While other trees shed their leaves after a few months, evergreens stay lush and lovely throughout the seasons. Like its namesake, evergreen content remains fresh and relevant over the years.
You may be thinking… Isn’t everything on our website evergreen, since it doesn’t just disappear?
The answer is NO.
What Isn’t Evergreen Content?
Anything that’s time-sensitive is the opposite of evergreen. For example, news and blog posts about current events and trends may be popular in the moment. But flash forward a few months (or even weeks) and no one cares about them.
The same rule applies to content that focuses on statistics and research results. Numbers capture attention when they’re new but they fall out-of-date quickly.
Time-sensitive content can drive strong traffic to your website but the effect is temporary. On the other hand, evergreen content doesn’t grow stale.
That’s the magic! You put in the work once and reap the benefits for years.
Examples of Evergreen Topics
Wondering what to write about? Here are a few evergreen ideas that may be a good fit for your organization:
- How-To articles
- Checklists and templates
- Personal stories
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- Articles about historical events
Think about WHO you want to attract to your content and why:
- What are their most common problems and issues?
- What questions are you asked again and again?
This is the fodder for evergreen content. The more deeply you understand your audience, the easier it is to create content that attracts and engages them.
Evergreen Content Packs a Big Punch
In most organizations, the time and money available for content writing is limited.
When choosing what to write about, it’s important to consider the potential return on your time investment. And high-quality evergreen content delivers solid results:
- It helps you rank in search engines, like Google,
- It’s more shareable and can attract natural, organic links, and
- It attracts and engages a continual flow of new visitors without ongoing effort on your part
So… How Do You Create Unique Evergreen Content?
The simple answer is that you don’t.
It’s almost impossible to find a timeless topic that hasn’t already been covered – countless times – to excess. You ‘re probably not going to create a piece of evergreen content that’s completely unique.
That said, you may be able to take a unique perspective on a popular topic, or take a deep dive into a niche element within a larger evergreen topic.
You can also be deliberate about making sure your content is especially attractive to search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is about all of the things you do to make your content show up when people are searching on Google, Chrome, Firefox, etc.
Because evergreen content has such a long lifespan, maximizing its SEO can produce significant nonprofit marketing benefits.You may want to check out Writing SEO Content: A Step-By-Step Guide.
Should Every Blog Post Be Evergreen?
When it comes to evergreen versus time-sensitive content, it’s not an Either-Or situation. Ideally, your content strategy should include both types of content.
While evergreen posts do the heavy lifting over time, time-sensitive pieces also play an important role in attracting and engaging website visitors. Posts about upcoming events, new programs, trends, etc. may have a shorter shelf life, but they still provide valuable information.
The key is to find a balance between timely posts that speak to your audience in-the-moment, and evergreen posts that keep traffic flowing and build your online authority.
Think of Evergreen Posts as the Foundation of Your Content Structure
These need to be high-quality, thoughtful pieces. They address questions and concerns that are of ongoing importance to your audience and they demonstrate the expertise of your organization. Moreover, they power-up your SEO and keep people coming to your site.
Evergreen content can also support other parts of your website. As you create more content, remember to include links back to related evergreen content. And vice-versa. The more related content you create, the better SEO results you get.
How to Care for Your Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is low maintenance. That said, ALL content should be reviewed and updated regularly so that things stay fresh and engaging. For example:
- Change the featured image now and then
- Add quotes
- Update internal links to connect with your newest content
- Add external links to authority websites
Updating older content can be helpful for search rankings. This strategy is called historical optimization.
Conclusion
Evergreen content is important because it stands the test of time and drives ongoing traffic to your site. Moreover, it speaks to core issues that your audience faces. Partnering strong, timeless pieces with relevant, current content is an ideal way to build online authority and provide valuable information to your community.