This post was most recently updated on October 19th, 2023

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[This article was originally published in August 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.]

Do you create evergreen content as part of your content marketing strategy?

Fourteen years ago I was in my first year of junior high school when I knew Blogger for the first time. Blogs were seen as a hobby or personal diary for me — my own virtual space where I can share thoughts, ideas, or things I like to share.

Suddenly, years later blogging was no longer just a hobby. You could monetize your ideas, gain influence, or bring together huge audiences from around the world. This is what we see today. Websites are now spawning thousands of posts every minute, while bloggers are treated like celebrities, star in movies, and earn ludicrous sponsorship deals.

Let’s first try to determine the total number of websites out there. A live counter, developed by Internet Live Stats, shows that there are roughly 1.9 billion websites online at this moment.

I’m sure you’ve heard this: more than three million blog posts go live every single day. You can use Worldometer’s counter to count the total number of blog posts published every day – the latest statistics on worldwide blog activity published by WordPress.com.

And that’s just talking about WordPress, not Blogger and Tumblr. You don’t even want to start contemplating total online content including emails, landing pages, product pages, podcasts, and social media.

Standing out in the deluge is harder than ever. Even for established publishers, it’s tough. For beginners – it’s a nightmare. So, what’s the solution?

While there is no spell magic for content marketers, there is one type of content that can cut through the noise and give you long-term results.

It’s called evergreen content. Just like this post.

In this post, I will guide you about what is evergreen content, the difference with seasonal content, the benefits of evergreen content, tips to create evergreen content and types of evergreen content you can write from now on.

What is evergreen content?

Note that some evergreen content does require updating. For example, when publishing SEO guides, there may be new strategies developed that should be added. It’s evergreen because the basics of SEO remain the same, but new algorithms are made here and there.

Evergreen content vs Seasonal

Broadly speaking, content can be divided into evergreen and seasonal, depending on how long it’s going to be relevant for your audience. Both of them have pros and cons, and to devise a thought-out strategy, you need to understand how to make the best of both types.

And, there are two types of seasonal content: time-based and event-based. The first one is built around a particular season, for example, introducing trendy summer dresses, while the second type covers special events like Mother’s Day or Christmas.

It would help if you decided whether you want to create evergreen content or seasonal. You can likely choose to publish all types of content or restrict it to one kind. I tend to focus on evergreen content but do publish seasonal to some extent.

I love evergreen content because it’s the type of content that garners ongoing interest for a long time. They are topics that people will seek out in the long term. In fact, that’s the point of evergreen content.

Benefits of Evergreen content

Evergreen content is like a tree – once planted, it gives you many benefits.

• Unlike seasonal content, evergreen content can be published at any time and generates sustained interest throughout the year. For example, I can publish my blogging tips whenever I want, but seasonal contents need to be published 1-2 months before the events. It’s not good to publish a Christmas gift guide in February, right?
• You can create evergreen content once and it keeps driving constant traffic for years later, accumulating more and more followers. Evergreen content is great for driving targeted traffic to your website, and it will generate leads as well as help you convert prospects to customers.
• These types of posts can be repurposed into infographics, video tutorials, podcasts, and other forms of content. You can also build on original posts with more information to keep them relevant.
• It’s good for building backlinks. Evergreen content attracts content creators to quote you as a reference in their content. When more and more creators add your links over time and across many articles, it helps in better ranking and creates your authority across the internet.
• Because it takes time to rank on search engines, evergreen content that continuously delivers on the interests of its readers is ideal for improving your blog’s position in the SERP and it’s beneficial for SEO. The longer the time it has been available online, the better the chances that search engines will rank it higher.

As good as the evergreen contents, there are two weaknesses you might already know:

• Evergreen content topics are highly competitive. Most companies, marketers, and creators heavily rely on evergreen content to rank higher on Google, you’ll be bound to write the same topics. So the competition will be pretty high and you need to produce better than others to win over the audience.
• It takes great effort and time to create evergreen content. To produce quality evergreen and outwit your competitors, you usually need thorough research and a deep understanding of the topic, which requires a LOT of time.

After one year of blogging, in a month, at least I write 4-5 articles about blogging tips that require a lot of research and 2-3 days of writing. As much as I love to create evergreen content, sometimes it will overwhelm me to some extent. But, when I saw that the articles were still getting organic traffic every time, I thought all my efforts paid off.

Tips for creating timeless content

For my blog, I publish at least 8 blog posts a month – half of it about blogging tips (which is always evergreen content), and the rest are lifestyle topics (can be seasonal or evergreen-seasonal). I like to plan my content 1-2 months in advance because I tend to change the publication schedule or change topics suddenly. My bad. So here 5 tips to create evergreen content, from my experience:

Choose your topics

You need to search for topics that relate to your website and can drive great traffic. To pick an appropriate topic, you need to distinguish trending (have great search volume at the beginning but lose it quickly) and evergreen posts (have high traffic for a long time).

Use your Google Analytics to see which topics get a high level of traffic over time.

• Firstly, look for topics that can be a great fit for your website and at the same time will stay relevant for your audiences.
• Secondly, check the posts you already have in your blog to figure out which of them get the most readers.
• Thirdly, check out similar blogs / your competitors, identify the content you need, and check if you can write it better than them.

Conduct keyword research

Evergreen content heavily depends on keywords. The first step towards creating it will be by performing a thorough keyword search. Use a keyword discovery tool like Ubersuggest or Semrush.

When searching on Google, take some ideas for related keywords from the “people also ask” section. This will help you find out the answers that customers are looking for. This search will also help define the intention that the customer has.

Write in-depth content

Follow the basic principle of creating content — keep it simple. When the content is easy to understand, grammatically correct, and properly formatted, it attracts the reader’s attention. Now, every time the reader needs information, they will visit your website.

Remember to avoid specific dates or events. People stop searching for date-related topics after a certain amount of time and if someone finds your article one year later, they might assume it’s not reliable and they won’t click on it.

SEO audit

Once finished, it’s time to put your masterpiece through the SEO audit. Rank Math plugin can help you save time by checking all SEO parameters in one place.

This SEO tool will analyze your content and generate a workspace where you can spot the gaps and optimize content right there.

Back up your content with proper research. Double-check all facts from multiple sources before publishing the content. This will create a credible pool of content that audiences will rely on for all its information requirements.

Well, the finish line is to publish your content. Once it’s approved by the SEO tool of your choice, you can hit that “publish ” button and cross your fingers!

Update your content

Well, no matter how hard you work to create evergreen content, you’ll still have to update it, regularly. There will be new algorithms, strategies change, updated tools come out, and content becomes less fresh over time. If you want to keep your content ranking well, you’ll need to update it.  

By updating old content, you’re creating a new publication date, which gives your post an instant boost. Here are a few tips for updating content:  

• Add a little more information, or change a few stats.
• Change any outdated information.
• Double-check spelling and phrasing.   

For a more detailed guide, check out this complete guide to giving your content a freshen-up.

Types of evergreen content

There are types of evergreen content that can help you no matter what your niche is, and that could be lead generation and authority-building opportunities as well. Having evergreen content shows that you and your site are an “authority” in your industry, making you the go-to resource.

If you write great evergreen content displaying your knowledge, not only will your audience and target audience benefit, but you could also have that content featured on sites and social media accounts. Additionally, you might be able to get valuable backlinks to your content, further boosting the profile and visibility of your website.

Let’s think about your target audience and what sort of information they might be looking for. Whether it’s problem-solving tips, how-to guides, or general knowledge on specific topics, you want to be the site to which search engines guide interested parties.

In short, you want your content to be seen as valuable. So, it’s time to jump into the types.

How-to guides

People go to Google to find an answer, solve a problem, or learn something new. That’s why to get ready to provide them with the most informative and detailed guides on various topics in your niche. By creating evergreen how-to or step-by-step guides for your blog, you’ll be able to drive traffic to your website.

How-to guides are typically several thousands of words long, just like this post, with around 2,300+ words. This post provides actionable advice on how to achieve something; they’re rather text-heavy, it’s all about explaining something to a reader in-depth. Sometimes these posts can be broken down into multiple sections as well.

List posts

Evergreen content doesn’t have to be overwhelming. And lists happen to be some of the most effective forms of evergreen content out there because they provide your audience with useful and easily consumable information that stands the test of time.

The great thing about list posts is that it designed to take your reader through a process in a step-by-step format, guiding them from point one, all the way to their conclusion. It can work just as well as standalone content, or gated content either – so it may help you to gather new leads.

Interviews

Interviews have become an increasingly popular form of content lately – particularly with the rise of things like Facebook Live for quick Q&A sessions with social media influencers. Your interview can be any format you like, from a traditional blog post to a podcast, or YouTube video.

Though there’s a lot that original content and ultimate guides can do to guide your readers through the challenges they face, there’s something particularly compelling about hearing from an expert or influencer.

Reviews

Product reviews are every day in today’s social-proof-obsessed environment. People appreciate the option to search for reviews before they buy a product. Product reviews provide a level of credibility and trust for your audience, and they can also be a useful source of traffic for your website. Here is one example of a product review, Why You Need Chic Blue-Light Glasses.

Make sure that you know how to structure your review before you get started. Analyze the item or service by looking at how it helps your business and drives results.

Always remember to discuss how you’re maximizing your use of the product or service, the pros and cons, and how the reader can benefit. Here is the review of Bonsai: an all-in-one tool for freelancers or bloggers.

It’s not easy being green.

Now that you know the benefits, tips for creating, and more types of evergreen content than you’d ever need, the temptation to create evergreen content will be to start growing … at once.

Evergreen content is powerful, insanely so. But remember creating it requires an investment. So pick one of the above types and dig deep.

Above all, aim for originality and value. Being genuinely helpful never goes out of season, isn’t it?