Evergreen content is content with a long lifespan. It is also incredibly important for search engine optimization (SEO). In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about evergreen content – including what makes a topic evergreen, why evergreen content is important and some examples to inspire you. What is evergreen content?Evergreen content refers to any type of content that remains ever relevant, ever accurate, and ever useful long past its publication date. Think of it this way: Evergreen trees always look green and fresh, even in the dead of winter. By the same token, evergreen content always looks green, fresh, and up to date – even if it was published two years ago. (Two years old is positively ancient by the internet’s standards, but if your content is evergreen, that’s not a problem.) To be considered evergreen, your content must pass these checkpoints:
And, if your content contains any of these hallmarks, it is not evergreen:
Examples of evergreen content topicsHere are a few good examples of evergreen content topics:
Examples of content topics that are not evergreenOn the flip side, these are good examples of topics that are not evergreen:
Why evergreen content boosts SEOSo we know that the defining feature of evergreen content is a long lifespan past its initial publication date. Whether you read it now, two months from now, a year from now, or two years from now, the information it conveys should largely remain accurate, relevant, and useful. But why does this matter for SEO? ReliabilityBy their very definition, evergreen content topics are ones that people are interested in no matter the circumstances. They’re “old reliables.” That won’t change with the time of year, the season, the current events, or the latest research. Evergreen topics are perpetually relevant and interesting. People always look for and depend on the evergreen knowledge presented in evergreen content. What does that mean for SEO? The evergreen content pieces you optimize for search will earn clicks and visitors more steadily than your more ephemeral pieces because people are constantly searching for those topics on search engines. To summarize, evergreen SEO content = a steady, reliable influx of potential customers. SustainabilityEvergreen SEO content is also sustainable. Why? You only have to put in the resources to create this type of content once. It will need few, if any, updates. And it will keep bringing in a steady stream of visitors over a long period due to the evergreen interest in evergreen topics. Lastly, if you created a high-quality piece of content geared for conversions, that piece will also bring in leads. In the end, you’ll get much more out of your evergreen content piece over the long term than you will with your “trendier” content. It will perform over months and years versus days and weeks without the need to throw money at it. In this case, maybe we can also refer to evergreen content as “eco-friendly” for your brand. Types of evergreen content to focus onSome content types lend themselves to evergreen topics more readily than others. For example, “how-to” content is a type you’ll often find has evergreen potential. That’s because how-to topics usually involve evergreen knowledge that never goes out of date. Examples:
Another great option for evergreen content is the humble but popular listicle. While it may seem trendy because of the sheer number of listicles that are published daily, it actually lends itself to evergreen topics quite well. Examples:
Don’t forget about informational content. This may include foundational articles such as 101 and beginner guides that provide a general overview or introduction to a topic. 5 evergreen content examplesReady for some evergreen inspiration? Check out these five examples of evergreen content. What are transition words?This blog post by Yoast SEO on transition words is evergreen because this knowledge is a principle of English grammar. Employing transition words helps make your writing easier to read. ![]() DIY wood fence tutorialThis tutorial on building a wooden backyard fence is a great example of an evergreen video content. ![]() How to invest in stocksFoundational knowledge on a topic, like this beginner's guide to investing in stocks by Investopedia, is prime real estate for evergreen content. ![]() Easy pie dough guideIn this extensive guide to making pie dough, the author goes way beyond a basic recipe and talks about the science behind a flaky crust. They offer encyclopedic knowledge on how to produce the best pie crust you've ever had. This type of knowledge is always relevant to bakers everywhere. File under: "Evergreen." ![]() Cybersecurity ultimate guideIn the ever-changing world of tech, evergreen topics are hard to find. However, some pass muster and squeeze into evergreen territory, including cybersecurity. Why? Because, as long as the internet exists, people will use it to store their data. And, no matter what the technology looks like, people will always be interested in protecting their data from malicious entities. Thus, this HubSpot blog on cybersecurity is a good evergreen content example. It will be relevant for at least a few years, and when technology inevitably changes, the article can be updated to follow suit. ![]() 4 tips for writing evergreen contentAs you write evergreen content, all the imperatives for writing high-quality content will apply. That said, here are a few specific tips to ensure your content won't need an update in three months. (True evergreen content won't need an update for a long time.) 1. Keep examples, jokes, and asides timelessAvoid even passing references to cultural events, news, or trends that will quickly become dated in a few months. Don't use them as examples or make jokes about them (if your brand voice calls for jokes, that is). For example, many social media marketing articles from a certain period of time referenced now-obsolete tech like Google+ or Vine – and once those apps/services died, those mentions had to be edited to keep the content evergreen. That said, sometimes, it's impossible to predict whether a trend will actually morph into an entity with a legacy. Either way, try to keep your discussions of trends to their own blog posts. 2. Only link to sources that will stand the test of timeLinking to research and data is a great way to add credibility to your content. Just be careful about how you do this when you write evergreen content. For instance, only link to sources when absolutely necessary, such as when you need a stat to prove a point, or when a particular research report is integral to understanding your topic. And, when you must link to a source, choose that source carefully. Don't link to obscure websites that may or may not disappear in a year, but rather trusted entities with a solid, proven online presence. Some studies or reports that are a few years old may still be fine to link to – but only if these are outstanding or unique examples of research in their field or contain data you can't find anywhere else. And, if all else fails, audit your evergreen content regularly to ensure your citations and outgoing links are still relevant and working. If some facts or statistics are outdated, updating them with new ones should only take a few minutes. 3. Write with readability in mindKeep readability top of mind as you write evergreen content. Readable content is easy to understand. The ideas are clear. Your audience can learn from that content with no problem. And endlessly readable, evergreen content is content that will pull in endless results. How do you write readable content? To jostle your memory, remember that readable content is:
4. OptimizeEvergreen content not correctly optimized for search engines will not pull in the results you're hoping for. To do its job, your evergreen content needs a fighting chance with proper SEO attached to it. Here are the basic steps to start with:
What is evergreen content? A standby in your content creation lineupEvergreen content should be a workhorse in your content marketing strategy. Create it well once, and it should perform for months, even years. Pay attention to the topics you choose for evergreen content – make sure they're relevant to your business and have staying power in terms of reader interest. Is the knowledge foundational? Is it endlessly useful? Will people care about it later just as much as they do right now? If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you have a winning evergreen content topic on your hands. To keep this content working hard for you, tie it to a keyword you can win and optimize it for search engines. Evergreen content that ranks in the top 10 of Google has tremendous power and potential to bring in steady website visitors and potential customers for the long term. Create evergreen pieces alongside your more trends-focused or timely pieces, and you'll have a winning content mix. The post What is evergreen content and why it’s important for SEO appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/evergreen-content-important-seo-395845
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![]() In today’s fiercely competitive market, delivering personalized experiences is crucial for customer engagement and loyalty. However, marketers who fail to adapt to the transition from decision-tree to trigger-based engagement strategies risk falling behind and missing out on the opportunity to captivate customers at every touchpoint with hyper-personalized experiences. In this workshop, discover how to seamlessly collaborate with your data team to unlock the full potential of your first-party data and create personalized experiences that captivate your customers at every touchpoint. Register and attend “How To Power Next Best Action with First-Party Customer Data,” presented by Snowplow. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. The post Power next-best action with first-party data appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/power-next-best-action-with-first-party-data-395857 Google has just announced four new enhancements for the GA4 homepage.
What’s new. You can read more about the new features on Google’s Analytics Help page. Introduction of a new welcome tutorial. Google Analytics has incorporated a brief tutorial for new Google Analytics 4 users on the Home page. This tutorial introduces essential concepts and settings to help users get started with their new property. Addition of a new banner at the top of the Home page. Editors and Administrators who utilize Google Ads in conjunction with Google Analytics data will now see a banner titled “Verify your Google Ads settings” at the top of the Home page. The banner outlines key tasks that must be completed to bid against Google Analytics 4 data. The banner disappears once all tasks are marked as complete in Setup Assistant. Enhancements to the “Suggested for you” section. This section now offers users cards that are popular across all Analytics properties (to aid new Google Analytics 4 users) and cards that users frequently return to. Dismissal of suggestions, insights, and recommendations. Users can now dismiss irrelevant cards in the “Suggested for you” or “Insights & recommendations” sections by clicking the thumbs down button. Google Analytics will use this input to better curate the Home page for users in the future. Upon clicking the thumbs down button, Analytics will remove the card from the Home page, and the card will not reappear for the next 30 days. However, if users do not submit the feedback form that appears after clicking the feedback button, the card will remain in view for the remainder of the session but will be removed in future sessions. Users can still access all insights and recommendations from the Insights Hub, including dismissed ones. Open the setup assistant. GA4 properties now include an action button at the bottom right of each page. Hovering over the button reveals the number of tasks marked as complete in Setup Assistant. Clicking the button opens the Setup Assistant, allowing users to continue completing essential setup tasks. Why we care. The new enhancements to the GA4 Home page provide a more user-friendly experience, enabling users to quickly grasp essential concepts and settings through the welcome tutorial. Furthermore, the integration of a banner for verifying Google Ads settings ensures a seamless connection between Google Ads and Analytics data, while the improved “Suggested for you” section offers tailored content based on user preferences. The ability to dismiss irrelevant insights and recommendations ensures a personalized Home page experience, and the easily accessible Setup Assistant helps users efficiently complete key setup tasks. Overall, these updates significantly streamline the process of utilizing Google Analytics data to inform and optimize advertising strategies. The post 4 new GA4 Home page features appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/4-new-ga4-home-page-features-395838 Google is set to integrate generative artificial intelligence into its advertising business in the coming months, joining other major tech companies in adopting the technology. Based on an internal presentation for advertisers obtained by the Financial Times, the Alphabet-owned company plans to utilize AI for generating unique ads using materials provided by human marketers. AI-powered ads 2023. The presentation, titled “AI-powered ads 2023,” describes how generative AI opens up new possibilities for creativity. While Google already employs AI in its advertising to create simple prompts that encourage users to make purchases, the introduction of generative AI, which also powers its Bard chatbot, will enable the creation of more sophisticated campaigns akin to those made by marketing agencies. How it works. According to the presentation, advertisers can submit creative content such as images, videos, and text related to a campaign, and the AI will “remix” these materials to generate ads that target specific audiences and meet objectives like sales targets. However, there are concerns that the tool could disseminate misinformation, as AI-generated text can confidently assert falsehoods. One individual familiar with the presentation commented that the AI is optimized for converting new customers and does not have an understanding of truth. Google informed the Financial Times that it intends to implement strict safeguards to prevent such errors, or “hallucinations,” as it rolls out its new generative AI features. AI- so hot right now. This development comes amid growing interest in generative AI among tech giants, which has gained prominence recently by producing sophisticated content, such as text and images, in response to human input. Google launched Bard last month to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a chatbot capable of generating convincingly human-like responses. The Alphabet-owned company has also incorporated generative AI into widely-used applications like Google Workspace, Google Docs, and Gmail. The new technology will be integrated into Performance Max, a program offered by Google since 2020 that uses an algorithm to determine ad placement, budget allocation, and simple ad copy creation. ICYMI. Google confirmed it is working on a test that integrated AI into its Ads Manager. The feature would help brands and marketers create ads using suggested headlines and descriptions. Why we care. Google’s integration of generative AI into its ad business offers the potential for increased creativity and sophistication in ad campaigns. By utilizing AI-generated content, advertisers can benefit from customized ads that target specific audiences and help meet objectives, such as sales targets. As a result, this technology can lead to improved conversion rates and more effective marketing strategies, giving businesses a competitive edge in the evolving digital advertising landscape. The post Google integrates generative AI into ad campaigns appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/google-integrates-generative-ai-into-ad-campaigns-395835 Microsoft has just announced that as of April 25, 2023, Multi-platform Smart Campaigns will no longer support Twitter. The announcement. Microsoft Advertising users have started receiving emails notifying them that the Digital Marketing Center (DMC) will also cease its support for Twitter on the same date. Consequently, users will lose access to their Twitter accounts via the Digital Marketing Center’s social media management tool. The ability to schedule, create, or manage tweets or tweet drafts will be removed, and users will not be able to view their past tweets and engagement on the Microsoft Advertising platform. This development follows a day after Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, appeared at a significant marketing and advertising conference to attract brands back to the platform. Twitter had lost half of its biggest advertisers following Musk’s takeover. The function of the DMC. Microsoft Advertising’s feature enabled advertisers to manage various social media accounts in one location, allowing users to respond to tweets, DMs, and messages from Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. While the social media service was offered for free to advertisers, it was prominently displayed on the DMC dashboard of Microsoft Advertising. It functioned alongside social and search paid advertising tools that assisted businesses in managing their paid ad campaigns on platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and Microsoft’s search advertising. Companies utilizing Microsoft Advertising will continue to create and manage content for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn via the platform, as they did previously. Last year, Microsoft generated over $12 billion in digital advertising revenue from ads created, managed, and run through its Advertising platform. Dig deeper. You can read the announcement from Microsoft here. Why we care. Losing access to Twitter through the DMC’s social media management tool means advertisers will need to adjust their strategies, potentially seeking alternative platforms to manage and track Twitter campaigns. As Twitter has faced challenges retaining advertisers following Elon Musk’s takeover, this development highlights the importance of staying informed about industry shifts and adapting to the evolving digital marketing ecosystem to optimize advertising efforts across various social media platforms. The post Microsoft has dropped Twitter from its ad platform appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/microsoft-has-dropped-twitter-from-its-ad-platform-395816 Google Bard now shows more variety in the draft responses it provides to your questions. Google said these drafts are now “more distinct from each other,” allowing you to “expand your creative explorations.” What is new. Google posted in its updates section that starting on April 21, 2023, two days from now, and Google Bard is “adding more variety to drafts.” “When you view other drafts, you’ll now see a wider range of options that are more distinct from each other,” Google wrote. Google said this will provide a “wider range of more distinct drafts can help expand your creative explorations.” What it looks like. Here is a screenshot of the drafts in Google Bard. As a reminder, Bard has provided three drafts since it launched, so the drafts are not new, but Google made the drafts more “distinct” from each other. ![]() Why we care. If you want more diversity and options from Google Bard, soon you will have it. You can use these drafts to get more variety in ideas for your content, marketing campaigns, ad copy, and other communications in business or maybe your personal life. Plus, since generative AI technology, like Bard, Bing Chat, and ChatGPT are changing so quickly, we wanted to document its changes over time. The post Google Bard adds more variety to drafts appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/google-bard-adds-more-variety-to-drafts-395815 ![]() As excited as digital marketers get about the shiny new thing (we’re looking at you, AI), one of the first and most-established forms of online marketing – email – remains the backbone of most companies’ programs. This isn’t your grandfather’s email marketing, though. Marketers have embraced capabilities for data-driven personalization, multi-channel campaign management, audience segmentation, testing and more – some of these driven by AI and machine learning. MarTech’s “Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide“ examines the current market for enterprise email marketing platforms and the considerations involved in implementing them. This 59-page report is your source for the latest news, trends, opportunities and challenges facing this market as seen by industry leaders, vendors and their customers. Also included in the report are profiles of 10 top vendors, pricing information, capabilities comparisons and recommended steps for evaluating and purchasing. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to get your copy. The post Compare 11 top email marketing platforms appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/compare-11-top-email-marketing-platforms-395809 Webinar: Mastering social media SEO to increase discoverability and traffic by Cynthia Ramsaran4/19/2023 ![]() More and more, people are turning to the search bar on social media platforms. Learn how to optimize your content for platform search and platform algorithms, as well as best practices for the new Google Result Type: Short Video. Register today for “Mastering Social Media SEO: Increase Discoverability and Drive Traffic,” presented by Conductor. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. The post Webinar: Mastering social media SEO to increase discoverability and traffic appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/webinar-mastering-social-media-seo-to-increase-discoverability-and-traffic-395795 On Tuesday, Amazon initiated layoffs within its advertising division as part of CEO Andy Jassy’s efforts to control costs. It is unclear exactly how many employees in the ads division will be affected. What’s happening. Amazon is currently experiencing the largest layoffs in its 29-year history, following a hiring surge during the Covid pandemic. Amazon’s global workforce grew to over 1.6 million by the end of 2021, up from 798,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019. The aftermath. As a result of the recent layoffs, Amazon will reallocate resources, which include shifting team members, slowing down or stopping certain programs, and recognizing the need for different skill sets to address priorities. Consequently, role eliminations occurred for a small percentage of the organization. Affected employees were notified via email on Tuesday morning, with the layoffs scheduled to commence on June 20, or July 17 for workers in New York and New Jersey, following a 60- to 90-day transition period. Transitioning to other roles. During this transition period, affected employees will have the opportunity to search for another role within the company. The exact number of layoffs within the advertising unit remains unclear. Last month, Jassy announced that Amazon would lay off 9,000 employees in addition to the 18,000 cuts previously announced in November and January. Those earlier layoffs primarily targeted retail, devices, recruiting, and human resources groups. Jassy is also examining the company’s expenses on a larger scale as it faces an economic downturn and slowing growth in its core retail business. Amazon has frozen hiring within its corporate workforce, discontinued some experimental projects, and slowed warehouse expansion. By announcing layoffs in the advertising and Amazon Web Services divisions, Jassy has indicated that even Amazon’s largest and most profitable businesses are not exempt from cost-cutting measures. What Amazon said. In a memo sent to staff, Paul Kotas, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Advertising, IMDb, and Grand Challenge, informed employees of the job cuts. The memo emphasized that throughout the 2023 planning process, Amazon has been rigorously prioritizing resources to maximize customer benefits and ensure the long-term health of the business.
Layoffs hitting the tech industry hard. Meta also announced its own plans to lay off employees across Facebook, Instagram, Reality Labs, and WhatsApp starting today. Meta employees in North America were notified by email between 4 am to 5 am PT Wednesday morning. Outside of North America, the timelines will vary country to country, and some countries will not be impacted. Why we care. Aside from Layoffs signal a shift in the Amazon’s priorities and resource allocation. These changes could impact the advertising landscape on the platform, affecting the tools, services, and opportunities available to advertisers. Additionally, getting laid off from a job is never easy. The affected individuals from Amazon, Meta, Google, and all of the other tech companies going through tough times, have valuable experience and expertise within the ad industry. Hopefully, their insights and skills will be an asset to other companies looking to strengthen their advertising teams. The post Amazon layoffs hit its advertising unit appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/amazon-layoffs-hit-its-advertising-unit-395791 Google now says that good page experience is a requirement for creating, what Google defines as, helpful content. Google added a new section for providing a great page experience to its guidance around how to create helpful content, Google explained. Google also revised its help page about page experience to add more details about helpful content. Page experience section in helpful content. Google added the following section to the helpful content guidance here, it reads: “Provide a great page experience: Google’s core ranking systems look to reward content that provides a good page experience. Site owners seeking to be successful with our systems should not focus on only one or two aspects of page experience. Instead, check if you’re providing an overall great page experience across many aspects. For more advice, see our page, Understanding page experience in Google Search results.” “In turn, that section links over to our revised Understanding page experience in Google Search results help page, which explains the role of page experience in more detail, along with self-assessment questions and resources,” Danny Sullivan of Google wrote. “That page brings together in one place some key aspects of page experience to consider, aspects that are unchanged from what we’ve talked about in recent years,” he added. Search Console report changes. Google also removed the page experience report from Search Console and while keeping the core web vitals and HTTPS report and also dropped the mobile-friendly testing tool. More on those changes can be found over here. More FAQs. Google also posted these FAQs on this change, which mentions the site-wide versus page-specific evaluations when it comes to measuring page experience: Without the Page Experience report, how do I know if my site provides a great page experience? Is there a single “page experience signal” that Google Search uses for ranking? Page experience signals had been listed as Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendly, HTTPS and no intrusive interstitials. Are these signals still used in search rankings? While not all of these may be directly used to inform ranking, we do find that all of these aspects of page experience align with success in search ranking, and are worth attention Are Core Web Vitals still important? What does this mean for the “page experience update”? Is good page experience required to appear in the “Top stories” carousel on mobile? Is page experience evaluated on a site-wide or page-specific basis? Does page experience factor into the helpful content system? How important is page experience to ranking success? Why we care. Reviewing these changes and understanding where Google wants your content and page experience to meet is important. The more you understand what it means to create helpful content, the better chances you have to rank well in Google Search. Removing some of the tools in Search Console may not be something any of us are looking forward to, but we do learn to adapt. The post Google says helpful content must have a good page experience appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://searchengineland.com/google-says-helpful-content-must-have-a-good-page-experience-395790 |
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