What is Evergreen Content? A Beginner Guide With Actionable Tips for 2024

Over the last 14 years, we’ve published many evergreen articles on our blog.

That’s why we survived all the freaky updates from Google.

Evergreen content helps you generate SOLID traffic even after a few years of publishing it.

Have a look at our blog’s traffic report;

As you can see, we generated over 1.2 million visitors and 1.6 million total sessions in just one year. Most of that traffic comes from Google. 

A BIG credit goes to the evergreen articles we often publish on our blog.

What is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen content is ANY content that is timeless. It stays relevant even after five years.

Remember, your content MUST provide LONG-TERM value to your target audience. 

For instance, a how-to guide offering comprehensive and clear instructions on creating a website is likely to attract and retain visitors for a longer period compared to a website showcasing the latest SEO trends, which may quickly become outdated and irrelevant.

The most common formats of evergreen content include:

• List-based articles (listicles) 
• How-to guides
• Product reviews
• Informative videos
• E-books
• Case studies

Benefits of Creating Evergreen Content

Some of the benefits of evergreen content are;

Long-term value: Evergreen content continues to attract traffic from Google even after a few years, providing a constant source of website traffic.

Improved traffic and leads: High-quality evergreen content often attracts more links, social shares and engagement from users, improving your website’s traffic and sales. 

Strong E-A-T value: By consistently publishing valuable evergreen content, you establish your brand as a TRUSTED source of information, improving your website’s EAT in SEO.

Six Tips for Writing Evergreen Content in 2024

1. Understand the difference between trending vs evergreen content

Trending and timeless content are two very different approaches to creating content. You must understand the difference between these two types of content.

• Trending content generates MORE traffic at first but fades away shortly. Examples are News articles, reactions to current events, and viral trends. 
• Evergreen content generates moderate to high traffic for a long time. Examples are Guides, tutorials, case studies and listicles.

Here’s a quick breakdown of both these content types;

If you want to build long-term trust and authority, focus on timeless content.

Evergreen content will not last if there are NOT enough searches for the topic. That’s why keyword research is extremely important, leading us to the next point.

Here are some of the best tips to create cornerstone content for your website in 2024.

2. Long-tail keywords are the best

No matter what topic you pick for evergreen content, make sure to do keyword research. 

You can look for long-tail keywords that have enough search volume (<1000 searches) but not much competition. 

As mentioned above, we created tons of in-depth guides and timeless articles on our blog. 

Almost ALWAYS targeting long-tail keywords resulted in a constant flow of traffic from Google.

Here are a few best practices for finding long-tail keywords for your website.

Go beyond broad terms: Don’t start with seed keywords. You need to go beyond the broad keyword terms and narrow your topic to specific questions or problems your audience might have. 

For example, instead of “cooking,” consider “healthy one-pan meals for busy families.”

Use keyword tools like Semrush, as it helps you discover hundreds of hidden keywords. Go for Ubersuggest if you’re looking for a free alternative.

Use question phrases: Look for long-tail keywords that start with “how to,” “what is,” “how,” “best way to,” etc. Question keywords often have a CLEAR intent, and your content will often rank in Google featured snippets if you target them.

Focus on keywords with less search volume (200-500 searches): While high-volume keywords are tempting, they likely have HUGE competition. It’s almost impossible to rank on top results for heavy competition keywords unless you have an authoritative website with millions of links. 

Remember, moderate search volumes can still drive good traffic with less effort. 

Also, look for low competition indicators such as less keyword difficulty scores below 50 if you want to rank higher with minimal effort.

Try these content writing tips to optimize your posts for your target audience and search engines.

3. Write for beginners

What’s the #1 thing you need to make your evergreen content (be it articles or videos) a HUGE success?

Wider audience.

Targeting beginners makes your content valuable for a wider audience, including those new to the topic or looking for in-depth information.

Here are some quick tips for writing for beginners in timeless content;

• Use clear and simple language: Avoid technical terms. Write in a way that even a fifth-grade student should understand your explanation.
• Break down complex concepts: Simplify complex ideas into smaller, understandable chunks. Use examples, illustrations, and step-by-step instructions to explain your points.
• Don’t just explain: Stop explaining complex topics. Instead, focus on the “why”. Explain what something is, why it matters to your audience and how the reader can benefit from it.
• Offer practical advice: Your content should be extremely actionable. Anyone reading your evergreen content should be able to directly implement and benefit from it.
• Answer common questions: If you’re creating articles, make it a practice to include an FAQ section and address potential questions beginners might have about the topic. If you’re creating videos, try answering questions at the end of the video.

Are you new to search engine optimisation? Here are the ultimate SEO glossary terms explained in simple words.

4. Spotlight evergreen content

Most people bury their content once they have published it. It’s a BIG mistake.

Here are some of the best ways to highlight your evergreen content.

Create a featured content section highlighting your best articles or cornerstone content.

On our blog’s homepage, we use a section called “Popular Articles” where we showcase our evergreen content.

Have a look;

Highlight your evergreen blog posts in the sidebar of your website.

We used to showcase our popular posts in the sidebar (many blogs and websites still display their best posts).

Also, you can create a “Start here” page on your website to showcase your best content and tutorials.

Here’s an example from NichePursuits blogs;

If you don’t intend to create an exclusive “Start Here” page, you can display your evergreen content on your About page or Contact page.

Here are some real-world SEO examples to help you better understand the concept of SEO. 

5. Update your content occasionally

One of the BIG challenges of creating timeless content is: “How do I keep evergreen content fresh?”

Don’t sit and relax once your evergreen content is published.

You need to update your evergreen blog posts regularly. 

Audit your best-performing content each quarter or year and identify posts that have performed well. Find out what’s missing and make it better.

Here are some quick tips to update your evergreen content;

• Check for outdated content such as dates, years, statistics, trends, or tips. Make sure to include the latest information. Remove everything that is outdated or no longer working.
• Update internal and external links. Ensure your links still lead to relevant and informative pages.
• Come up with new relevant keyword ideas to use in your title tags, meta descriptions, and throughout the content.
• Improve the readability and structure of your evergreen blog posts. Use compelling headings, subheadings, and bullet points. Add appealing images to break up the text and make scanning easier. 
• Replace old or outdated visuals (such as illustrations, charts or featured images) with high-quality ones. Use free tools like Canva for images.
• Include an FAQs section to answer common questions. This is an excellent way to target long-tail keywords and improve your SEO.

Lastly, add a “Last Updated” date at the top of your blog post. That way, you can assure your readers they’re getting the latest and up-to-date information.

The bottom line? You must regularly update it with new information, statistics, or images related to the topic. You can add new sections, respond to reader questions, and consider tweaking the intro or images.

6. Repurpose your evergreen content 

What’s the best to get more out of your evergreen content? Repurposing it into multiple formats, such as;

• eBooks
• Videos
• Infographics
• Podcasts
• Checklists and more

It takes a lot of time to create timeless content, so repurposing is a good idea as it allows you to squeeze the most value out of your existing content marketing efforts.

Here are several ways to repurpose your content:

Change formats: The most common way is to transform the format. For example, blog posts to videos, videos to blog posts, infographics to appealing presentations and social media posts to ebooks.

Repurpose for different platforms: There are many social media networks, such as Twitter and Instagram, that you can use to repurpose your existing content.

The key here is to create tailor-made content for each platform.

• For Twitter, you can take existing points from your evergreen content and turn them into Twitter threads.
• For Instagram, you can create appealing images or videos explaining your content.
• For Pinterest, you can create illustrations and add bullet points to explain the topic.

Host Q&A sessions or webinars: You can also create webinars to answer specific questions or explain something meaningful based on your content. The key here is to use your blog post or evergreen video as a starting point for live discussions and audience interaction.

Above all, break down complex topics into small chunks. You don’t want to put everything into one format (especially when you’re getting started). Include key points and add interesting snippets to create bite-sized content for different platforms.

Want to know where SEO is headed? Here’s the future of SEO with the latest trends for 2024.

FAQs on evergreen content examples

Here are some of the commonly asked questions on evergreen or timeless content.

Final thoughts on timeless content

So, the next time you’re considering publishing content, remember the power of Evergreen. 

Invest in creating high-quality, evergreen articles that will continue to attract traffic and sales. No matter how the content marketing game shifts, your content should remain relevant and valuable.

What are your thoughts on publishing evergreen content? Did you find this guide helpful? Let us know your views in the comments.