Bloggers strive for success, and success means a large and consistent reader base. You want as many people to read your blog as possible, and you want them to do it over a long period of time. You hope to attract new followers every day, and you hope that they will return tomorrow. If your blog is very successful, this will happen consistently for as long as your blog remains online.
How do you get the large and consistent reader base you want? -With your content. What you post is what will draw in readers and entice them to come back so the key is to make your content durable. How do you create content that is evergreen, not time sensitive? What should you write for your blog that will be long-lasting rather than transiently interesting? Here are some tips and things to keep in mind for writing durable content for your blog.
Timelessness
The best posts are ones that can be read at anytime and still be relevant. Write content for your blog that is timeless. To do this, imagine you are reading your post a year in the past and a year in the future. Does it still make sense? Can it be understood outside of the context of current events? Is it something that people will want or need to read about at anytime? If your writing relies too heavily on hot trends or current events, chances are it wont be relevant for very long. Timelessness is the fundamental building block of durable web content.
Create A Resource
If you want new people to be discovering your blog all the time, cater to their quest for knowledge. Make your blog into a vast resource of information. Have a niche and create content that will always be needed. For example, if your blog is about saving money, you will want to write about absolutely everything you can that will help people save money. People should be able to come to your site and research ways to save money and find everything they need in one place. From saving on groceries to purchasing a car to creating a budget, your site should be an invaluable resource for the money-saver. The more you have to offer your readers the more long-term success your blog will have.
Teach
One type of writing that is always relevant is the how-to. Write about how to do something that people always need to do, and you will always have new readers. Instructional writing is very durable, especially when writing about how to do things that dont get updated very often, like how to change a tire.
Expand
Consider other forms of media, not only just writing articles. If you not only tell someone how to do something, but you show them in an instructional video, you will be increasing the durability and appeal of your site. Make content that your readers can use to their benefit anytime they want to. Going along with the money-saving example above, one idea for creating durable content would be creating downloadable worksheets that your readers can use to help them personalize their budget.
Strive For Excellence
Create a checklist that covers all the facets of excellent content. This includes relevance, accuracy, durability and quality. Cite sources, check for plagiarism and ensure you are using proper grammar via a reliable grammar checker. When possible ask a knowledgeable friend to serve as editor and provide you honest feedback.
Glad to see the term “evergreen content” getting some wider coverage. It is such an important part of the mix of content, and it has a fantastic lifetime effect on the traffic to your site.
Ruth – Thanks for some reminders about quality blog posting. I especially like the first two points about timelessness and creating a resource. I have found that the posts I write for my blog that are about the basic rules of writing and grammar attract the most attention. Thanks for these reminders!
CSpeno I have noticed there is a resurgence when it comes to proper grammar and excellence in writing. I read a very interesting article pointing to the correlation between good writing and high PageRank.
Love the term ‘evergreen content’. My husband, the one with the business degree, pointed out to me today to write more evergreen blog posts to get more traffic, but more important, more subscribers to my blog.
And then I read this post which states pretty much the same.
I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but thinking back a year and think ahead a year is really a quick and easy way to double check to see if your content is evergreen. Great idea!
Right now I am experimenting with several suggestion on the list and I “hope to to attract new followers every day, and I hope that they will return tomorrow.”
Read more: https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/evergeen-blogging.html#ixzz1eUS5MsW2