Recently, we began combing through our best performing blogs from the past ten years and tweaked some of the content to make sure they’re still relevant in 2021. Thankfully, most didn’t need a ton of updates, if any at all. This might seem like a stroke of luck productivity-wise, but in reality, it’s the nature of evergreen content, and it was intentionally done. Our blogs weren’t still receiving a steady number of hits several years after they were published by accident; users were repeatedly clicking through to our website to read about topics that have aged well, and more importantly, content about a topic that has also aged well. In short: those topics were selected for this exact outcome.
Blogging is a real asset to any marketing strategy. Long form content like blogging is an opportunity to inform your audience, teach them about your brand, weigh in on industry trends, and overall, improve your organic search traffic.
Stick to Topics You Know People Will Keep Talking About
There are some topics and areas of knowledge that simply never go out of style. Design, well-written human interest stories, tutorials, case studies–this is the type of content that your audience is unlikely to grow tired of even over several years. At Ashworth Creative, one of our most-shared and frequently viewed blogs is A Brief History of Typography and Typefaces, a nearly seven year old article. What keeps viewers interested enough to keep coming back? An educational, timeless topic that continues to be relevant well after it was originally published. In fact, the most recent comment on this blog was from 2020!
Avoid the News
There are ways to incorporate news articles into your content plan, but when crafting truly evergreen content that can be used again and again, current events should be mostly avoided. A news article is always subject to fact checks and updates as the story develops, and though they can be very informative, the information they provide often becomes obsolete within a matter of weeks. Though you may net plenty of hits on the day of publication, the traffic drop-off will be intense, and your once-relevant take on the issue might be subject to scrutiny down the road.
Educate Yourself Before Addressing Fads in Tech
Fads are often a much harder trend to nail down than current events or the news. The “next big thing” in tech is often right around the corner, but whether or not that fad has lasting power is usually a matter decided by those with expertise and experience within the field, but even the most highly qualified among us can find themselves swept away by a new product or program’s functionality. This is particularly true if the product fills a niche that has been left vacant for many years. As blog writers, discerning the difference between a momentary fad and a true game changer can be a little tricky, and often, the best course of action is to avoid writing about a new release until you have tested the product out yourself and can attest to its long-term usefulness. This may seem counterproductive or untimely, but a well-written review or tutorial of genuinely impressive new product will net you way more traffic over time than some
hastily thrown together comments on something that may turn out to be a flash in the pan.
Make Updates Where Applicable
Crafting evergreen content is truly a balancing act of timeliness and sustainability, but the beauty of publishing in the digital age is that content can always be edited and updated along the way. Even if your once-successful blog post has become a little obsolete with the release of a new program or protocol, there is nothing preventing you from doing some routine house-cleaning every few years. It can be very beneficial to take inventory of your content on a regular basis, and blogs are no exception.
A Boon for Slow Weeks
In all industries, it seems, there is a busy season, and a more busy season! But what can you do when your newest content isn’t performing as well as you’d hoped? Dust off the evergreen content, of course! When designing a content plan for social media, including several older, high performing pieces a week alongside new content will help ensure engagement stays up even if your newest stuff isn’t quite hitting the mark.
Write What You Know
Here at Ashworth Creative, we blog about the inner workings and day-to-day case studies relevant to a digital, boutique marketing agency, because that is what we are. It’s content we know, and content we can stand behind unequivocally. Readers don’t want you to weigh in with your hot takes about information or areas of study you aren’t familiar with; they want you to speak from a position of authority and learn something new. When you write what you know, readers will seek out your content time and time again because they know it’s reliable, well-studied, and professional.
In the age of information overload, quality sources are more important than ever. People want the facts, and they don’t want to look like amateurs when they repeat the information they’ve learned from you to their friends and family members. When they click on your blog and peruse the material you’ve published, they expect to find content that not only matches the industry you’re in, but expands their ideas of the work that you do. And as marketing professionals, we know how important it is for our readers and potential clients to trust that we know what we’re talking about.
Curious how you can make evergreen content part of your marketing strategy? Our team of seasoned blog writers can help you design your own evergreen content plan, and use it to build your reader base, increase engagement, and drive traffic to your website.
We put our best talent into every project we tackle. Give us a call, and see what Ashworth Creative can do for you.
