What Is Evergreen Content in Blogging & How it Works

Most bloggers at least once in their lifetime heard the term “evergreen content”, but most are not applying the concept strategically. For bloggers especially, it’s crucial to understand when and how often to create evergreen content, as it can significantly increase your blog’s traffic.

In this post, I will explain what is evergreen content, when to create it, as well as its 5 benefits to us – bloggers.

What is evergreen content?

What is evergreen content? Evergreen content is content that, figuratively speaking, always stays green, no matter what time of the year it is, kind of like an artificial Christmas tree. Or, in other words, the content never gets old. This can be a book review, a list of health benefits that an apple has, a guide on how to fix a bike, etc.

As you can probably figure out, the text that you are currently reading also belongs to the evergreen content category. Why? Because the definition of the term “evergreen content” will never change. It’s quite straightforward, really.

If you write a blog post that is evergreen, you don’t need to worry about it ever getting outdated. You can expect it to be as relevant to your audience in 10 years as it is today.

I get the idea of what is evergreen content. Any examples of non-evergreen content? 

If you are reading a news article, a review of the latest iPhone, an article related to the latest fashion or music trends, or anything else that is seasonal, you are reading non-evergreen content.

While a review of the iPhone 11 could still have some value for somebody in the future, by the time iPhone 14 was out, the review had lost almost all of its relevancy. I hope you get the point.

So I need to focus only on evergreen content ideas, right?

NO. You do not focus only on evergreen content ideas.

If you have a blog on technology or you like to discuss world news, it’s pretty hard to create evergreen content. This means that most of your articles will be relevant only for a certain period of time. Unfortunately, it may also feel like you are wasting a lot of energy writing about things that will soon get outdated.

And while it may seem like evergreen content is the only good option, it really isn’t that simple.

When I first started out with my blog, I focused only on evergreen content. I wrote about the basics of working out, motivation, eating healthy, time management, etc. As a result, I did not rank in Google at all! Later I found out that there’s simply TOO MUCH existing competition around evergreen content.

Think about it, how many self-development blogs have written about the basics of time management? That’s right, probably all.

As a rule of thumb – most evergreen content is highly saturated and competitive. Had I done keyword research properly then, I would not have focused so much on evergreen at the start.

You can probably now see that having non-evergreen content is beneficial, too. If you are one of the first to write a review about the latest iPhone or some event in the world, you can expect to rank really high in Google, even though your “popularity” won’t last indefinitely.

The moral of the story

If your blog is focused on something that quickly changes, you pretty much don’t have any other options other than to create non-evergreen content. But that does not mean that it is bad or you cannot achieve success. Think of famous news outlets, fashion and tech blogs. Example: TechRadar.

On the other hand, if you blog about everything, kind of like I do, then you try to do both.

As I already previously explained, if you want your blog to grow faster, focus first on non-evergreen content. Focus on content that is fresh, that has space for you to fit into, and for you to conquer before your competition does.

That being said, once your blog starts to see some traction, you can begin your battle for evergreen content.

Now that you know what is evergreen content, I will share with you the benefits of it that any blogger can expect and make use of.

5 benefits of evergreen content in blogging

1. Guaranteed traffic growth

When it comes to evergreen content, I have noticed two things.

First of all, as opposed to non-evergreen content, if an evergreen blog post begins to rank well in the search results, it will usually stay there for long. Some of my blog posts have remained right at the top for over 2 years, while the non-evergreen ones have at most been no more than 8 months. This happened not necessarily because my blog post became outdated, but rather because my competition created even newer blog posts. My information was still totally valid, just less recent.

Secondly, because evergreen content is usually in demand, expect a lot of new traffic to arrive at those blog posts that do rank well. This, in turn, boosts your SEO and helps your blog’s overall ranking.

2. Linking to the less popular blog posts

If your evergreen blog posts start to rank well and traffic comes pouring in, you should update those posts and add internal links pointing at your other content… content that you think is worth it but does not rank well in Google for some reason.

This is a great way to boost your other blog posts that deserve to be seen.

3. Ability to sell

If one of my evergreen posts starts to rank well, I know it will last long. I then not only update its internal links, but also add affiliate links. In other words, I use the opportunity to make some money.

Quite some time ago I made an article called “50+ Best Self-Help Books That Will Change Your Life Forever“. To be honest, the competition for the keywords “50 best self-help books” was very high, and I didn’t think that post had much chance to rank well, but it did.

When I found out that I was first in Google’s search results, I returned back to the blog post and updated every single book on the list with an affiliate link pointing to Amazon to make some profit.

See how that works? If you are creative enough, you can always come up with an affiliate product to link to.

4. Evergreen content will be shared more often

This one is simple. Statistics, as well as personal experience, show that “listicles” and “how-to guides”, both of which are the typical evergreen content type, are shared more often than any other type of content. Again, a good example is my “50+ Best Self-Help Books That Will Change Your Life Forever” article.

Not only will people share those blog posts more often on social networks, but you will also find other blogs leaving links pointing back to your listicles and how-to guides. People will find some of your evergreen content so good that they feel compelled to let other people know about it. That’s really good for your blog in terms of exposure and SEO (“link juice”).

5. Works well with your audience

Because evergreen content never gets old, it works really well with any audience.

First of all, one thing I do is keep sharing my evergreen blog posts over and over on my social network accounts. Why not? They are just as relevant today as when I published them. I don’t want these articles to ever be forgotten if the information in them is of quality.

Secondly, I can use evergreen articles in my email automation sequences without having to update the sequence so often.

So whenever someone signs up to my email list, I can automatically send them my “10 Quotes About Why You Should Never Chase Happiness” article as a welcome message.

On the other hand, I cannot send them my “Help! 6 Reasons for Decreasing Blog Traffic and How to Fix It” article without first checking if the information in it is still valid today.

So this was it for today. I hope you now understand what is evergreen content. If something was unclear, just let me know in the comment section. 🙂

Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. – Chris Grosser

Thank you for stopping by and good luck!

Please click below to subscribe and follow us on social media:

Click here to follow us via E-mail!
Click here to follow us on Facebook!
Click here to follow us on YouTube!
Click here to follow us on Instagram!
Click here to follow us on Twitter!
Click here to join our Facebook group!