As the leaves fall from the trees, it’s time to turn to evergreen content. That’s content that doesn’t go out of date, words that stand the test of time.
Is it evergreen?
Ask if someone reading in a year’s time would find the content informative and interesting. If so, you have evergreen content. Words that don’t go out of date, that are useful whether they are two days or two years old. Evergreen content is cost effective – the content only has to be created once but a long-shelf life means it can be shared multiple times.
Conversely, news items and opinion pieces in response to current events date fast, with viewing figures falling as rapidly as the autumn leaves.
Why you need evergreen
It’s too easy to go for the wham bam thank you ma’am quick content hit. Leave that to the millions of bloggers who excel in link bait, churning out provocative posts. A bog post may generate a spike in traffic but that isn’t the only measure of success. Make room for content that creates a slow burn, the considered well thought out piece that keeps users coming back again and again, building your readership over the years. Take time to review your back catalogue – consider creating a section on your blog for ‘top posts’ to ensure the best ones don’t get lost.
Types of evergreen content
We’re talking testimonials, reviews, user tips, reference material and information such as ’how to’ guides. You may already have evergreen content – the history of your company, a video with a tour of your premises and interviews with key people. On this site you’ll find ‘Is your content ready for editing?’ with advice written in 2009 but which will never go out of date.
Training material, About Us and Frequently Asked Questions all can be written in a way that makes them fresh, informative and pertinent for years to come. Evergreen content makes for a good investment; consider the cost of your customer service team tied up when users could find the answers on your website.
Finally, focus on creating fresh and new content that performs well in the long term. It’s tempting to produce lots of content to populate a site, but that quickly becomes tiring after a while and hard to maintain. A slower pace may result in fewer outputs but ones that are still discussed and shared when 2014 is but a distant memory.