When doing a Google search are you more likely or less likely to click on something with a date of 2008? Probably not. In fact, it’s likely that you will add the current year onto the end of your search term, like 2012. You want the most relevant information on what it is you are looking for. Right? Well, not necessarily.
Let’s say you are looking to fix a leaky faucet on your kitchen sink. You would probably search for “How to fix a leaky faucet”, or “DIY leaky faucet”.
Would you care about whether the content was dated from 2008 versus 2012? Probably not, because fixing a leaky faucet hasn’t changed much over the years.
On the other hand, if you are looking for stylish faucets for your kitchen sink, you probably want the most current information. We know that styles change over the years and you are going to want the latest and the greatest information on stylish kitchen faucets.
The above two scenarios are examples of “evergreen” versus “non-evergreen content”.
So what is Evergreen Content? It is “fresh” content that never goes out of style. It is relevant all the time. It is everlasting. It’s what drives traffic to your website consistently.
What it isn’t: a one-hit wonder, seasonal, topical or researched topics.
The holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are examples of “non-evergreen” content. As well as topical items like the latest Hollywood gossip, the current Occupy Wall Street Protesters, and the latest fashion trends.
First, it’s important to discuss why having evergreen content on your website or blog is important for search traffic. Seasonal content that is about holidays, or current events becomes old news quickly. It may garner a high number of hits at the outset, but loses its value over time.
However, evergreen content may not receive a large number of hits to begin with, but over the course of time will actually garner more hits and has the likelihood of becoming more popular. Thus more opportunity to gain new readers, keep existing ones and make a profit in the process.
The best evergreen content in this age of DIY are “How-To” articles. Also, anything about Love, Relationships, Dieting, Health, and financing, are all also good ideas of evergreen content.
How to Write Evergreen Content – Quick & Easy Method
Writing evergreen content doesn’t need to be difficult or require a lot of research. As long as you stay on topic in your particular niche you will have readers coming back to your site for more of the same.
For example, if your site is about dating, relationships and love start out with the following three basic principles:
1. Use Keyword Research – Do your keyword research. If you want targeted traffic to find you then you need to get eyes on your blog or website. How do you do that? The easiest and free method is to use the Google Keyword Tool you can find here: Google Keyword Tool.
As you can see from the screen shot below, when using the search terms Love, Relationships and Dating, dating garners the most hits.
With the next screenshot, Google provides narrower keyword ideas. These are the ones you want to use when writing your evergreen content because people looking for specific information about love, relationships and dating are more likely to click on your website.
2. Be Entertaining & Engaging – The goal is to keep your readers on your page for longer than 5 seconds. If you start out with either a funny quip or funny picture, you’ll have your audience at the get-go.
3. Write at the 8th Grade Level – It isn’t a matter of speaking down to your readers. It’s a matter of them wanting to read on. If you junk it up with technical phrases and jargon they will bounce off your site faster than a two year old on a trampoline.
So use targeted keywords, phrases that people are searching for, and write a funny, engaging piece that is easy to read quickly and you will not only keep your reader there longer but you’ll keep them returning to your website.
Now, there is a way to make evergreen content both timely and lasting. For example, although Thanksgiving may be considered non-evergreen content, if you discuss “Thanksgiving Celebrated over the Years” you will have an evergreen topic. This is the best way to capture the best of both worlds.
Here is an example of curated evergreen content. A resource list of curated content of social media blogs:
36 Awesome Social Media Blogs Everyone Should Read
To get an idea of popular evergreen topics search Google’s Trend History comparing two topics. Below is an example of the evergreen topics Rolex Watches and How to Say I Love You. As you can see Rolex Watches appears to win out. So if this is your niche you know what to write about.
Probably one of the best evergreen content sites is Wikipedia. They provide a never-ending supply of evergreen content.
By keeping it evergreen you will have always have a fresh supply of readers coming to your site.
Now to You
How do you decide what is evergreen content? What process do YOU use?
