8 Tips for Ordering Evergreen Content

Unlike modern smartphones and laptops, evergreen content is made to last. The main benefit of this type of content is that it offers a much longer marketing shelf life. The longer content remains relevant, the more chance that a wider audience will see it.

Why is Evergreen Content Important?

There are two types of content to consider when looking for online attention: viral and evergreen. While viral (or trending) content can provide a short-term return-on-investment (ROI), it’s uncontrollable and unpredictable, and its shelf life is naturally limited.

Evergreen content, on the other hand, is designed to consistently attract an audience over the longer term. It doesn’t have to lack spontaneity, but it does have to satisfy both the search type of the reader and the commercial needs of the business; unlike its viral cousin, it must have persistent traffic potential (AKA staying power) built-in.

There are a number of benefits to ordering evergreen content, and they’re important to consider as part of a wider content strategy. With a focus on interest sustainability and long term ROI, evergreen content can:

• Increase your levels of inbound traffic.
• Help your site enjoy higher search engine rankings.
• Present you as an industry leader.
• Actively help you develop new prospects.

Of course, because it’s evergreen, another advantage is that you don’t have to update it as often to remain relevant. So now you understand why evergreen content can be advantageous, the question is: how do you order it?

How to Order Evergreen Content

In terms of content creation for marketing purposes, defining your goals and adopting the right strategies is what will ultimately spell success. In terms of ordering that content from a freelance author, the same attention to preparation and planning holds true. If you want your content to be evergreen, you need to follow these steps.

1. Choose subjects that offer persistent traffic potential

Quite simply, you want to make sure that your website retains a steady amount of inbound traffic. As the first step to increasing conversion rates, selecting subjects or topics that show long term popularity is the most important part of the content planning process. As mentioned before, there is an appreciable difference between evergreen and viral content, so the subject of an evergreen post must be persistent and consistent.

How can you determine which subjects offer predictable inbound traffic? One way is to use Google Analytics to assess which topics related to your products or services appear to be the most popular.

2. Consider the structure of the article you’re ordering

Believe it or not, some structural formats will work better than others when curating evergreen content. Not only are these easier to digest, but they tend to visually highlight whatever it is you’re promoting. The most common styles include:

• Instructional and how-to articles.
• Content written in a list format.
• Product descriptions.
• Articles focused around tips and suggestions.
• Content similar to an encyclopaedia entry.

Make sure to describe your preferred format when instructing an author, particularly if the text you are ordering is part of a content series.

3. Avoid time-sensitive information

While this may already seem obvious, it really does bear addressing. Time-sensitive information will only be relevant in the short term, which will turn your evergreen article into a trend-based text. The use of concrete dates is also frowned upon – they’ll shorten the shelf life immeasurably.

In the same vein, when listing any references that you want to have included, make sure that the information contained within them will be just as valid a few months after publication as it is at the time of writing.

Sources to avoid if you want an evergreen article:

• Seasonal data
• Breaking news articles
• Material focused upon current trends
• Short-term offers

Sources to include for an evergreen article:

• Glossaries
• Wikipedia entries
• Generic infographics
• Material covering established facts and figures

Want to improve your credibility and build a stellar search engine ranking? Then instruct the author to hyperlink to your sources. You can find out why hyperlinks are so important here.

4. Select keywords with evergreen content SEO in mind

As you might have guessed, keywords are important. But the key for evergreen content success is to identify keywords with evergreen qualities. This process involves looking for words and phrases which have remained popular for an extended period of time. Once again, any results associated with dates or specific events should be avoided.

Once you have the appropriate keywords in hand (Ubersuggest is a great tool for this), here are some additional suggestions to ensure that they lead to a high-quality text:

• Make sure that the words and phrases are grammatically correct.
• Use connecting words as an author option when creating the order.
• Do not force authors to keyword “stuff” by asking for too high a volume.

While evergreen keywords are important, always remember that readability will determine the ultimate impact of the post. An experienced author will be able to use a list of evergreen keywords to create an engaging text that will have long-term appeal.

5. Watch your order angles

What do we mean by an order angle? Just like the focus of a news story, it’s the ‘hook’ in your text that your content uses to gain traction for SEO. Choosing a purely contemporary reference within an article (such as pop culture or recent news) can be an excellent approach when creating a viral post, but it hardly falls into the category of evergreen content. Short-lived angles are primarily centred around hype as opposed to longevity. Think GoT comparisons when The Godfather has had decades of cinematic staying power…

Here are some examples of effective angles:

• Checklists for specific tasks.
• The best strategies to achieve a specific goal.
• Everyday mistakes associated with a certain topic (and how to avoid them).
• Describing the history of a product or service.
• Everything the reader needs to know about “_____”.

If you choose an angle that has broad appeal and provably long-term interest, an author will be in a better position to create a text that has staying power.

6. Order content for beginners, not experts

It is often tempting to write for industry experts, yet this can often be a mistake. The fact of the matter is that those who are already familiar with a product or service are less likely to need assistance. While there is nothing wrong with sounding like an expert, try to cater to the everyday reader. Also, remember that broader topics are less likely to resonate with professionals but will often appeal to a wider demographic.

Considering that evergreen material is written to appeal to a recurring audience, think about the type of material that you find useful on topics you’re not an expert in.

7. Repurpose existing material

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. A penny saved is a penny earned… In other words, why spend time and effort creating from the ground up when you can easily take advantage of what you already have?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with creating a rewrite order on Textbroker that involves one or more of your existing articles. Choose texts that have shown good returns historically, and instruct an author to reformat and refresh the content. They can take the main points of each piece and reorganise and reword them to present the information in a different way. Here are some common format changes to consider:

• Turn a white paper into a blog post.
• Reformat an article as an ebook.
• Change the angle of an existing text.

8. Practice proactive collaboration

Finally, always remember that how you present an order request will have a massive impact on its ultimate success. Authors are not mind-readers and can only meet your expectations if you let them know – upfront – what you expect to see. This means giving them as much information as possible, presented clearly. Therefore, when creating your order instructions, consider including:

• Samples: Links to articles that exhibit the tone and language you prefer.
• Sources: A list of approved resources that an author can use to support the angle.
• Destination: If an author knows where the text will end up, they are in a better position to ‘match’ the presentation.
• Details: Do you want meta descriptions too? HTML for headers and emphasis? All of this helps with SEO.

In conclusion, if you spend a little time planning, you can ensure that your content is evergreen. Of course, not everyone has time for this, which is why Textbroker offers a broad range of services designed to make the best use of the time that you do have available.

Need evergreen content but don’t know where to start? Connect with a Textbroker author today!
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About our author

Ron is a prolific author who regularly contributes to on-site blog posts. His passion for creativity combined with a client-centred approach has brought him a significant amount of success within this competitive marketplace. Writing for Textbroker since 2012, his hobbies include martial arts and bodybuilding.