How to Create Evergreen Content that Stands the Test of Time

Strong search engine optimization (SEO) requires content that is relevant and actionable. Often, this means following trends and news cycles and posting content that fits with the season. This reactive content is good for grabbing attention at the moment, but if it's all you have on your website, you can find yourself lagging behind in search results as interest in the content declines and clicks stop. Evergreen content - that is, content that maintains its relevance over time - can solve that problem. So, let's look at strategies to help you create evergreen content.

What Makes Content Evergreen?

We talked about how evergreen content maintains its relevance, but what does that actually mean? Evergreen content is the type of information that people regularly seek out and come back to. Some examples include,

• How-to guides and tutorials
• Glossaries
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Industry resources
• Informative articles such as "Origins of ..." or "History of ..."
• Testimonials

Unlike content that follows trends or news cycles, the above examples are things that people will need or want to find any time they interact with your industry or brand.

Creating Evergreen Content

Now that you have an idea of what evergreen content is let's look at what you need to know when you create it (or refine the information you already have on your website).

Ensure that the content speaks to and about your brand. Ask both "What do I want to be known for?" and "What do I want this content to say about me?"

Use words and examples that will draw on emotion. Tapping into emotion will help make your content meaningful and build a connection with your target audience. That emotion can be humor, drama, or any other emotion, so long as it fits with your brand, industry, and content.

Leave off the dates. Dating content will, well, date your content. Don't add dates, and when citing examples, stay away from things that will become stale over time.

Edit the content regularly. It's a good idea to come back to the content on a regular basis and update it. Check for examples that may have become dated or language that has begun to shift.

Remember to Blend Your Content

While creating evergreen content is important for your website, don’t ignore the trends and news cycles. Just as forests have a blend of perennial and evergreen plants, so should your website. Have a blend of current topics and trends and steady, evergreen content. By having this blend, you’ll show that you follow changes in the industry while maintaining a strong, consistent presence. Both are important to strong SEO and to your brand’s success.