Content marketing can feel like a rat race. You are constantly looking for fresh ideas and conducting keyword research to ensure your content ranks on the first page. You have to add new concepts to your content strategy. That doesn’t mean you must reinvent the wheel daily to stay on top. You should be relying on evergreen content for SEO.
Here’s everything you need to know about evergreen pieces.
What’s Evergreen Content for SEO?
Evergreen content for SEO refers to articles that remain valuable and relevant to readers long after they’re published. Time-sensitive blog posts or news articles may see a spike in traffic initially, but the momentum won’t last.
Evergreen posts continue to attract readers over time. An evergreen piece of content will keep driving traffic and can help you maintain a page-one ranking on search engines.
Popular examples of evergreen articles include how-to guides and resource lists. Keep in mind that these articles aren’t set-it-and-forget-it pieces you never have to look at again. You will need to refresh them from time to time if you want to keep your articles at the top of search results pages.
Do You Need to Delete Your Old or Non-Evergreen Content?
Google doesn’t necessarily hate old content. The search algorithms will have a tough time crawling all of your pages if your website gets too cluttered.1 That’s why it’s a good idea to periodically cleanse your site of old pages. We suggest ditching underperforming content and holding onto or refreshing top articles.
You should also make a list of pages that are good candidates for a refresh. Let’s say you published a comprehensive how-to guide three years ago, and it generated a ton of organic traffic.
You can rework some of the copy and modify some of the steps to make it more relevant to the needs of today’s audiences. The process will be a lot more efficient than building a new guide from scratch. You can recapture some of the SEO power of the high-performing article.
Why You Need Evergreen Content for SEO
Why should you create evergreen content? There are plenty of great reasons. For starters, writing evergreen content can boost your site’s authority and relevance. As users continue to find value in your pieces over time, your site’s overall authority grows.
Evergreen content is content that delivers long-term SEO value. You’ll be able to drive a steady stream of visitors easily. You’ll save time and can grow your web traffic passively.
Evergreen topics are also much easier to manage. Once you’ve built up a large library of evergreen articles, you’ll find that it’s much easier to manage your content marketing strategy. You can refresh a few articles monthly until you have enough content to stick to your desired posting schedule.
Evergreen Content for SEO: Tips for Creating Lasting Blogs
Here are a few ways to create great evergreen content.
Conduct Thorough Keyword Research
Identify search terms that have consistent search volume over time. These keywords will form the foundation of your evergreen content. While you may have to refresh secondary terms in the future, your core keywords should consist of timeless phrases.
Choose Evergreen Topics
Not every topic will have lasting relevance. Choose subjects that aren’t tied to news, seasonal events, or trends. Content like “best SEO practices” or “how to bake the perfect cake” will remain relevant for years. You want to provide value to your audience on topics that won’t go out of style.
Optimize for SEO
Search engine optimization best practices still apply to evergreen content. In fact, they might be even more important. Make sure to include target keywords in your title, headings, meta descriptions, and throughout the body of your post. However, avoid keyword stuffing. Aim for a natural flow that reads well. Pay close attention to on-page SEO factors like internal linking and using alt text for images.
Refresh Old Articles to Save Time
There’s a good chance that some of your existing blogs are already evergreen. You’ll just need to give them a quick refresh. For instance, let’s say you created a listicle blog featuring the best home goods products of 2023. Change the article to read “2024” and update a few of the items to refresh the list. You now have an evergreen article that you can reuse for years with a few simple updates.
Update Content When Necessary
Don’t confuse “evergreen” with “never update again.” You’ll need to periodically optimize new content, even if you created it using evergreen strategies. New secondary keywords might start trending, different best practices may catch on, or consumers may simply experience a shift in product preferences. You need to stay ahead of these trends.
How to Promote Evergreen Blog Posts
Here are a few ways to promote your evergreen content.
Post on Social Media
One of the simplest ways to showcase new blogs involves posting links to your content on social media. Share your “new” articles with your followers and encourage them to share your post. You could rack up thousands of views and visitors using the social audience you’ve already built.
Incorporate It Into Email Campaigns
The best digital marketing campaigns are omnichannel. That means treating your content marketing, email, social media, and paid campaigns as if they are connected — because they are. With that in mind, why not share evergreen content in your email campaigns? Provide a little snippet of your content to incentivize email recipients to visit your site and check out the full article.
Does Your Content Strategy Need a Refresh? We Have You Covered
The success of your evergreen marketing strategy hinges on the quality of your content. If crafting dynamic marketing copy isn’t your thing, Full Circle SEM has you covered. Contact us to schedule a consultation, and let’s chat about how to elevate your content strategy with evergreen content.
Sources:
[1] https://medium.com/@seosmarty/does-google-hate-old-content-what-to-do-about-it-dbffae004d60
