sel logo
Search Engine Land » SEO » What is evergreen content and why it’s important for SEO
SearchBot requires a free Search Engine Land account to use, and gives you access to all SearchBot personas, an image generator, and much more!
If you already have a Search Engine Land account, log in now. Otherwise, register here!
Evergreen content is content with a long lifespan.
It is also incredibly important for search engine optimization (SEO).
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about evergreen content – including what makes a topic evergreen, why evergreen content is important and some examples to inspire you.
Evergreen content refers to any type of content that remains ever relevant, ever accurate, and ever useful long past its publication date.
Think of it this way: Evergreen trees always look green and fresh, even in the dead of winter.
By the same token, evergreen content always looks green, fresh, and up to date – even if it was published two years ago.
(Two years old is positively ancient by the internet’s standards, but if your content is evergreen, that’s not a problem.)
To be considered evergreen, your content must pass these checkpoints:
And, if your content contains any of these hallmarks, it is not evergreen:
Here are a few good examples of evergreen content topics:
On the flip side, these are good examples of topics that are not evergreen:
So we know that the defining feature of evergreen content is a long lifespan past its initial publication date.
Whether you read it now, two months from now, a year from now, or two years from now, the information it conveys should largely remain accurate, relevant, and useful.
But why does this matter for SEO?
By their very definition, evergreen content topics are ones that people are interested in no matter the circumstances.
They’re “old reliables.”
That won’t change with the time of year, the season, the current events, or the latest research. Evergreen topics are perpetually relevant and interesting.
People always look for and depend on the evergreen knowledge presented in evergreen content.
What does that mean for SEO?
The evergreen content pieces you optimize for search will earn clicks and visitors more steadily than your more ephemeral pieces because people are constantly searching for those topics on search engines.
To summarize, evergreen SEO content = a steady, reliable influx of potential customers.
Evergreen SEO content is also sustainable.
Why?
You only have to put in the resources to create this type of content once. It will need few, if any, updates. And it will keep bringing in a steady stream of visitors over a long period due to the evergreen interest in evergreen topics.
Lastly, if you created a high-quality piece of content geared for conversions, that piece will also bring in leads.
In the end, you’ll get much more out of your evergreen content piece over the long term than you will with your “trendier” content.
It will perform over months and years versus days and weeks without the need to throw money at it.
In this case, maybe we can also refer to evergreen content as “eco-friendly” for your brand.
Some content types lend themselves to evergreen topics more readily than others.
For example, “how-to” content is a type you’ll often find has evergreen potential. 
That’s because how-to topics usually involve evergreen knowledge that never goes out of date. 
Examples:
Another great option for evergreen content is the humble but popular listicle. 
While it may seem trendy because of the sheer number of listicles that are published daily, it actually lends itself to evergreen topics quite well. 
Examples:
Don’t forget about informational content. This may include foundational articles such as 101 and beginner guides that provide a general overview or introduction to a topic.
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Ready for some evergreen inspiration? Check out these five examples of evergreen content.
This blog post by Yoast SEO on transition words is evergreen because this knowledge is a principle of English grammar. Employing transition words helps make your writing easier to read.
This tutorial on building a wooden backyard fence is a great example of an evergreen video content.
Foundational knowledge on a topic, like this beginner’s guide to investing in stocks by Investopedia, is prime real estate for evergreen content.
In this extensive guide to making pie dough, the author goes way beyond a basic recipe and talks about the science behind a flaky crust.
They offer encyclopedic knowledge on how to produce the best pie crust you’ve ever had. This type of knowledge is always relevant to bakers everywhere.
File under: “Evergreen.”
In the ever-changing world of tech, evergreen topics are hard to find. However, some pass muster and squeeze into evergreen territory, including cybersecurity. 
Why? Because, as long as the internet exists, people will use it to store their data. And, no matter what the technology looks like, people will always be interested in protecting their data from malicious entities. 
Thus, this HubSpot blog on cybersecurity is a good evergreen content example. It will be relevant for at least a few years, and when technology inevitably changes, the article can be updated to follow suit.
As you write evergreen content, all the imperatives for writing high-quality content will apply.
That said, here are a few specific tips to ensure your content won’t need an update in three months. (True evergreen content won’t need an update for a long time.)
Avoid even passing references to cultural events, news, or trends that will quickly become dated in a few months.
Don’t use them as examples or make jokes about them (if your brand voice calls for jokes, that is).
For example, many social media marketing articles from a certain period of time referenced now-obsolete tech like Google+ or Vine – and once those apps/services died, those mentions had to be edited to keep the content evergreen.
That said, sometimes, it’s impossible to predict whether a trend will actually morph into an entity with a legacy. Either way, try to keep your discussions of trends to their own blog posts.
Linking to research and data is a great way to add credibility to your content. Just be careful about how you do this when you write evergreen content.
For instance, only link to sources when absolutely necessary, such as when you need a stat to prove a point, or when a particular research report is integral to understanding your topic.
And, when you must link to a source, choose that source carefully. Don’t link to obscure websites that may or may not disappear in a year, but rather trusted entities with a solid, proven online presence.
Some studies or reports that are a few years old may still be fine to link to – but only if these are outstanding or unique examples of research in their field or contain data you can’t find anywhere else.
And, if all else fails, audit your evergreen content regularly to ensure your citations and outgoing links are still relevant and working. If some facts or statistics are outdated, updating them with new ones should only take a few minutes.
Keep readability top of mind as you write evergreen content. 
Readable content is easy to understand. The ideas are clear. Your audience can learn from that content with no problem.
And endlessly readable, evergreen content is content that will pull in endless results.
How do you write readable content? To jostle your memory, remember that readable content is:
Evergreen content not correctly optimized for search engines will not pull in the results you’re hoping for.
To do its job, your evergreen content needs a fighting chance with proper SEO attached to it. 
Here are the basic steps to start with:
Evergreen content should be a workhorse in your content marketing strategy.
Create it well once, and it should perform for months, even years.
Pay attention to the topics you choose for evergreen content – make sure they’re relevant to your business and have staying power in terms of reader interest.
Is the knowledge foundational? Is it endlessly useful? Will people care about it later just as much as they do right now?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you have a winning evergreen content topic on your hands.
To keep this content working hard for you, tie it to a keyword you can win and optimize it for search engines. 
Evergreen content that ranks in the top 10 of Google has tremendous power and potential to bring in steady website visitors and potential customers for the long term. 
Create evergreen pieces alongside your more trends-focused or timely pieces, and you’ll have a winning content mix.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
Related stories
New on Search Engine Land
About the author
Related topics
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Learn actionable search marketing tactics that can help you drive more traffic, leads, and revenue.
Online Feb. 28-29: SMX Master Classes
Online June 11-12: SMX Advanced
Online Nov. 13-14: SMX Next
Discover time-saving technologies and actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges.
April 15-17, 2020: San Jose
What Is SEO – Search Engine Optimization?
SEM career playbook: Overview of a growing industry
Web hosting for SEO: Why it’s important
Leverage AI-driven SEO to Increase Traffic, Revenue and Online Reputation
AI-Forward Marketing: Your Roadmap to Revenue Growth in 2024
Power Up Your Marketing Programs with Google Analytics 4 and Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Identity Resolution Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
Customer Data Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide
9 SEO A/B test case studies to boost your travel site’s SEO performance
Meet your new AI-powered marketing assistant!
Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.
Topics
Our events
About
Follow us
© 2024 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Third Door Media, Inc. is a publisher and marketing solutions provider incorporated in Delaware, USA, with an address 88 Schoolhouse Road, PO Box 3103, Edgartown, MA 02539. Third Door Media operates business-to-business media properties and produces events. It is the publisher of Search Engine Land the leading Search Engine Optimization digital publication.

source