Do you want to be able to create a certain type of content once and get an ever-increasing amount of organic traffic? It sounds too good to be true. If you do your research well and create the content with care, this is how evergreen content works. Let’s now see how you can take advantage of this if your business is small and you sell online.

What is evergreen content?

What is evergreen content?

Content that is evergreen is content that is relevant and never goes out of style. It may seem unlikely that it would be applicable to eCommerce, as fashion, models and technologies change all the time. Consider, for instance, how to clean different types and styles of shoes for a website selling shoes. This guide could be useful for many years.

What makes evergreen content so effective?

Why is it important to have evergreen content?

People lose interest in topics that are not always relevant over time, and traffic to the site stops coming. Apple introduces a new iPhone model or Asics launches new sneakers. The content will be very popular initially and every eCommerce site will publish content pieces on it. However, in a few years nobody will even care about this topic.

Two extraordinary benefits can be achieved when you create content that is relevant for many years.

• It will take less effort: You won’t need to update evergreen content as often, because, you know it, it’s always green.

• Organic traffic will increase: If your evergreen content is given the right friction, it will bring in steady traffic. This traffic will continue to grow as the content gains a better ranking in search engines.

This is totally contrary to regular content, which can bring your small business new customers while you continue posting. The traffic flow becomes stifling when you stop posting.

Popular evergreen content formats

Evergreen content format

You can find many formats that are popular for creating evergreen content. You can think about a broad topic and ask yourself “What can I say about the products I sell online that won’t become obsolete in a year?” These ideas are easy to come up with (listed with an example of content for small businesses and eCommerce niches).

• Guides on ‘How to’ make white shoes again

• Problem-Solving: “Is your iPhone no longer charging?”

• List Posts: “5 great accessories that will simplify your life”

• Buying Guides: “What to consider when purchasing a new washing machine?”

• Checklists: The ultimate checklist for buying a new sofa.

• Tips for the products: “7 Unusual Tips to Keep Your Mountain Bike in Great Condition for Years”

• Please read the product details and reviews carefully. You must ensure that the product does not change or become obsolete very soon.

SEO: The importance of SEO-friendly content

SEO: Evergreen content

Although it is possible to get a surge of traffic when you post something newsworthy or trendy, this will usually fade over time.

Although short-lived content can be a useful part of your SEO strategy, it is worth considering how you can bring in more stability through stabilizing your website’s traffic from organic search. This can be achieved by using evergreen content.

SEO is also enhanced when a piece of evergreen content is successful.

Evergreen content is extremely SEO-friendly. It answers the most important questions of the audience, provides searchers with useful information to read, which increases time on the site, improves user engagement signals, and helps with link building.

How to create content that is always relevant

How to create content that is always relevant

Research is the first step to creating evergreen content. This is not an oversimplified statement: you are going to be investing in content creation. It is crucial that the topic is correct.

1. Topic research

You need to first find the topics you want to write about. You should identify common points of interest related to the product or service that you are selling online. These points may be included in the content formats described above.

Start with your CRM data and any other sources that customers frequently ask. Customers often have questions or problems that sales reps, customer service or floor staff can help with.

Browse product reviews both on your website and on review websites for competing products. Customers may be able to share some of the common issues they have had. You might find some inspiration in industry forums, Facebook groups or LinkedIn groups.

Google Analytics/Google Ads/Google Search Console can show you the search queries people use in order to find your product. You may also be able to pick up some topic ideas.

2. Keyword research

Once you have a good idea of what your customers are interested in, you can do more keyword research to find out what keywords they should be looking for.

You will need a specialized SEO tool such as Keyword Suggestions Tool by SERank or another type. Because there is limited information in the free Google tools, professional tools are required. This feature will help you select the most effective search queries, including long-tail keywords, that will continue to bring you lots of traffic over time.

To check the volume potential, first enter your topic ideas in the keyword research tool.

This is an aggregate estimate of the difficulty it would take to rank a new page within the top 10 results of this keyword, on a scale from 0 to 100.

It may be called “SEO difficulty” or “keyword difficulty” in some tools. However, it is the same. All systems use their internal algorithms to evaluate the quality of current ranking results and link profiles.

Keywords with low difficulty and high volume are the best options for evergreen content.

It also shows the history of search volume. To get steady traffic, keywords should not change from year to year.

You can use similar and related keywords to help you choose the right keywords for your content.

You should also check which pages are getting the most traffic for your chosen keywords. You can see what pages are being visited by the selected keywords to determine how much content you should create to counter them.

3. Look out for a consistent trend over time

You can ensure that your content is long-lasting by ensuring the topic isn’t time sensitive. Google Trends may be able to assist you with this.

Choose a timeline that is at least 5 years long. Peaks indicate the spark of interest. You should check how steady it is overall. Avoid topics that spike for a short time or are silent most of the day.

4. Make content

Now that you have a list and know what topic ideas you can create, it is time for you to get started. These are some tips to keep in mind:

• It is important to create great content. Although it may seem obvious, ranking well will make your efforts stand out. Google is the answer to all your questions. Compare the rank of your keyword/topic on other pages and create content that is better than theirs.

• Write about timeless topics that are reliable and time-proven. Avoid short-term topics such as fashion trends, news, and fashion. Avoid dates such as ‘now in 2021’. However, you can still use the year to make your headlines (according to Backlinko, such content has greater chances of becoming evergreen). Just remember to update the headline with the current year to keep it relevant.

Keep your content evergreen

• Do not get too technical/expert. Most evergreen content is written for beginners. Professionals in the field are familiar with all of these how-to’s and don’t need to Google for answers. Avoid using too technical language and give more definitions and basics when possible.

• You should keep your focus narrow. Don’t get bogged down in topics like “how to clean shoes”. You will drown in all the possible materials, tools and chemicals. This is precisely what people will search for when they have this problem.

• Cross-link related content: this works great for SEO, so if you have several articles/posts/guides on similar topics, link them.

5. Maintain evergreen content for better SEO

It is not easy to produce great SEO content. If you notice any signs of trouble, you need to keep an eye on it and help it grow.

• You can track rankings. If it stays at one rank, and doesn’t go up or down slowly, this could indicate that there are problems with the content. You may have a low quality page (check bounce rate/page time) or technical issues (check Google Search console or any other professional SEO tool such as SE Ranking, which we’ve already discussed).

Keep track of your rankings

• Review/Update: while one of the main benefits of evergreen content is less-required maintenance, you still need to check sometimes the validity/robustness of what you’ve posted earlier, or maybe refresh it with newer information/research.

• Backlinks: It is difficult to rank higher than pages that are similar to yours if there are no links to your content. Make sure you and your team work on link building.

• Page loading speed: Make sure your pages load quickly with multiple tools.

• Promote: Your new content must be shared with the world. If possible, share it via social media, set up email advertising, or run a PPC campaign.

• Repurpose: If you have an evergreen article that is successful, consider repurposing it in another format, such as infographics or YouTube videos. It may be helpful for people to search on different platforms for the same information.

eCommerce: More timeless content ideas

You might explore evergreen topics and other potential topics more deeply. This will allow you to experiment with more complex content ideas, such as:

• Research: If you are able to conduct your own research, this will make it very relevant content. Your research will be relevant for at least two years. People often look for statistics, facts and data.

• User stories: Nothing is more convincing than real-life stories from people who have had certain problems and solved them with your product or the product that you write about.

• These case studies are very fascinating to read and will continue to be relevant for readers for at least 2-5 years. Marketing magazines and analytical companies often include case studies in their publications.

• It may be a good idea to have a history of your brand or product in order to build loyalty.

• Interactive content (quizzes, calculators, etc. This entertaining content can be used in conjunction with questions such as “how much does it cost to install laminate flooring?” and can also provide additional tips and tricks on the subject.

Summary

The foundation, stability, growth, and sustainability of organic search traffic can all be provided by evergreen content. It is difficult to focus on evergreen content as there will be many people competing for it. These tips will help you have a better chance of success in this game. Also, remember to reuse what works on other platforms to get more traffic.