What is evergreen content? (With examples)

Content is an essential part of digital marketing; it’s how you communicate with your audience, how you become visible to search engines, and it can drive conversions. One of the best ways to generate more traffic is to create evergreen content that will stay relevant long after its published.

Unlike topical content, which can create a spike in traffic but will lose its relevance, evergreen content is informative and in-depth, and will consistently drive traffic to your website. Whilst topical content can be great for getting an influx of new users to your page, or to show that your company keeps up with current events, a combination of topical and evergreen content is necessary for website longevity.

Evergreen vs. Topical content

Evergreen content is timeless; the information in your content should be useful for years to come. Topical content discusses trends or breaking stories, such as coverage on current political events. Whilst it can be interesting content for your readers, it may not generate any more traffic after a few weeks.
Evergreen content can be repurposed. When you conduct a blog audit, have a look at your older pieces of evergreen content. It should still be relevant, but you may find that some of the language is out of date. Good evergreen content can be repurposed and shared to gain new readers. Topical content is only useful for a short window of time.
Good websites have a mixture of evergreen and topical content. Evergreen content is great for educating your readers and can establish your website as a valuable resource. Topical content is great for getting involved with current trends and creating fresh, exciting content.

What to avoid when creating evergreen content

Avoid mentioning anything related to occasions or holidays, e.g., Christmas or Halloween. Whilst themed content can be useful depending on your business type, it has a limited life span because it will only be relevant for one period every year.
Statistic based posts can be valuable and informative, but statistics are subject to change, and may be outdated within a matter of months.
Trend-related topics. Articles such as ‘Marketing Trends to Watch This Month’ have a limited life span and will become obsolete after that time.
Avoid referring to temporary issues, e.g., the Coronavirus pandemic, as this dates your content.

Evergreen content examples

How to… How to articles are the pinnacle of evergreen content. People turn to the internet to find solutions for their problems, and you want to be the resource that they look to. Make sure to choose topics that will have long-lasting relevance, for example, ‘How To Ride a Bike’. People will always want to know how to ride a bike, so there is potential for that content to be read for years to come.
Reviews – many people won’t buy a product without reading in depth reviews. Reading reviews removes some of the risks that consumers will buy a product or use a service that isn’t useful or suitable. For example, if somebody was looking to buy a certain car model, it’s likely that they will read reviews on that car before purchasing it. Creating content showcasing your products using customer testimonials can establish you as a trustworthy company.
Listicles – listicles are useful for readers looking for inspiration, or who want to learn more about a topic in an easy-to-read format. Make sure that they are specific and valuable to your audience and include examples if it is an informational post. Ensure your points go in depth, as longer posts maximise dwell time.
Historical posts – Historical roundups of topics that relate to consumers within your niche are a great way to inform your readers and prove that you have great industry knowledge, e.g. ‘The History of Digital Marketing’.

Tips for keeping your old content evergreen

Repurposing

Rather than producing new content for the sake of it, you should first try to refine the content you have already created. Here are a few ways you can do this:

Make sure that your older content pieces stay relevant by performing a content audit.
Go back and check whether they are still optimised for search engines.
Fix any broken links in your content.
Update any old, outdated images that no longer suit the piece.
Ensure that you aren’t guilty of keyword stuffing.
Edit the writing and layout to make it flow better.
Consider the length of the piece, is it the optimal length for a piece of this kind? Have you utilised the blank space, or are your paragraphs too chunky?
Revising content to match current SEO guidelines prevent it from being forgotten by search engines and will make older pieces more reader friendly.

Don’t rank against yourself

Do you have multiple pieces of content that all focus on a similar topic? Could these be merged into one, longform piece of content? Longform content is now preferable for blogs and websites and is more likely to rank higher on search engines. When you conduct a blog audit, look at whether you can condense some of these pieces into one post.

Fresh takes

Look at your old evergreen content and consider whether you have anything else to add. Have there been any developments on this topic that you could comment on? For example, if you have posted a list of tips and tricks, do you have any new ideas that could improve it? Adding to older content can improve its lifespan and potentially reach new readers.

Social media

Make sure to reshare your content on your social media pages. You might have new followers since the last time you shared an older piece of content, or maybe your current followers missed an older post. Repurpose your content and then share it across your social media platforms to give it a boost, and to make sure your followers don’t miss anything that they might be interested it.

Linking

Keep older content alive by continuing to link to it in your newer pieces. You may mention a topic in a newer post that relates to an older, evergreen piece; link back to it so that new readers can view more of your content.

Make sure you use a blend of evergreen and topical content to keep your readers engaged. Using both will maximise the potential of expanding your audience. Try to make your website a valuable resource, but don’t miss the chance to stay up-to-date and relevant. Evergreen content needs to be revisited, so perform a blog audit to find which posts can be improved and reshared to your social media platforms.