You already know that content is a huge factor when it comes to running a successful SEO campaign. Without content, there is nothing to share, nothing to link to, and you’re going to face a near-impossible task to build authority links to your website.
But content comes in many forms, and some is more effective than others for marketing and SEO purposes.
One type of content that you want to focus on is evergreen content. This is the type of content that remains relevant for a long time after it has been published, meaning it continues to attract links and shares months and even years into the future.
Not all content needs to be evergreen. But it’s a good idea to produce at least some so you can take advantage of the benefits it provides. So how can you ensure you create a good piece of evergreen content?
Create an Authority Resource on a Topic
One of the best ways to produce effective evergreen content is to produce a guide to a topic that is so detailed and so informative that it becomes the definitive resource for that topic.
This is one of the tips provided by SEO specialists all the time. For example, PosiRank is an SEO reseller that recommends producing the highest quality content to get the best SEO impact, and many other specialists will also recommend this.
If you manage to produce an authority piece of content, you will get people linking to your guide whenever they write on the topic. It becomes useful for other content producers because they can link to it and provide value to their own readers.
But it has to be really good to achieve this status. And that means it should be longer, more detailed, more interesting, and more useful than all the other guides on the topic.
To produce one yourself, start by researching all of the other guides on the same topic, and then simply set about creating one that is better.
Update Your Content Regularly
Even the best resources can date quite quickly, especially when you are producing content on areas that see a great deal of change, like SEO. For example, a guide on best SEO practices written in 2010 will be almost irrelevant these days unless it has been updated.
You could do this by either making changes to the guide and then adding in a date when it was last updated at the top of the page. Or you could create a whole new guide on the same topic each year. This will give you a new guide to promote, and people will recognize the value you create every year.
Avoid Recent Events
Newsworthy content has a place in any content marketing strategy, and writing about industry events is a great way to demonstrate that you are on the ball and that you can be trusted to keep up with all the developments in your niche.
But it dates very quickly, and news is rarely worth reading a few days after it has been posted. So stick to more general topics when you are creating evergreen content.
Put a New Spin on a Timeless Topic
When you create content on a timeless topic, there’s a good chance that there is already a lot of content on that same topic. For example, if you run a dental practice, you could create a detailed guide to cleaning teeth. But this is one of the more obvious topics to write on, and there is a good chance that every other dental practice will have written on the same topic.
As well as writing a more comprehensive guide, as explained above, you could also take a different angle if you want to improve your content promotion.
For example, you could make it funny. Use a humorous video rather than just a written guide, and provide some examples of the terrible things that can happen when you don’t do your teeth. Or you could make it child friendly and market it to parents.
By taking a new spin on a common topic, you can make your content stand out from the others while still remaining evergreen.
Create Evergreen Content Regularly
While not all of your content needs to be evergreen, it is certainly worth producing at least some evergreen content on a regular basis. Use the ideas above to create the best timeless content you can, and ensure that you continue to generate interest-and links-to your content long after you have published it.
Anna Cross has been an SEO expert for many years, back in the day when on-page SEO was all you had to worry about, she was there! Today things are changing constantly and Anna shares her tips on keeping in Google’s good books.