Evergreen Content: What Is It & How to Create It in 4 Steps

Creating evergreen content is a proven strategy to put out content that people will search for and refer to for years. 

And while that’s amazing – it also presents a challenge.

How can you create content that continuously stays relevant?

This guide will help you learn how to create evergreen content from scratch, step by step. And go over the dos and don’ts.

What is evergreen content?

Evergreen content is content that remains relevant for years after it is published. It retains freshness and interest over time, requires minimal edits, and usually targets a broad topic many people care about.

For example, “how to write an email” is a popular topic people consistently search for, and the best practices have been the same for years.

So, what isn’t evergreen content? 

Anything seasonal, trend, or news-related. 

Consider “Christmas decoration ideas.” People don’t search for them year-round. Instead, interest spikes only ahead of the holiday season. 

Here's a graph showing the difference between a seasonal search term and an evergreen one.

Benefits of evergreen content

A well-written piece of evergreen content allows you to:

How to create evergreen content in 4 steps

Let’s break down evergreen content creation into four simple steps. 

Step 1: Identify evergreen topics

Start by identifying an evergreen topic for your content. 

One way to do this is to go to the Related Searches tool in Rank Tracker and type a general keyword related to your niche.

Let’s search for “lead generation.”

The tool pulls up a variety of keywords that can help you choose your topic.

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Look for keywords that are relevant to your business and evaluate them based on specific metrics such as the number of monthly searches and competition. This step will help you narrow down the keywords that are worth targeting and for which you are most likely to rank.

When you have a candidate, go to Google Trends and examine how interest in the topic has evolved. 

Remember that you’re looking for a topic that has consistently been generating searches for years and has the potential to remain relevant for a while. 

Here’s a graph showing how interest in “b2b lead generation” has changed over time. Despite some fluctuations, it has been growing steadily since 2016. It looks like the topic will remain relevant for the foreseeable future.

With this, you can start making a list of potential evergreen topics to target.

Step 2: Choose your content format

Look at the search intent to understand the best content format for your evergreen keywords. Search intent is the reason for a user’s search, what they’re trying to get when they type in a query.

You can find a keyword’s search intent by going into the SERP Analysis module in Rank Tracker and browsing the top 10 ranking pages. See if you notice any patterns in content type (how-tos, guides, listicles), title wording, or the websites targeting this keyword.

For example, if you search for “how to record a podcast,” you’ll see most pages have the same type of content – they’re step-by-step guides for beginners in podcasting. It indicates that creating an article guide is the preferred format for this query.

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However, the user intent behind a query is sometimes unclear.

The results for “wedding planner” offer a mix of pages about professionals who help with wedding planning, a structured notebook with a calendar for planning your wedding, a movie, etc.

If the search intent seems mixed, imagine yourself in the user’s position. What’s the purpose of their search? What kind of information will be most valuable to them? And what format will help you present this information most clearly?

Step 3: Uncover related subtopics

So, you have a topic and a target keyword. 

Now, it’s time to find key subtopics. Adding subtopics allows you to cover different aspects of the topic, providing more value to readers. Plus, you’ll have a chance to rank for more related keywords.

Here’s what you should do. Google your main keyword to find the top-ranking pages.

Next, put one of your competitor pages in the Ranking Keywords tool (in Rank Tracker) and select Exact URL.

You’ll get a list of all the related keywords your competitor’s page is ranking for.

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Then, choose keywords that seem like important subtopics. Organize all keywords related to the same subtopic in a separate folder so you can save them for later reference and see potential subtopics at a glance.

Click on the top-right arrow to expand the Keyword Groups view and create separate folders for every subtopic.

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You need to repeat these steps for every competitor page. Review several pages targeting the same search intent to uncover essential subtopics and gain a wider perspective on the topic.

Step 4: Write your evergreen content

Creating evergreen content involves finding an evergreen topic and writing it in a way that stays relevant over time.

Here’s how to optimize your content for longevity: 

Do’s of evergreen content

Here are a few things you can do to make the most of your evergreen content.

Do update evergreen content

While evergreen content generally remains unchanged over time, it still needs occasional updates to stay fresh and rank well.

The two main reasons to update evergreen content are:

For example, this article on the “best digital marketing tools” covers an evergreen topic. However, tool pricing can change and new software is always coming onto the market. You can update this type of content periodically – for example, once a year.

Do build contextual backlinks

Backlinks are one of the most important Google ranking factors. They work like virtual word-of-mouth from one website to another, passing authority from the linking to the receiving page.

In the context of evergreen content, backlinks have three main benefits:

Do promote across different channels 

Repurpose your evergreen content in diverse formats. And use different distribution channels to reach a wider audience. 

For example, Grammarly published a guide-style article on how to write a proper email. The article discusses the essential elements your email needs to include and highlights some common mistakes in email writing.

Later, Grammarly’s team repurposed the article's text into a visual for Instagram. This format is more suitable for social media as it communicates the essence of the article at a glance.

Similarly, you can take one piece of evergreen content, such as an online course, and create multiple social media posts and ads or use it in your email marketing campaign. 

When changing the content format, adapt it to the specifics of every distribution channel. Get creative by experimenting with different formats and creating quizzes, videos, webinars, or infographics. 

Don'ts of evergreen content

Here are a few things to avoid in evergreen content.

Don’t reference pop culture or current trends.

Making references to pop culture or current trends puts an expiration date on relevance. While this technique is excellent for time-specific exposure and engagement, it doesn’t fit evergreen content.

For example, the yearly Oscars generate a lot of buzz and memes. But a year later, there’s a new ceremony, new movies get the awards, and people laugh at new jokes. In a year, your pop culture reference will no longer be fresh, and many users might not even understand it.

Don’t include time-limiting language

Words and phrases that indicate a specific time (yesterday, last year, earlier this week) limit the relevance of your content, so they don’t typically fit evergreen pieces. 

News articles and broadcasts use time-limiting language to show freshness, like in this example from ABC News:

However, in evergreen articles, these words and phrases increase the need for updates. 

Don’t use industry jargon

Jargon is great for shortening phrases and speaking to fellow professionals, but it makes content less accessible to the general public. As evergreen content has to appeal to a large audience for a long time, it’s better to avoid industry jargon.

Consider that jargon ages, too. 

For example, in the context of events, people once spoke about going to “trade shows” and using “matchmaking” to connect with potential partners. Nowadays, we use “conference” and “networking” to refer to these activities.

Мonitor the performance of your evergreen content

Now that you've learned how to create evergreen content, it's time to put these tips into action. Sign up for Rank Tracker today to start your evergreen content creation. 

After creating and publishing your content, monitor its performance and continually update and refine it to keep it relevant and engaging. 

FAQ

Why is evergreen content important?

Evergreen content is important because it usually appeals to a large audience and requires little to no editing to stay fresh for years. Investing in evergreen content supports your long-term content strategy.

How do you repurpose evergreen content?

You repurpose evergreen content by changing its format (audio, video, images, infographics) and sharing it via different channels (social media, email, paid advertising). As evergreen content stays fresh for years, you can keep repurposing it in new formats for specific channels for quite a long time.

What are examples of evergreen topics?

Some examples of evergreen topics include:

What is the opposite of evergreen content?

The opposite of evergreen content is time-sensitive content, such as content around news, trends, and fads. Interest in it is heavy but short-lived, and you must keep creating new content to stay relevant.