Some pieces of content seem to keep on giving and giving. That throwback picture you posted still gets likes, your favourite recipe blog content is still commented on, and you’ve also noticed that a ton of your web traffic is coming from a quote that you shared more than 5 years ago.
What these pieces of content all have in common is simple – they are evergreen!
Evergreen content is content that remains relevant for months, years and sometimes forever. While covering timely topics is an important part of remaining relevant to your audience, evergreen content is an important part of any long term SEO strategy, especially in regards to blog content.
Blogs take a lot of work! That’s why you want blogs that people can still enjoy and learn from for years. You want them to be relevant. You want them to be evergreen.
The following are tactics that will ensure that every blog post you write has timeless qualities that will get you more long term ROI.
Use Timeless References
Using timeless references in your blog content will always win over current ones in the long run–especially when it comes to blogs meant to educate. Readers encountering your post months or years after it was written will immediately peg it as stale or useless if you refer to outdated events.
If you are going to use real life examples in your post, especially if they are from popular culture, it would do you good to use classic references, rather than recent ones.
You’ll have to use your own judgement for that. The key is to ensure that your blog posts will age well by using references that have already stood the test of time.
Choose A Timeless Feature Image
Just as you should avoid stale references in your text, you should also avoid them in your feature image or images. In truth, a lot of people will judge the relevancy and quality of your blog content based on the image before even reading anything, so you want the right image!
Try to stay away from images that make reference to a particular time by using more abstract and classic depictions of what you’re writing about.
Choose A Broad Topic to Start With
Your broader industry tactics and philosophies aren’t bound to change too much over time, but the current tools and platforms might. So ensure that your content remains relevant no matter what by opening up your topic beyond the latest trends.
By choosing a broad topic, you will not only make your content remain relevant for longer, but you will also be able to reach far more people as your post will be relevant to wider search queries.
You’ll also be able to link back to and write more blog content related to your broad topic blog. It’ll help you to create new content in the future once you have an audience for your blogs!
Be warned, if you are doing a broad topic, though, there are also going to be hundreds of blogs out there with the same topic. To stand out, you need to make sure your SEO for your blog content is immaculate.
Choose A Topic For Beginners
Share your expertise in a way that caters to beginners by trying to envision the needs of your average reader. If your blog is hyper detailed and uses topics and language only an expert in your field will know, then your audience for that blog is going to be very, very small.
“Experts aren’t likely to be searching on broad topics, and you want to generate evergreen content for a large and recurring audience.” – Digital Marketing Institute
Check In Every Couple Of Years
If traffic on an old blog post has begun to taper, give it a look over and see if it needs freshening up or even recycling. It doesn’t have to be a huge rewrite. Sometimes your blog content just needs a section or two updates, and it’s a good as new, ready to be reposted!
Monitoring evergreen content and taking cues from what has and hasn’t worked in the past will help you plan and curate better and more sustainable posts in the future.
Having multiple blog posts that age well and share timeless, useful information, have a better chance of being read, shared and converting in the long term. So, instead of rushing to have everything you cover be a trending topic in your industry, try your hand at some evergreen content to capture your reader’s attention no matter the date! You want blogs that last!
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This blog post was originally published in March 2019 and has been edited to improve accuracy and readability.
