But the internet is a greedy monster—devouring material with each passing minute. The virtual world is a place where new content goes to die, where anything posted 2 hours earlier quickly becomes dated and irrelevant, and people turn their focus to the latest developments, news, and trends.
In this era where AI can help generate text, images, and videos very quickly, the quantity of new releases has increased severalfold. In spite of that, regular content still succumbs to the cannibalizing effects of time.
But there is a whole class of content that seems immune from the ravages of internet time. We call them evergreen content—after the special class of plants that maintain their colour throughout the year.
If content is king, with “evergreen” content, you’re not just shouting “Long live the king!” You have a king that lives forever.
Evergreen content continues to be relevant even after a considerable amount of time and consistently generates reads, views, clicks, and engagement for the business.
In a way, creating the perfect evergreen material is the “holy grail” of content creation.
So in this post, we look at the Dos and Don’ts of crafting the kind of content that keeps on giving.
The Do’s of Evergreen Creation
#1 Do Choose The Classics
How do you know that something will last?
Well, you don’t.
So choose something that has already lasted.
Choose the Madonna and Elton John’s content.
If you’re going to create content, choose a topic that has already been tested over time.
Evergreen topics include:
- Personal Development
- Health & Wellness
- Relationships and Dating
- Travel
- Finance and Money Management
- Career and professional development
- Education and Learning
- Home Improvement and DIY projects
- Cooking & Recipes
- Fitness
These topics never get old. They will always be relevant to people’s lives, and you will always have an audience for them.
#2 Do Teach Something
Sometimes though, the subject or topic has already been chosen for you, and you might say, “But my business is selling wallets?!”
Your best bet, in these cases, would be to teach something about the topic. Customers come and go, and there will always be beginners or newcomers to the field, whatever it is. That means content that educates will always have a ready audience.
You might be surprised, but there will always be people who don’t know what you know. No matter how basic or how easy you think the thing is.
If you’re in the business of, say, wallets, you can create educational content—a blog post, a short video, an infographic—that informs and educates.
A few title ideas would be:
- “10 Tips for Extending the Lifespan of Your Wallet”
- “How to Spot a High-Quality Wallet: A Buyer’s Guide”
- “What Your Wallet Says About Your Personality”
- “How to Organize The Contents Of Your Wallet”
- “Wallet Care 101: Tips for Keeping Your Wallet in Pristine Condition”
#3 Do Be Very Specific
Another way to escape irrelevance or be driven to the side because of the flood of new content is to go deep. That means, tackling the finer points of your subject.
The deeper you go down a niche, the lesser the number of competitors is. Super niche-ing, or going down particular niches, can be very profitable.
If your business has something to do with personal finance, for example, you can niche down with creations like:
- “Financial Strategies for Competitive Board Game Players: Monopoly Edition”
- “How My Obsession with Collectible Lunchboxes Helped Me Achieve Financial Independence”
- “From Cosplay to Cash Flow: Monetizing Your Costume Crafting Skills”
- “Retirement Planning for Avid Comic Book Collectors: Building Wealth One Issue at a Time”
Writing about your topic in a way nobody has thought of before does not only highlight your content. By niching down, you are also efficiently filtering your consumers. Readers of the post, for example, are highly targeted and highly motivated so your material will convert better.
You might think, “Surely, there will be just two people who will be interested in reading/watching this.” But it might come as a surprise that a significant number of clients are looking for exactly that type of material.
Don’ts of Evergreen Creation
#1 Don’t jump on the bandwagon.
We do have a saying: Easy come, easy go.
Trends and news articles that grab the world’s attention, and are therefore very easy and tempting to create content on, are not Evergreens. In fact, they are the opposite of evergreens. They’re flashes in the pan that command the world’s attention…for a second…and then quickly get switched out for others.
If your goal is to cultivate evergreen content, this is not the soil to bet on.
There was a time when Britney Spears was the brightest star in the known universe. It seemed like her celebrity would never go dim.
Today, your Britney references would look dated.
Speaking of references…
#2 Don’t include details that can date your content.
There are things that don’t age well. This would include numbers, dates, jargon, and jokes.
Numbers often point to a specific point in time. They are time-bound because statistics change.
There will come a time, (and probably very soon) when the number you’ve quoted will cease to be true. So if you say that “Yahoo is the #1 search engine in the whole World Wide Web,” how would that sound to somebody reading today?
Putting dates can date your work. If you write “Yahoo will offer a free electronic mail service in 1995…” that will make your work sound like it belongs in an archive. For news services, that would be okay, that’s what they’re for.
Writing “Wassssuuuuuuup!!!” in an attempt to be funny will be met by today’s youth with… “Huh?”
So if you include these elements in your work, be sure to contextualize them so they don’t sound dated down the road.
#3 Don’t leave your Evergreen content alone.
One of the biggest misconceptions with evergreen content is that you simply leave them alone.
This is the biggest mistake you can make.
The stuff might be evergreen and might continue to be relevant, but it doesn’t mean you do not do anything with it. Evergreens still require care.
Here are some things you should do:
1) Snip and trim—Sure you’ve done your best producing the content the first time around. But you can definitely change the wording here and there. You might change a phrasing, add a paragraph or take some parts that have become irrelevant. There are always things you can do to make the substance and style better.
2) Update metadata—For example, you tighten the descriptions or summaries of your piece. You can also add keywords. These can improve the discoverability of your content.
3) Update media—Refresh the look of your content. And if you’ve found an image or a video that more closely captures what you wanted, then go for that. Give your work a punchier look.
4) Promote—As mentioned, there will always be beginners to any topic, so actively nudge your evergreen content to these folks.
5) Engage—Check the comments section and respond. You can build a whole community just with this.
6) Repurpose—You can upload your content to different platforms. You can also adapt it for different formats. You can even have it translated into a different language so that another billion people can benefit from your wisdom.
With these actions, you will be maximizing the impact of your material.
Follow these Do’s and Don’ts and it won’t be long before you have a whole garden or forest of evergreen content.
As a business leader, you might not have the time to produce or even personally care for these evergreens. And you might be on the lookout for staff who can help maintain that side of the business. You know, “watering,” and “pruning,” the little things (but important things) that you don’t have time for.
Kinetic Innovative Staffing helps leaders like you find remote workers for their businesses. For example, we have a vetted list of Rockstar Virtual Assistants who can provide the extra muscle and brain power for your vision. (Browse our catalogue of highly skilled VAs right now by telling us where to send the list.)
Kinetic provides businesses with a broad range of remote workers from writers, graphic designers, software developers, and network engineers, to social media managers, accountants, etc.
Get in touch with us if you’d like the opportunity to work with highly talented remote professionals and save 70% of your labour costs.
We have just the talent for the roles you’re looking for.
Kinetic Innovative Staffing has been providing hundreds of companies in the Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East, and Europe with professionals working remotely from the Philippines since 2013. Get in touch to know more.
