Evergreen content is the kind of content that, once posted, remains forever relevant and helpful for your readers.
Evergreen content incidentally has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas trees.
The daily news is not evergreen content…it’s outdated in literally 24 hours or less.
A how-to guide that walks a reader through how to change a car battery? BINGO. That’s gonna clicked on all the dang time.
(No joke, I Googled “How to change a car battery” once.)
Evergreen content is not timely, it’s timeless.
And it’s a win for everyone. Here’s why:
- It’s super beneficial to your readers because it actually helps them solve a problem or gives them information they need.
- If you can get that content to rank on the first page of a search engine result page, it will become a go-to post for anyone looking up that topic (which will help grow your audience like crazy).
Quality content for your readers, awesome exposure for you. — Holla.
Here are four kinds of posts that make for great evergreen content
How-to/tutorials: teach your readers how to do something. Walk them through exactly how to master a new skill complete with screenshots, pictures, or video.
Tips: offer a few quick (or a lot of long) tips to your readers. Give them some hacks for posting to Instagram, using Canva, or taking their cat to the beach.
Lists: make a list of the best WordPress plugins, best water parks, best dog breeds, whatever. People loooove lists (especially lists with pictures. Prime example: BuzzFeed). And the great thing about lists is that you can update them with new information, if new information ever surfaces. (So you can update its evergreenness and make it..greener? Boom.)
Encyclopedia: Write extensively (but in an exciting manner) about a prominent person, idea, or theory in your niche. You know who nails encyclopedia content? Wiki-freaking-pedia. If you Google just about anything under the sun, an informational Wikipedia post will probably be one of the first results. So be like Wikipedia: write about something you know people are always looking up.
When it comes to writing evergreen content, regardless of format, there are a few ways to make your content stand out and earn that top spot on a search engine result page.
Good evergreen content is targeted, helpful, easy to understand, and unique.
Get specific: Don’t write a post called, “How to Brew a Cup of Coffee”. That could be a whole book. Get super specific with your topic. I mean, think about what people type into search engines. It’s often a literal question, like “What the heck is a Chemex?”. So answer back! “How to Brew Coffee Using a Chemex” answers a specific question, and gives you room to be incredibly thorough. Think about your audience’s pain points and write directly to that.
Actually be helpful: Your goal should be to create content that is actionable. Meaning, a person can finish reading your content and be able to do something with it. If you are writing a “How To Fish” post, your reader should be ready to drive to the lake in their waders the minute they close their browser.
Don’t write to the pros: The whole point of evergreen content is to give people information they didn’t have before. So don’t write to them like they know what you’re talking about. Drop the shop-talk and jargon and approach this like you would a kid who is learning how to tie her shoes. Keep it simple and explain everything thoroughly, step by step.
Be unique: The internet is awash with information, both helpful and not. So it’s important to sound…not like everyone else. Make your content stand out by putting your own spin on it. No one can write about SEO optimization like you, ya special little snowflake.
Creating quality evergreen content is one of the keys to blogging success. Get good at it, and you will see big results.
