Blog posts that remain relevant for years after you publish them are called “evergreen content” (named after evergreen trees). These posts provide valuable information to your audience. You can use them for marketing your business through social media, bringing visitors to your website and improving your search engine rankings.
Finding Topics
Finding topics to write about can be a challenge. There are probably many blog posts on every subject in your industry already. But don’t let that stop you. Your perspective is unique and worth sharing with your audience. When you provide value to your readers, your expertise will show, and your business will grow.
The goal of evergreen posts is to speak directly to your target market, so remember to stay on-brand. For example, if you restore vintage cars, don’t write posts about motorcycles just because you think that will get you more traffic.
Ideally, choose narrow, focused topics to take advantage of long-tail keywords – phrases that customers use to search the internet when they are close to making a purchase. For example, a parent whose child is interested in horses might use the search term “saddle.” If they own a competition pony, the parent might search for “Kieffer pony dressage saddle” because they are ready to buy a saddle.
Types of Evergreen Content
If you have been blogging for a while, you probably already have evergreen blog posts. Here are a few styles of timeless articles.
- How To: How to do, choose, create, use, etc.
- Guides: Beginners guide to X, advanced guide to X, buyers guide, etc.
- Answers to FAQs About: Your products, services, industry, defining industry terminology, etc.
- Be Better: Best practices, avoid common mistakes, etc.
- Comparisons and Reviews: Compare or review products, services, books, resources, etc.
- Backgrounder: History of a service or product in your industry, who’s who and why they are important (i.e., industry influencers)
- Solutions: Myth-busting, fact-or-fiction, solving known issues
For any of these topics, try incorporating lists or checklists, case studies, and other material highlighting your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
Perennial Blog Posts
Like perennial flowers that only bloom during certain times of the year, perennial blog posts are about a specific event or season (Ramadan, winter car maintenance, etc.). Treat these posts as evergreen content too. During the winter, no one may look at your post on “Barbequing for Beginners,” but readers will search again when summer arrives.
Writing Tips for Evergreen Blog Posts
Firstly, follow my recommendations on how to write a good blog post and optimize them for search engines. Ensure you have no spelling or grammar errors, and have a colleague or virtual assistant proofread the final version before you publish it.
Because people are searching for your topic and landing on a particular blog post, they may not be familiar with your business or even your industry. Therefore, use non-technical language, avoid jargon, and write out acronyms (or use the HTML abbreviation tag).
Pop culture references do not age well. And because it’s the World Wide Web, visitors to your website may need help understanding what you mean. Therefore, always link pop-culture references to a source where readers can learn more.
Pay attention to time-related words and phrases. For example, focus on the event rather than when it happened. Use “When I worked with a client…” instead of “Last week when I worked with a client….” This helps the reader understand that your work (and the blog post) is enduring and not a one-time thing.
Maintenance
Evergreens, whether they are trees or blog posts, require maintenance. Over time, language and style evolve, statistics and data change, and hyperlinks to external websites can lead to outdated information. Use your website statistics to help you identify your most visited posts and start editing those first. View monthly and weekly statistics to ensure you identify your perennial (seasonal) posts.
Language, Style, and Images: Improving your search engine results, using inclusive phrases and imagery, meeting accessibility requirements, and upholding your brand identity, are some reasons you should update your language, style, and images.
Data and Statistics: Facts and data are important. They show you research your topics. Use the most recent statistics and information available to support your work.
External Hyperlinks: Check the hyperlinks in your evergreen blog posts and ensure they still lead to the intended destination. Installing a broken link checker is helpful, but it will only check for broken but not misdirected ones. For example, one of my clients had a link in a blog post to a website on meditation. The meditation website was hijacked and redirected to an inappropriate adult entertainment website! My client was linking to – precisely what business professionals shouldn’t link to!
Internal Hyperlinks: When refreshing evergreen content, add links to your other blog posts that might be relevant. This helps the reader find out more about related topics, and you can get the chance to showcase your expertise.
Calls to Action: Review the call to action (CTA) at the end of your blog post. If you don’t have one, create one to tell the reader what to do next. You might want them to contact you to book an appointment, buy a specific product, or read other blog posts.
Use Evergreen URLs: These are links on your website that don’t change. Avoid using dates in the URL because that may indicate to readers that the post is too old. For example, for planting tiger lilies every spring, create a URL such as https://www.mysite.com/tiger-lilies. Likewise, for annual events, create a URL like https://www.mysite.com/annual-barbeque-review. Add your most recent post to that URL and move last year’s post to https://www.mysite.com/annual-barbeque-review-2022. You may need to work with a website designer depending on your technical skills.
Post a notice: Readers want to know if they are getting recent and accurate information. Tell them that you review and update your evergreen blog posts. For example, at the bottom, add something like:
This post was originally published in June 2015 and reviewed and updated in November 2022.
For the scientific and technical fields, consider adding this near the top of the post.
Originally published: June 2015 by Dr. Fieldstone. Last review and update: November 2022 by Dr. Meadowrock.
Keep it Fresh
Without a doubt, evergreen blog posts are a valuable part of your marketing and SEO strategy. However, you can’t rest on your laurels (pun intended). Highlight your evergreen content on your social media channels, add them to a “featured posts” list on your website, or republish them (preferably after updating).
Finally, keep these evergreen tips in mind as you create new content. You’ll be surprised at how your search results improve.
Contact me today if you want to discuss writing, blog posts, and more.