7 Secrets to Create the Best SEO Evergreen Content
At its core, SEO evergreen content is just what it implies, content which remains relevant and applicable throughout the seasons in much the same way evergreen trees do not lose their leaves in the fall.
In this article we will help you understand the definition of evergreen content for SEO and identify seven characteristics of evergreen web and digital content that you can incorporate into your overall SEO marketing.
What is Evergreen Content?
Here are a few definitions to help you understand what SEO evergreen content means:
- SEO content that is continually relevant and stays “fresh” for readers (Wordstream).
- Content that stays relevant to readers over time and they continue to share it, link to it, and read it over time (Raven Tools).
- Content that represents posts and articles on your blog that will always be relevant to your audience, compared to topics that may change over time (SearchEngine Journal).
The key theme we see here is that evergreen stays relevant regardless of how long ago it was published.
Benefits of Evergreen Digital Content
Before we get into how to make your content evergreen, let’s talk about two of the benefits of making your content evergreen:
- Long Lasting and Timeless – your content stays useful and interesting for months and years to come. In this way, you get much more mileage out of your content articles than shorter, time sensitive topics. It may take more effort to develop great SEO evergreen content but it will provide much more longevity over time.
- Boosts SEO – typically, longer timeless content performs better in Search Engines than shorter articles. Better rankings and visibility lead to more website traffic, stronger leader generation, and over time, better ROI.
In the search world, evergreen content occupies positions in the rankings for months or years after the initial date on which the material was posted. To remain in such a position, it not only needs to be informative and useful but must address the needs of an audience.
For example, the current search result for for “How to bake a potato in the oven” brings up a Featured Snippet from a website called Kitchn. The article was written in 2015 but still shows up in search results because of its evergreen nature.
SEO Evergreen Content Topic Examples
There are several ways to be creative and write evergreen content that will have lasting relevance and interest for years to come. Here are some of the most common types of evergreen digital content:
- How-To Instructions and Guides
- Tutorials
- Industry Resources or Glossaries
- Personal Stories
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
On the other hand, content that is NOT evergreen tends to be about events, holidays, seasons, or any other type of content with outdated resources or statistics.
7 Attributes of Evergreen Web Content
Now that we have a better understanding of the definition and benefits of SEO evergreen content, let’s explore seven ways you can make your content evergreen for lasting SEO impact.
1. 100% Unique (Not Found Anywhere Else on the Web)
Your content cannot already exist elsewhere online. You want to make it as creatively unique and interesting as possible to ensure it will be picked and ranked by the search engines (i.e. Google).
2. Effective at Solving a Problem or Addressing a Need
Your content will have to be effective at solving a problem or addressing a searcher’s need. This is what Google looks for when a search is performed.
3. High Caliber of Detail
The level of writing and how carefully your content is presented are important factors. Make it obvious to the site visitor that you provide detailed, comprehensive information.
4. Satisfaction in Answering the Searcher’s Question
A long click essentially means that after clicking on a result in Google, the user does not return back to Google right away to look at a different result. Instead, they are satisfied with the query result they chose which is a signal to the Search Engine that it was a good result and to keep showing that result for future searchers. Evergreen content is similar. It retains its search position because the content continually satisfies searchers’ queries.
5. Longevity to Stay Current and Gain Authority
Content that is outdated next week, month, or year is not considered evergreen. Evergreen content has authority over similar content written or posted at a later point in time.
6. Strong Headlines that Catch Attention and Spark Interest
SEO evergreen content has compelling headlines which retain their strength week over month over year and pointedly describe the topic within the article.
7. Optimization for the Search Engines (SEO)
All evergreen content is optimized for SEO and should be underpinned by existing content elsewhere on the site. This includes titles, headlines, sub-headlines, and all the regular SEO strategies your portfolio incorporates.
SEO Evergreen Content Tantalizes With Topics, Not Keywords
Keywords used to be the most effective means of capturing a solid position on Google, and they still are to a degree. But keywords alone aren’t enough anymore. Topical ideas and conceptual intent are poised to supersede them. Utilize topics and themes in your evergreen content!
It will take significant work to narrow down a topic. Get your team together and brainstorm. Utilize relationship tools if you have them to branch out and consider your topic from different angles. Don’t be too general with topic content.
In a perfect world, topic intent and carefully chosen keywords would blend into a hybrid document that extols the strengths and virtues of both without sacrificing the unique traits of one over the other.
Think of it as symbiosis, where the core of the topic provides the engine that propels the significance of your keywords to realize their full potential (ranking on Google).
Additional Tips on Sculpting Evergreen Web Content
Nearly 30 years ago I listened to a marketing guru who gave some sage advice for those who attended his conference but were reluctant to sign up for his courses and purchase his written course material.
He would wave a dictionary in front of the audience at the end of every conference and say to them, “All the words contained in my course can be found right here. You need only arrange them in the right order.”
There’s the rub. You may find this a challenging process if you do not know how to craft content suitable for SEO evergreen content expectations. For more information on evergreen content optimization as it might apply to your business or organization, please call us toll free at 1-888-262-6687.
