This month’s post is for writers of blogs and newsletters and other social media copy.
If you’ve researched web copy & content, you’ve likely encountered the term evergreen content, which is vital to a website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
What does it mean?
Essentially, evergreen content means content that doesn’t easily go out of date. Web writers are careful to avoid terms such as “last year” or “next year” because they will eventually read clearly as *old* i.e., no longer relevant text. Other content elements, such as links, are also crucial considerations for evergreen content, which only includes links to pages that are deemed low risk to be taken down. Broken links are an SEO red flag that could lower your ranking.
I’ve been writing & editing for the web since 2016 (notice how I didn’t say I’ve been a web writer for a particular number of years, which wouldn’t be an evergreen statement), and I’m versed in writing both evergreen and trending material. Both have their place in web writing. Not all web content is evergreen — nor should it be. Some subjects don’t lend themselves to evergreen writing. Advertising with special offers isn’t evergreen. If you are offering a sale on a service or product, it’s for a limited time only. Writing about a particular event isn’t evergreen. When the event is over, the content isn’t relevant any longer (or, at least, it isn’t relevant in the same way it was previously).
Where you really want to be attentive to evergreen writing is with content that is, say, the foundation of your website pages — services descriptions, informative articles, and instructions, for instance. Amine Rahal, CEO of two digital marketing companies, states in an article for Forbes (see the article for additional ideas about how to write evergreen content):
“Unlike trending content, evergreen content still holds its value years after its publication. While momentarily popular content can create buzz for a week or two, only evergreen articles or videos can bring an audience back again and again. The return on evergreen content is astronomical compared to content that merely captures a trend. If you’re serious about creating quality content that generates a high ROI, you’re going to have to focus on producing evergreen material.”
Understanding the difference between trending content and evergreen content will help take your SEO from basic to intermediate. If you’d like assistance with your content, remember that I’m a copy and content writer in addition to being an editor and proofreader — and I edit & proofread web content in addition to books (many of my book clients are unaware of this).
What are your current content projects?