. On the other hand, an example of timely (not evergreen) content may be a trend report, current news article, or a blog chalked full of information that will be outdated within a few months. 

Why is Evergreen Content Important?

While timely content is necessary and serves a purpose, content that an audience can keep coming back to builds relevance for your brand and is the hallmark of a best practice search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Content that draws major traffic over time is better than a lot of articles that become irrelevant quickly, sinking into the backrooms of the internet, never again to see the light of day.

Additionally, the subject matter of evergreen content is timeless for a reason. It answers questions people have asked for years and provides information they are interested in. This makes it a fantastic conductor for SEO keywords. When the algorithm sees traffic coming, staying, and returning to your article, it deems it as useful and relevant, pushing it to the top of a search results page over time. 

How Do You Write Evergreen Content?

Now that you know evergreen content is important, how do you begin? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Choose Relevant Topics

Make sure to choose information your audience cares about. Put yourself in their shoes and give them the information they are looking for. A great way to do this is by making a list of frequently asked questions. When you’ve been in business for a while you can find common threads in the conversations you have with customers, clients, and patients. Use these as inspiration for your evergreen content. You can write about regular stumbling blocks or clarify common misinterpretations about your industry. 

Provide Substance

When writing topics that can apply to a broad range of people for a long time, the content will become more vague. But that doesn’t mean it has to be empty words. Use your specialty, expertise, and personality to provide something you’d like to read yourself. Your audience will resonate with content that is both applicable and substantial.

Do Your Keyword Research

Since the goal of evergreen content is to be around for a long time and to capture lots of readers, it creates the perfect place for keywords. Make sure you’re researching common search queries for topic inspiration, long tail keywords, and short tail keywords. Work these into your SEO strategy to keep your evergreen content capturing the most traffic possible. Learn more about SEO.

Update & Modify When Needed

It’s a common misconception that once you push publish on a blog that you cannot make any changes. It’s not only possible to update past blogs but extremely important! Provide updated branding, stats, or information to old articles on your website, as the need arises. Add a new common question to your FAQ blog or update your article with the latest research on the subject. Some websites even denote the last time an article was updated to show their content is relevant. Making it a regular habit to check in on your content gives you the chance to catch anything that could make it out of date. 

Having Trouble Growing Your Evergreen Content?

Combined with strategic timely content, evergreen content is part of a healthy website. Growing and maintaining your content to be timeless takes work. Investing time, research, and effort into an evergreen SEO strategy isn’t always feasible when you have a business to run. Digital Limelight Media provides full service SEO, lead management, and digital marketing services. We’re experts in crafting content that stands the test of time and are always innovating to achieve the best results. If you’re interested in growing beyond stale content to provide relevant and timeless information to your audience, give us a call.