Timeless. Enduring. Classic. Who wouldn’t want content like that?
We all have at one point or another consumed evergreen content, many turning to it more times than they can count. Some of us may not be familiar with the term but nonetheless appreciate evergreen content’s highly informative and useful nature.
When a young entrepreneur looks for information on how to finance a startup, he or she will find many evergreen content on the topic. When a teacher discusses the factors surrounding climate change, he or she is sharing an evergreen material. When a writer drafts an article discussing ways on how to manage one’s budget, that writer is creating an evergreen article.
Even in social media, evergreen content abounds. How many YouTube videos are there on foods to take to be healthier? How about posts on being happy or keeping one’s mental health? Material on these topics, whether text, video or any other format, can be considered evergreen.
Evergreen content being highly valuable is an undisputed fact. We cannot overemphasize the merits of such type of content. But why exactly are evergreen content popular? Why do individuals and companies turn to them for their content needs?
One thing special about evergreen content is it long-term value. As we said in the opening, it is timeless and lasting. It does not get dated, boring, forgettable and old. If your content was to represent your brand, you wouldn’t want your brand to get out of style all too soon, right?
Because an evergreen content is not time-bound, its readership relevance remains high. Evergreen material is not impacted by changes in seasons, trends or even market movements, and this benefits not only the reader but also the content owner or creator. For one, the material can be reused, repurposed or repackaged, saving the content creator or source time and other resources. A how-to article can be expanded with new information, even turned into a video. Either way and regardless of the format, the topic and therefore material remains useful and therefore valuable.
Because evergreen content generally tends to be highly informative, they attract readers — or viewers in the case of evergreen videos. If a website has a lot of evergreen content, this draws readers in, both new readers and return readers. What this then translates to is better engagement and reach eventually.
If you continue to provide your audience with good-value material through evergreen content, they will surely keep coming back to the site, which will then result in an uptick in your site’s performance. Evergreen content is more likely to show up on search results because of their high value compared to other content types. This yields increased site traffic and boost the site’s SEO rating.
Beyond user engagement and SEO optimization, evergreen content when used and sustained properly can help build credibility. This impacts not only an individual’s or a company’s website but also the brand and the person or company itself. Consistent good-quality content establishes the site or source as an authority in the field, which contributes to reinforcing a positive reputation for the source. In the long term, all these establish trust, something we all want to achieve with the audience.
But is evergreen content the answer to all your content needs?
Even with all its advantages, in particular the long-term benefits, evergreen content is not the magic wand that will answer all your content needs.
A content strategy centered on evergreen content may be more challenging to put together, much less execute. Evergreen topics may also be limited.
Further, readers might want some variety or topics specific to certain trends. They may find a site with only evergreen content too generic. Like current fashion styles might be more interesting for readers looking to update their wardrobe than articles on how to extend the life span of clothes or how to choose the right fabric. Even the content creator could find themselves getting bored doing only how-tos, listicles and similar articles.
In terms of building credibility and trust, staying on trend and reflecting this on your content is also crucial, something evergreen content may not be able to help you with. Especially in today’s social media-heavy world where FOMO is real and the struggle to stay abreast of things is even more challenging, companies and brands not deemed trendy enough risk losing traction. You don’t want your company or brand to be considered out of trends or style, remember.
Trendjacking is very popular these days, and for good reason. It gives a person, company or organization those few minutes of fame, allowing them to be seen or heard. If the issue is a major one, joining the conversation can help establish one as an important player, if not an expert, in the field.
So back to the question is evergreen content the way to go?
The answer: It depends.
As with most content planning, no hard and fast rules. One’s content strategy should be all about meeting one’s needs and goals, and content needs and goals vary.
Notwithstanding evolving content goals and needs, a content strategy should be as comprehensive and flexible, comprehensive to cover as much ground as possible yet flexible enough to be tweaked to suit situations and needs as they arise. It would also be good to have a scalable content plan, something that one can easily build on.
One way to achieve all these is by having a mix of different content types. Have as many evergreen content — article, video or any other format — as the resources will allow. But also produce materials on trendy topics or issues. If you’re a manufacturer of bags, for example, you can do evergreen content on types of bag materials and their pros and cons or how to maintain bags depending on the material used. You can populate your site with all such useful topics that will sustain reader and buyer interest over time. But do carry content on why a specific bag design is gaining so much interest or what new designs buyers should watch out for. Videos on how to tell between an original and an imitation of specific bag brands and models are very popular as well.
So end of day, it will be strategic and creative content planning that will carve the path ahead. But yes, evergreen content will be — and should be — part of that somehow.
