Today’s post is about something called evergreen content and how it can encourage people to read your posts, link to them and share them on social networks for years and years!
Evergreen content
Evergreen content is content, which is likely to remain relevant for months or years to come. Compare this with the millions of posts being written today, which tie into a news story or some other time sensitive event. These posts can get a lot of attention for a limited period, but once the news story or event has passed, the posts written about them rapidly cease to be relevant. As a result, people stop searching for them and they remain largely unnoticed.
Now, if you run a news related blog, you have to produce time sensitive content (and on a very regular basis.) But for the rest of us, there are some very good reasons to focus the majority of our content on topics, which are evergreen,
How evergreen content works
Over on my marketing blog, I have evergreen posts that are several years old, which people still read, link to and share via social networks. An example of an evergreen post, might be one that covers the basics of how to read body language. A post written on that subject today, could be just as relevant 5 or even 10 years from now. People will still be searching for that kind of content in years to come too. That’s because the topic is not subject to regular revisions. However, a blog post about a security flaw in Microsoft Windows, which is patched within a few weeks, is largely irrelevant as soon as it’s fixed in an update. After that, the post becomes less and less relevant and will be unlikely to be linked to, shared or searched for.
Unless you write a news blog, there are some very good reasons not to rely too heavily on time sensitive content. Yes, if you write posts on a very regular basis, there’s nothing wrong with tapping into a news story or buzz-worthy event, like the launch of the new Apple iPhone. However, linking too many posts to time sensitive subjects, can make your archive of content a lot less valuable.
As with anything, there are exceptions to this rule; such as technology blogs, investment blogs etc. But for the majority of us, who write a commercial blog and want to develop a valuable, link-worthy archive of material that our marketplace will find useful for many years to come, evergreen content is an essential part of the mix.
Photo: Phillie Casablanca
Very good advice. I have a few posts on a stale blog (which is going to be relaunched) that still has the odd comment made and a fair amount of traffic. I’ll be aiming for content that has some evergreen leaves in future to keep a flow of possible new readers coming to the blog.
Hi Stuart,
It’s about striking the right balance. You need to take the general subject matter of your blog into account, and use time sensitive posts / evergreen when appropriate.
Thanks for the feedback!
Very good information Jim. Come to think of it, nearly every blog I read regularly does not have Evergreen content. I see how it would be in most bloggers interest to write a diverse range of content to gain current and future traffic. Over time you could hugely increase traffic from what you’re currently writing about and from your older Evergreen content posts.
Well put – thank you.
Indeed.
I some old posts on my blog, which get searched for, linked to and shared literally every day; even though they are years old.
Similarly, Google ranks older posts higher in their SERPS – So, is your older posts are evergreen, people will still read them. Otherwise, they find an old, time-sensitive post and just leave the site.
Thanks for the feedback Carissa.
Hi there.
“Evergreen” – love it. What a great analogy. Agree 100% – the more “evergreen” something is, the better legs it will have to continue to generate interest in your blog and content.
This does not preclude time sensitive material – there is always room for the deciduous material provided it is relevant and timely for the point that you are trying to make to the reader.
Cheers
Barney
Hi Barney. Like you say, it’s all about balance. There’s a role for time sensitive posts on every blog. However, relying too heavily on it can make your archive less effective than it could be.
Agree 100% my friend. Over reliance on one form or another in any aspect of marketing or business can kill you off before you know where you are.
A good concept to keep in mind when crafting your content. This is the direct opposite of Twitter in my view, where almost all the information has the lifespan of a mayfly.
This is why I don’t take stock in articles that rail about the “death of blogs” etc. There is far too much valuable content, that is timeless, that cannot be communicated in 140 characters or less.
Maybe I’m just a curmudgeon…
Ever notice how those, “blogging is dead”, stories seem to come from blogs
Good points there Mike!
And this is an evergreen post, isn’t it!? Great stuff Jim. I learn a lot from my visits to your blogs! Thanks!
Lori
I hope it’s evergreen, Lori
Thanks for the kind words.
Hey Jim,
Your article raises good points. I was explaining the importance of evergreen content to one of my clients the other day, especially as they don’t plan on regularly updating their content.
I also feel this concept works well for those of us who use autoresponders to manage our lists. The last thing we want is folks signing up to our newsletter only to receive outdated emails.
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