Scenario 1: You publish a post, get a bunch of likes/views/engagement in the first 24 hours, and then go about your life continuing to post more content and never looking back at that original post. It already got the attention it needed, let’s move on.
Scenario 2: You publish a post, get a bunch of likes, views, and engagement in the first 24 hours. You publish a few more posts, and then a couple of weeks later you go back to your original post and update the content, respond to new engagement, and link back to that post in a new post.
How do you think your web presence will be affected by these two publishing behaviors?
Now, obviously, not all of your content will always be considered memorable, timeless, and search engine worthy. There needs to be a balance so that your evergreen content sticks out. Go ahead and tweet about the funny thing that happened to you today, Instagram your morning coffee views, or blog about your holiday travel plans. That’s how you stay personable and gain invested followers.
Then, make sure you’re also providing your followers valuable information. That’s why you started the blog, right? This will show that you are a reputable source for information on the internet (because nobody ever lies on the internet……..). This will also help non-followers to find you. If someone is looking for information on How to Customize Pinterest Board Cover Photos , if your content is relevant and has a decent amount of traffic to it, Google will be more likely to list you higher in the rankings. See what I did there…..linking back to my own updated post? Smart, eh? Evergreen content, it’s where it’s at!
Common evergreen posts often consists of:
- Lists (aka Listicles)
- Tips
- How-to Info
- Videos about lists, tips, or how-to’s
- Interviews with other experts in the field
- Product Reviews or Resource Guides
- Statistics, research, case studies
But guess what, the fun doesn’t stop there. Remember how I mentioned in scenario 2 that you go back and update the content on your original post? What makes these above items evergreen is that the body of the content is everlasting, but the physical list items, stats, instructions, etc. can change with time for accuracy. If you posted instructions for how to edit a video in YouTube and 6 months later YouTube updated its settings, go ahead and make note of these changes in your post.
How evergreen content can be updated over time:
- Upload new images
- Edit how-to instructions if steps have changed
- Edit lists if there are new relevant items to be considered
- Include new research or statistics that have come out
- Add a paragraph that makes it sound more current
- Update title
Not only does this keep your content fresh, but it helps with search engine optimization! One of the key things I ask myself when planning evergreen content is if this is something I could link back to in the future. Is this a piece I’m proud of and would be willing to reference later on? For instance, every year I remember to post about and link back to my Social Media Spring Cleaning Tips blog post. It’s technically something that could be useful year-round, but I have a specific time of year that I know it will be 100% relevant and new followers may not have seen it yet.
Not only does refreshing content drive more traffic to your blog, but it can also give you easy content to schedule on social media! Not sure what to post on instagram this week? Head over to an old blog post, update content if necessary, and shell it out. Hopefully you have a folder of possible photos to use for future posts on this topic, and then not a lot of extra planning is needed (*hint hint). It’s a win-win in my book!
Do you have other ideas for evergreen content or how to easily update an old blog post? Share your thoughts!
If you’re new to the search engine optimization game and want to learn more, here’s a great post I like to reference explaining what SEO is and how it affects blogs.
