Creating new content on your site or blog requires both money and investment. This sometimes makes it difficult to accept that an article that you took a long time to write is not read at all a few weeks later. So rather than writing a post that will go viral and quickly be forgotten, why not invest in evergreen content? Discover our tips and ideas to get started in this obsolescence-free digital format and create quality articles on the internet that stand the test of time.
Table of Contents
- What is evergreen content?
- 6 tips for creating content that lasts over time
- 8 examples of evergreen content to test
What is evergreen content?
No, evergreen content is not an article about an ecological initiative, much less a post about your last sustainable project. Evergreen marketing content, which literally means “always green”, simply refers to so-called persistent content. In other words, an article, a video or an infographic that will not expire over time.
The importance of SEO content is well established. Creating evergreen content is one of the essential pillars of any self-respecting content strategy. Indeed, it presents a double interest, both in terms of SEO and web marketing.
On the internet today, you find a large number of content that makes the buzz, that surfs on a trend, which bounces on a news. But all this content (articles, videos, TOP …) does not last over time and is quickly forgotten by Internet users.
The whole issue of evergreen content is precisely to manage to take the opposite view of this trend. Offer your readers or customers non-perishable formats that can be viewed at any time, always remaining relevant. Evergreen is ultimately content that is constantly new, fresh and useful!
6 tips for creating content that lasts over time
Identify the most relevant content
Writing evergreen content first and foremost means choosing the right theme. You have to choose a topic that will be read!
If you already have a professional blog, start by analyzing your audience statistics as precisely as possible. By looking at the curves of your traffic, the most viewed articles, the comments, the reading time, you will be able to find quite easily:
- What are the most popular articles: therefore the topics that interest your audience the most. Remember to identify which types of content are the most read, the articles that generate the most comments and the old content that still attracts visitors.
- What are the subjects that interest all the time: see which articles are consulted constantly, throughout the year and with the same regularity.
From this first selection, you have a solid basis for creating evergreen content. All you have to do is break down your main theme into several non-perishable content.
Take the example of this article: “How to create evergreen content?” . You can easily imagine variations of the type:
- 6 steps to create evergreen content.
- 5 examples of evergreen content.
- The benefits of creating evergreen content.
- How to rethink your marketing strategy with evergreen content?
Answer the questions that internet users are asking
Free digital tools like Answer The Public or Ubersuggest allow you to easily find ideas for recurring topics, from simple keywords.
By using for example the expression “blog post, you can find out what are the most frequently asked questions by Internet users. In this specific case, here are the results obtained:
- How to write an effective blog post?
- How to write your first blog post?
- How many words for a blog post?
- How to structure a blog post?
So you already have 4 examples of evergreen topics from the main Google queries around our subject. Now it’s up to you to apply this technique in your field.
Provide concrete solutions
The basis of always green content is to provide concrete answers and practical solutions to the problems encountered by your target on a daily basis. To do this, you can start by asking your community, for example by means of a poll or survey. You can also consult the comments left by readers under your articles, in order to identify the problems encountered.
In addition to the thematic research carried out previously, this survey of your target audience will allow you to imagine suitable content. That is, those who provide a clear and concrete answer, while allowing a real problem to be solved.
See what is happening with your competitors
It is always good to go and watch the best in other people, to produce even higher quality content! Social networks can be a good source of inspiration for finding ideas from the competition. Even so often, evergreen content lurks in the middle of a mountain of buzz articles or video snacks. It’s up to you to sort it out …
Then, do not hesitate to go for a walk directly on the site of your competitors. Then use your keywords from your theme to conduct a competitive watch on the media or blogs in your industry. To do this, simply enter these keywords in the search bar and see which are the best performing articles.
Select the suitable format
Many content formats can become evergreen. So you can:
- Write a blog post.
- Make a tutorial.
- Write a guide.
- Record a podcast.
- Shoot a video.
- Submit a white paper.
As long as the content is relevant, it doesn’t matter what form. But it’s up to you to make your format sexy to make your audience want to check it out and share it.
Write timeless content
Creating evergreen content means designing content that will not expire over time. And to be successful, that requires a specific and appropriate editorial style.
To be always green, your content must not refer to current events and must not include any indication of temporality (current date, month of the year, yesterday, tomorrow, last month, etc.). Avoid titles like: The best televisions of the year XXXX
On the other hand, you can write seasonal articles, such as: “X tips for your spring cleaning” or “the checklist for a successful start to school”…
Finally, your content should be written in the present tense and in the active form.
8 examples of evergreen content to test
The FAQ or the art of answering frequently asked questions
You are probably familiar with the concept of Frequently Asked Questions , a format widely used on the web. To create ever-useful evergreen content, why not imagine a long-form FAQ?
In order to create a truly effective article, identify the questions most frequently asked by your customers and mix them with those asked on forums in your industry. Besides being a real engine in terms of SEO, this type of content can help you convert more easily.
Use and abuse case studies
Like the success story, the case study, or case study in French, is a very popular format that has the advantage of always remaining green. The objective of the case study is simple: to show your customers that you are the right person to solve their problem!
Context, challenge, response, result, your case study must respond to the concerns of your target. And for best results, don’t hesitate to ask your past clients to testify for you!
Design practical tutorials
How to make your own laundry? How to make a visual with Canva? How to create a professional blog? There are a thousand and one topics that can turn into an evergreen tutorial for your readers or clients.
Thanks to this dynamic format, demonstrate your expertise in a field, while creating non-perishable content. It can therefore be used at any time, tomorrow or in a year!
Write your first whitepaper
The white paper, in addition to being a very powerful conversion lever, is also the typical example of evergreen content! It allows you to demonstrate your experience in a field, while sharing expert advice with your community. Social media, inbound marketing, content marketing, advice to freelancers, all subjects can be addressed via this very popular format.
Update your old content
By updating your old articles, you can easily turn them into fresh content. If you wrote a statistical blog post on web marketing in 2019, why not complete it with the new data available in 2020?
There are plenty of ways to update or refresh your old content, to share it again with your community. It’s up to you to be inventive!
Tell the story of your brand
To make your business more human, it is important to tell the story of your brand from its birth to its development, including that of its creators. You can also share your projects, your success stories and the culture of your company. Here is another excuse to create content with no expiration date that can be updated over time.
Interview an expert or a personality
To create new content and new formats, invite experts in your industry to answer your questions, through a blog post, podcast or video. Your job is then to build a relevant interview by asking the right questions (those that interest your target).
Select your guest carefully, for his notoriety but also for his relevance to the subject you wish to deal with. This allows you to gain authority, while relying on a personality or an expert.
Guest blogging in content marketing also works very well. In this case, the guest posts a signed article on your blog.
Write a tip article
Advice articles are valuable evergreen content. They are popular with Internet users and also allow you to better position yourself in search engine results.
This format can also be easily declined in all the themes. Here again, it is very important to target the questions that your readers or Internet users are asking themselves in your field of activity. But if you have followed our method, this job is already done!
You are now perfectly equipped to create new content that is always green, to publish on your blog or your professional site. By following our method and our advice, you will have no trouble finding inspiration. But forget the basics of content marketing: it is important to constantly vary your formats and your proposals to constantly renew your editorial proposals.
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