If you have your own business, you’re looking for ways to grow your business, without dedicating additional time and money. One way to scale your business is to put processes in place, and then pass off those tasks to a virtual assistant. It’s very important to document your procedures in your business so that you can free up more of your time by outsourcing.
Another fantastic way to grow your business is by intentionally creating evergreen content. “Evergreen content” is a popular term in the online business world. In this post, I’m going to explain what “Evergreen Content” means and why you need to incorporate “evergreen content” in your business.
What is Evergreen Content?
When we think of the term evergreen, most of us probably envision a forest of fir trees. Evergreen plants are called “evergreen” because they have green leaves throughout the year, regardless of the season. Even if we see them in the middle of the winter, they are, well, green!
Here’s a dictionary definition:
“Evergreen” – Having an enduring freshness, success, or popularity. (from the Oxford Dictionaries)
Think about how this can apply to your business.
Just like evergreen plants, evergreen content stays relevant and valuable, even years later! It doesn’t get outdated quickly, like news articles.
Evergreen Examples From My Blog
I write a lot about WordPress, both on my blog and in my Website Creation Workshop classroom. It’s still the best website platform for non-techie business owners. My articles about new releases of WordPress get outdated as soon as a newer version comes out.
However, my articles on Business, Marketing, Design Tips, and Productivity Tips are “evergreen”. The information is as useful now as it was a few years ago when I wrote it!
Benefits of Having “Evergreen” Content
If there’s an online component to your business – whether that’s a website, newsletter, blog, or downloads – it’s a good idea to create some evergreen content. Here are some reasons why…
1. It’s Reusable!
Have you ever been short on time or had writer’s block? Creating new content on a regular basis can be exhausting.
If you have evergreen content, you can review past articles and republish one. Your readers will love to see great content on the front page of your blog even if it’s something you wrote months or years ago. This will free up your time and allow you to focus on something else in your business.
2. Easy to Update and Maintain
In this fast-paced online world where technology changes lightning fast, you often need to constantly keep updating “how-to” type of posts/articles. Imagine you wrote an article on how to use a smartphone 10 years ago. You probably have had to update that article 100 times by now!
In contrast, evergreen articles are much easier to maintain as the content shouldn’t change that often. There may be some updates you want to make, but that’s it. (And if you are using WordPress, it’s so easy to make little edits to your blog posts!)
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines are smart. They can distinguish between content that has become obsolete and content that is still relevant after some time. So, if you have evergreen posts/articles on your blog, the chances are, they have a longer lifespan in search engine results, too. You of course should always make sure that your evergreen posts use keywords that are not time-specific and are of your readers’ interests.
4. Drive traffic to your website for years!
If you’ve used specific keywords in your content, search engines will recognize those words and display your content in someone’s search. Even if your content has an old publication date, these search engines will direct people to your blog post, and boost traffic to your site.
Relevant, timeless evergreen content will keep bringing traffic to your blog long after publishing. In addition, evergreen content will continue to be shared on social media, driving more traffic to your site.
Ideas for You To Create Evergreen Content
Don’t know how to start creating evergreen content? Here are some ideas:
- How-to’s that can be used over the years
- Explanation of industry jargon (like this post you are reading)
- Tips and tricks
- Mindset
- “Why you should…”
- Your view on a topic (that’s not considered “news”)
- Book recommendations
- Useful principles in your industry
- …and anything else you can think of that your readers can enjoy for a long period of time
Products and Courses can be Evergreen, too!
This “evergreen” concept can be used in other areas of your online business too. In addition to blog posts and articles, you can create Evergreen courses and products.
For example, recorded online classes are a great example of evergreen products. You can upload various online contents (videos, audio, documents, etc.) to a members-only area, and set it up so that people can purchase and consume your content without you having to teach the entire class live again. And so that people can buy your course at any time 🙂
I run my Graphics Creation Workshop as an evergreen course, as design and graphics principles stay the same throughout time! Check it out here.
Wrapping Up
Creating evergreen content is a powerful way to grow your business. If you produce articles that are useful and valuable to readers for years to come, your audience will grow organically. Now go and look at your business and come up with some Evergreen content ideas you can write articles on for your blog, or create online products and programs that will last forever!
(this post first appeared here on this blog on March 7, 2018)
