Creating Evergreen Content for your Enterprise Business
To push your site and your business to its full potential, you must use every online tactic and tool at your disposal. Using evergreen content is a great way to increase traffic to your site and is an essential part of an effective content marketing campaign.
Good content is among Google’s top three ranking factors, and evergreen content is among the most effective content at earning and keeping top position in the SERPs. Evergreen content is especially important for large enterprises to position themselves as an authority and build trust with customers in a competitive and fast-moving environment.
Before we get into the “how” let’s first talk about what is and is not evergreen content.
What is Evergreen Content in Business?
Evergreen content is defined by the constant level of sustained interest it creates. With evergreen content, there are no seasonable peaks and troughs in demand. These posts are based on topics people are interested in, no matter the season or events in the world. They contain information and insight that is always fresh for readers looking to answer more fundamental questions or looking for a guide that shows them how to carry out some vital task.
To make clearer what evergreen content is, you should understand what it is not:
- News articles
- New product announcements
- Statistics that are out of date
- Seasonal content (e.g., Christmas, Halloween, Easter articles)
- Content concerning current trends
In short, all content that refers to a specific event or time of year is outside the bounds of evergreen content.
What is the Difference Between Evergreen Content and Content Marketing?
Content marketing comprises articles, email campaigns, white papers, blog posts, and social media posts produced to further your business goals. Evergreen content is only one part of this whole.
Although evergreen content is a great way to boost your SEO rankings and make your company a thought leader, it is not the only type of useful content. Not everything you write needs to be evergreen. Timely and topical pieces are also important and have their place in your content marketing strategy. The latter types of content are perfect for short-term marketing campaigns and for when you want to drive up a lot of traffic in a short amount of time.
The best content marketing strategy includes a mix of evergreen content and seasonal or event-based content.
How Do You Create Evergreen Content?
This type of content revolves around keywords. The process of writing evergreen content starts with figuring out the terms and phrases that are most relevant to your business. Here is how to find the right keywords:
1. Do Keyword Research
Think about the subjects that are most relevant to your business. If, for example, you are a family law firm, the topics on your list should include divorce, child custody, alimony, child support, etc.
2. Use a keyword tool
You should consider using a keyword tool such as Google Trends, Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz to help you find keywords that will drive your search traffic. You want to use keywords that have the following two features: high search volume and a positive trend
If the keyword does not have a high search volume, it is unlikely to attract much online attention. You should also keep in mind that you may have competition for keywords with a high search volume. The best keywords have high search volume and low competition.
3. Use Google Trends
To create something evergreen it needs to stand the test of time and determining that can be difficult. You want keywords that trend upward in popularity and remain consistent over time. You want to determine if these keywords will still be relevant 1, 5, or 10 years from now. Monitoring keyword popularity over time with tools like SEMRush or Google Trends gives you the data required to make educated decisions on content.
4. Start Writing
Once you have the right keywords, it is time to write your evergreen article. As you do so, you should ensure your keywords tie into the article organically. You cannot outsmart Google with keyword stuffing, which involves using a popular keyword excessively to fool the search engines. This practice was frowned upon and has been long rebuffed by advancing Google algorithms. If your piece is not clear, coherent, and logical, it will never rank in search and will be upsetting to your readers.
Well-written content ranks higher than unintelligible and error-filled content. It also tends to lead to more conversions. Before you publish, review your article thoroughly for errors. A piece that looks professional will lead to greater audience trust.
5. Fact Check your Research
Make sure that your research is correct. You can be sure the people who read it will. If you cite a study, be sure that the information is not time sensitive or check to see if the study is regularly updated. Evergreen doesn't mean you never need to revisit an article and update links. Regular content maintenance should be a part of your content strategy, but with evergreen articles the need for changes is minimal.
You should also avoid jargon and convoluted explanations. Be simple and direct. The best content takes complex subjects and simplifies it to a level that even a novice can understand and a seasoned pro still finds it valuable. It's easier said than done, but something to strive for.
6. Check the Structure and Avoid Timestamps
Your evergreen piece will also do well if you break it up into clearly labeled sections and subsections. People tend to turn away from walls of text. It also helps search engines quickly crawl a piece of content and know what it’s about and what queries it answers.
Finally, with evergreen content, it is best to avoid time-based specifics. You should not use words such as “today,” “yesterday,” etc. You don’t want to give the impression that your content is outdated.
What is an Example of Evergreen Content?
This type of content comes in many forms. Evergreen content can be shaped to fit almost any business need. The key to creating effective evergreen content is knowing how you want it to help your audience. Evergreen content for enterprises is very similar to regular evergreen content but should be scaled up to be above basic knowledge and geared for a higher level of understanding. Here are some examples of evergreen content:
How-to guides
These articles help guide readers through a particular process:
- How to Find a Personal Injury Lawyer
- How to Build an E-Commerce Store
- How to Maximize Write Offs as an Independent Contractor
- How to Build a Lead Generating Blog
Example: How To Find A Personal Injury Lawyer
Listicles
This type of content makes content more accessible:
- 9 Ways to Optimize your Website for Better Traffic
- 10 Best Content Creation Software for Agencies
- 5 Ways to Grow your Newsletter
- 7 Ways to Create Effective Email Drip Campaigns
- 5 Best Sources for Detailed Statistics and Data
Example: 9 Ways to Increase Organic Traffic to Your Website
What and Why Articles
You can also ask a question with the implied promise of providing an answer:
- When Should I Hire a Content Writer?
- What Should I Know Before Taking Out a Home Equity Loan?
- Where Can I Source Industry Specific Case Studies?
Example: Home Equity Loans: What You Need to Know
Who Benefits From Evergreen Content?
All businesses can benefit from evergreen content, but it’s particularly important for a large enterprise business because once you gain authority with a piece of content, it’s very difficult for smaller businesses to outrank your content. Failing to create evergreen content opens the door for the next competitor to usurp your rankings and steal your market share.
Detailed, educational, and timeless articles make an excellent resource for researchers and online authors to reference and link back to. Such content increases your chances of being linked to other websites, blogs, and social media accounts.
If you work in a highly specialized and niche industry and write evergreen articles about it, you will have an even higher chance of being tagged and circulated because there is so little information on the subject. And just like that, you’ve become the authority on a given topic and have gained the trust of your audience.
What Are the Benefits of Using Evergreen Content?
Evergreen content should be an essential part of any content marketing strategy and is highly beneficial to the reader by providing thorough information. Exceptional evergreen content answers all questions a user has on a particular topic and ensures they do not have to look any further. That’s how it benefits your customers, here’s what it does for your business:
1. Higher visibility in search engines
With the right keyword research and clear, engaging writing, your evergreen content has the potential to rank in search, add authority to your site, and even position you as a thought leader in your industry. For an enterprise-level business, ranking for a key term on page 1 instead of page 2 of the SERPs can be astronomical in terms of revenue. The right evergreen content can be that difference.
2. Drive traffic to your site
Of course, traffic for the sake of traffic is not an effective use of time. Because you took the time to research key terms that are important to your business and you created content that lasts and matters to your customers, the traffic you create will matter. It will matter to the readers who get the information they need and it will matter to your business when those readers become customers.
3. Build back backlinks
Evergreen pieces are relevant for a long time. The longer the content stays on your site, the more backlinks it will generate. What are backlinks? It is when other sites link to yours over long periods of time. Backlinks give your site more credibility, which helps push it further up search engine rankings. Backlinks are another key indicator to Google that your website and your content is worth ranking.
4. Establishes your company as a thought leader
Evergreen articles should be about subjects and topics that relate directly to your business. The more thorough, detailed, and informative the pieces, the more people will view your company as a brand leader in the industry. Well-written content tends to rank on the first page of search engine results because it answers a query directly and in totality. This also gives audiences confidence that you have deep knowledge of the topic.
5. Creates brand ambassadors
Evergreen content drives more people to your website. Once they are there, they can explore what you have to offer and become more engaged with your brand. If a customer likes your product they become a brand loyalist. A brand loyalist will only use your product or services. Over time a brand loyalist can become a brand ambassador. A brand ambassador doesn’t just use the product, they tell the world how great it is.
Evergreen content can be the keystone to turning a reader to a brand ambassador.
6. Can be reused and repurposed
Evergreen content has the advantage of always being true, which gives it longevity. As content forms and platforms change over time, your content can be repurposed to fit those evolutions. An evergreen blog post can become an infographic that users can download or share on their social channels. An effective landing page can be turned into a 1-sheet for sales.
Evergreen content doesn’t just benefit your search engine visibility, but can touch every part of your business and drive growth in multiple ways.
7. Saves time & costs
If you create evergreen content that increases traffic to your site, you will not have to create as much new content in the future. You can have the few evergreen articles you create do most of your SEO heavy lifting. When done correctly, evergreen content will work for your business for years to come and you can focus your energy on topical or seasonal content each year.
Evergreen content is just one part of an effective content strategy, but for many businesses, it’s the most important. It’s the evergreen pieces that you will rely on for targeted traffic month over month.
How Scripted Can Help
Evergreen articles must be clear, concise, accurate, engaging, and grammatically flawless. In short, they must meet the highest standards of professional writing.
Scripted is a premier content creation service that can help your content marketing operation no matter what stage you are in the maturation process. We can execute an existing strategy or create a custom strategy for your business from whole cloth. Our content creators are vigorously vetted and will work with your marketing team to develop high-quality content that will be long-lasting and turn your business into an authority in your niche.
Contact Scripted today to get started.
