Evergreen content is an important part of any content marketing strategy. Yet people often misunderstand the meaning and purpose of “evergreen” content and accidentally sabotage their overall marketing strategy. So, let’s take a look at the right way to mix evergreen content into your blog schedule.
What Is Evergreen Content?
Evergreen blogs feature content that is always of interest. Content largely falls into three categories – topical/trendy, seasonal, and evergreen.
Many blogs focus only on current news. While that is a useful component of any good content marketing strategy and shows that you stay up to date in your field, only writing content geared to current news means missed opportunities.
Seasonal content only attracts attention at certain times of the year but can repeat from year to year. For example, blogs about getting the garden ready for spring or Christmas decorating tips will only be of interest at those times but can attract readers for those topics every year at that time. Blogs on the newest flower hybrids or Christmas decoration trends would be topical and seasonal but would get little readership in future years.
Evergreen content focuses on topics that are of interest any time of year, year after year. For example, evergreen content marketing would include ‘does hydration affect spinal health’ or ‘how to prevent mice from getting into your home’ or even a blog about evergreen content marketing.
Can’t I Just Re-Post the Same Content Again?
Evergreen content does not mean rewriting the same blog over and over again. However, a topic could be revisited if it has a new angle or a fresh information.
For example… a nursery, garden shop, or hardware store could write a guide to garden tools that explains what purpose each one serves and how to identify them. A future blog could be about caring for your garden tools. Both would address the topic of gardening tools without being duplicate content, which can lead to pages being devalued and potentially removed from Google’s index.
Good content marketing strategy also means not overdoing a given topic. You don’t want to cannibalize your older blogs by repeating a topic. Even if it isn’t exactly duplicate content, writing a second garden tools guide would not be beneficial unless it is materially different… such as focusing on electric or gas-powered tools when the first one was for hand tools.
“Thin” content should also be avoided. This is a blog that doesn’t feature enough written content. Yes, attractive images enhance a blog but a wordcount of at least 400 is necessary for it to rank well. Longer is fine but significantly shorter can be a disadvantage.
“Thin content” can also refer to pages with duplicate content, too many ads, and articles that don’t really provide any useful information. “Doorway” pages are another example of thin content. These are pages you must visit first to get to the actual page. A doorway page is different than a landing page, which is usually geared to a conversation – such as getting the visitor to make an appointment or sign up for a list.
Why Is Evergreen Content Important?
Unlike a magazine or newspaper which loses value and relevance as time goes on, something on the internet remains (at least as long as that website remains). So evergreen content can potentially never lose its value.
That means a blog about houseplants that are easy to grow is always relevant. People might be looking for houseplant suggestions shortly after the blog first appears or months or even years later. No matter when they find that blog, it highlights the nursery or garden shop that posted it.
Evergreen content provides an ongoing stream of visitors to your website for topics that never go out style.
Where Can I Find Evergreen Topics?
A good source of evergreen topics is the questions you regularly receive. Whether it’s through your website or in-person, pay attention to what clients and prospects regularly ask and convert that to evergreen blog topic ideas. For example, a personal trainer website could write blogs to answer “How can I avoid being sore the next day” or a guide on stretches to perform at the start of a workout.
Topics that are perennial are another source. So, a dermatologist’s website could have an article on how your skin changes over time or why you shouldn’t pick pimples or why you do really need to wear sunscreen.
Is Evergreen Content the Same for Everyone?
No, evergreen content should be specific to your industry. Further, it can – and should (when possible) – be specific to your business. For example, if you have a concierge service tier, a blog answering questions about this service or explaining specific aspects of it could be evergreen.
Let Efferent Media Handle Your Content Marketing
Producing high quality content marketing material on a consistent basis that highlights your business and expertise involves a lot of work. Let our expert content marketing do the work for you. If you need blog writing services or general SEO services, call Efferent Media’s marketing experts at (631) 867-0900 to get started.