In recent months, following my accident, I’ve been embracing slow blogging. I publish fewer posts but put more time into them and it’s been working really well for me. While I expected my traffic to drop in the first few weeks post the accident, since I wasn’t able to work too much, it actually remained quite steady.
All thanks to a bunch of evergreen content I’ve published over the years.
What is evergreen content?
Think of evergreen content as a foundation for your blog. Evergreen content is content that is:
- Content that’s always relevant
- Brings traffic on a regular basis
- Can be created in every single niche
- You can update at a later time
Well, duh, that’s pretty much self-explanatory, is it not? Here’s the thing, though: we live in such a fast-paced world, we are constantly being overfed with new information from tens of different outlets and sources. If you read a blog post about topics like “Growing Your Instagram Following” written last year, chances are that tips contained in that post are irrelevant and, well… useless.
That’s because things change FAST. By the time you’re done writing about one thing, you already have to think about what you’ll be working on next. This is why having evergreen content on your blog is so important- it will keep bringing people back, drawing in new readers to your blog over time. If you want to convert visitors to subscribers, your blog will need to have a good foundation. Evergreen content is just that. Even when things slow down a little, whenever you’re not able to create new content or suffer from lack of inspiration, those posts will continue to drive traffic to your blog.
IDEAS FOR EVERGREEN CONTENT
“HOW TO” POSTS
This can be pretty much anything, as long as it teaches your audience something. If you have a food blog, for example, you can write a post about some kitchen or cooking basics. Whatever your niche is, focus on something that a newbie would like to read, think of “How To” posts as posts for beginners. If you write about blogging, share some “How To” tips for new bloggers. Have a fashion blog? Create a “How To” for building wardrobe staples. You get the idea. We’re all good at something, even if you don’t think you are, I bet that YOU can teach me something new. Use that to your advantage. Maybe there’s something that you’ve learned to do recently and it took you a while to finally “get it?”
Five years ago I didn’t even know how to use a DSLR camera. In 2014 I wrote a post “Photography Tips for Bloggers” and it’s still one of the most popular posts on this blog, bringing in tens of thousands of views every month. It’s a topic that is still relevant, three years later. I remember how frustrating reading manuals was, so once I finally “got it” I knew I had to share what I’ve learned and attempted to present it in a way that perhaps is a bit easier to understand than your average, dull manual. This can pay off, big time, so think about it: Is there a skill or piece of valuable information you could share with your audience? Give them a specific solution to their problem, share an “insider” tip. Don’t be afraid to spill your secrets!
Here are some examples of my most popular “How To” posts:
–How to Get the Most Out of Your DSLR
–How to Start a Lifestyle Blog
–How to Grow Your Pinterest Following Fast
–How to Grow Your Blog
STEP BY STEP TUTORIALS
Again, in these posts, you’re creating a piece of helpful content. It can be a makeup tutorial, a guide for creating graphics, DIY project, photography tutorial-whatever fits within your niche. Step by step tutorial is one of the easiest ways to teach your audience something and provide them with value. Have them walk away from your post, knowing that they just learned something new. Add some nice visuals to your post, maximize it by automatically sharing it on Pinterest every couple of days/weeks (my 50 Ways to Practice Self-Care post has over 200k re-pins and continually brings in a good amount of traffic to my blog, I make sure to re-pin it to a bunch of group boards on regular basis).
FAQ
If you have an engaged audience, chances are you get asked a lot of questions. This can be anything from what camera you use to explaining the meaning behind the name of your blog. If that’s the case, create a FAQ page. It’s also a great place to send new, first-time visitors who come across your blog- a place for them to get to know you, to find out what they can expect from your blog and, to subscribe.
RESOURCE PAGES
Similar to creating an FAQ page, the resource page can be a great place to send your readers whenever they have a question. My Blogging Resources page lists every single tool I use for blogging, photography, writing, my favorite affiliate programs and more. I also make sure to link to it in all my “Blog Tips” posts, as that’s when they’re most relevant.
Of course, these aren’t the only types of evergreen content to create. You can also publish something as simple as a very popular product review, play your SEO game right, and land on the first page of google, constantly bringing you traffic whenever someone does a keyword search for that particular product. It really depends on your niche. If you run a blog based on news/recent events or time-sensitive topics, then this might not work for you, although creating something like an FAQ/RESOURCE page is always a good idea.
Keep SEO in mind when creating your content. After you created your piece of evergreen content, re-visit it every 3 months or so. See if there’s anything you can add, or update, maybe you can add a content upgrade, an incentive once you start growing your email list. Then, re-share it on social media- let people know that content exists. Don’t expect people to just “find it.” Maximize that content as much as possible.
Whatever topic you choose for your piece of evergreen content, make sure to also include a Pinterest-friendly graphics in your post as well. We talked about how to create those in this post. If you create 5-10 pieces of really great evergreen content, with detailed and useful information, you can count on a steady flow of traffic, even when your posting schedule suddenly changes. Thing is, you have to put in the work and create quality content. If you put in 20 minutes’ worth of work, expect 20 minutes’ worth of results. These posts are especially worth the effort because they will continue to work for you over time.
Ready to create some evergreen content? Grab your free worksheet and learn a few more tips for creating evergreen content.
Can you think of any ideas for evergreen content? Maybe you’ve already published a few posts that can be maximized and turned into an evergreen piece?
If you want to launch your own WordPress blog and start earning money online, check out my step-by-step guide to starting a blog right here and a list of all my blog resources, including my favorite affiliate marketing programs, right here.
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