How Evergreen Content Builds Your Brand
What is Evergreen Content?
Content that serves you long term is called evergreen. That content lives on your website, expanding site visitor knowledge about your business. It’s not a post on social media like Facebook or Twitter that disappears into the stream after minutes or days.
Evergreen content is written once, rarely changes, and keeps working. And, as time goes by, it generates more return on investment (ROI). The point of evergreen content is to create something that keeps working for a long time.
Words for Customers
Evergreen content is mainly written words. It may include illustrations, videos, and infographics, but the main substance of the content is words. The content amplifies your site visitor’s knowledge about your product or service. At the same time, readers associate your business name, your brand, with the content. Readers perceive you as an expert in your field or industry. Your information builds your authority. And that perception builds trust in your business.
Types of Evergreen Content
Think of your website as a container to hold different types of content to display your expertise and authority to build trust in your brand. When you think of creating lasting content you have options to include it in a variety of ways. Each layer of evergreen content builds on the other long-lasting content you create.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) create a basic knowledge base of introductory material about your business. These are questions prospects and customers ask often. Answering those questions, up front, helps them get to know how you provide service, where you are, and what benefits customers can expect from you.
A Resource Library is designed to provide free value to your website visitors and target market. The items in the library are free access, short pieces that help customers understand your business. Resource library items ideas: a one-page worksheet, a helpful checklist, an actionable workbook, a PDF guide, an e-book, free stock photos, a video tutorial, etc.
A Product Introduction may include a step-by-step guide to implementing the product as well is outlining the customer benefits to using the product.
Purchase Guides/101s help prospective clients and new customers weigh options when they are comparison shopping. These how-to guides dispel lingering doubts about how to purchase and start using your product or service.
A Glossary of terms related to your industry helps newcomers perceive your business as an expert in your field. Include background history of terms.
Case Studies underscore the success of using your product or service. Present the client’s original problem and how your business solved the problem and resulted in success. Case studies serve as social proof that real people achieved success by using your business.
White Papers are authoritative reports or guides that inform readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. Position your business as an authority by presenting well-researched background information about your industry or field and your business position in the wider market.
Supplement your written content with charts, graphs, videos, and other visuals to highlight points of your evergreen content.
How to Write Your Evergreen Content
Your evergreen content represents your business. Take time to think through and plan your long-term content. Plan to spend time organizing, researching, and writing your content piece. The aim of this content is to underscore your expertise and authority.
Plan to spend several hours on an article. Longer pieces may require weeks or even months as you research data and collect the right information tailored to make your point. Take your time to make it clear and informative. Remember, the goal of evergreen content is to live for years on your website gaining fresh eyes for your business, building links, and increasing authority. It’s worth taking time at the beginning to create a piece of content that serves you for years.
Brainstorm your ideas for the piece. Take some time to think of all the points you want in the piece. Organize your ideas into topics. Outline your piece so it includes all the topics you want to cover.
Employ standard content creation guidelines so search engines find your content and readers find it easy to read.
Use targeted keyword topics in titles and headlines
Strategically link to non-competitive authority pages
Use strong headlines to grab attention
Add images and graphics for visual appeal
Write short paragraphs
Break up long text into segments with headers to help guide readers through your content
Avoid long blocks of text
Use bullet point lists and graphics to break up text
Have one strong call to action (CTA) at the end
Publish your content on the website, confident that you have created a piece that speaks to your customers and builds trust in your brand.
Although your evergreen content works for a long time bringing visitors to your website, monitor the content from time to time, at least once a year, to make sure the information remains up to date. If a piece of data changes, edit the piece to make it timely, and then know that fresh content will keep working.
Get Eyes on Your Evergreen Content
Organic discovery is powerful, but you can use your content to build brand awareness and industry authority. Once your content is live on your website, work to get more eyes on your content.
When you write new evergreen content, link to those pieces you’ve previously published.
Link to your evergreen content from other web properties (press releases, blog posts, newsletters, social media pages, etc.) so it gets more of an opportunity to be seen.
Publish your content in industry-related publications. Most publications accompany the publication with a link back to your website.
Share excerpts with links to the entire piece in your business newsletter.
Because your content is evergreen, always reflecting your business, continue to build links back to the piece as time goes by.
Why Your Business Needs Evergreen Content
Once your content is published, look for visits over time as your content answers queries on search engines like Google and Bing. These recurring visits bring potential customers over time.
When someone likes your content they can share because they find your content solves a problem. Sometimes it can be something they didn’t know until they read your piece. Each person who shares builds links back to your website. And this brings new people to your business.
So, time after time, your business gets noticed by more and more people. And the beauty of evergreen content is that you created it once. But, as it resides on your website, you accumulate more and more views and convert more readers into customers.
That cumulative effect brings you a high return on investment (ROI) because the time and energy you spent creating the content works for years.
The benefits of long-term eyes on your content, cumulative contacts on your website, and the return on your investment make evergreen content a priority for your business. The longevity of the content assures you’ll gain brand authority by sharing your expertise, building trust in your business.
If you’d like to create evergreen content for your brand, but feel you don’t have the time to take away from your business activities, I can help. Give me a call at +1 503 468 7008.
