Guest contributor Matt Beswick shows how topical and evergreen content can both play a role in future-proofing your SEO strategy—but only if they’re done right.
Crafting a quality SEO campaign that delivers results is like trying to build a house in an fault zone. By the time you’ve laid down the foundation, the ground underneath it may have shifted. Hitting a moving target isn’t easy in any industry, and SEO is no exception.
The idea is to build a foundation that’s sturdy enough to withstand a few shifts in the underlying search engine algorithms. Considering the fact that Google and its competitors tweak their algorithms every day, that’s no small task.
Algorithms change for a reason
One thing that has to be understood implicitly is why algorithms are being re-jigged all the time.
For one thing, there’s a lot of money in ecommerce, and spammers will do whatever they can to grab top ranks even if their content isn’t Page One material. This runs contrary to the interests of Google and Bing, as delivering only the most relevant pages for any given query term is the best way to get advertisers to pay them for space. Hence, all those irritating algorithm change-ups.
Evergreen strategies vs flavour of the month
When you really break it down, there are essentially two types of content on any website: evergreen content and “good for the moment” content that takes advantage of the current SEO environment.
Evergreen content is, as the name implies, anything that’ll provide deep value for years to readers. It attracts fewer page views per day but has a long shelf life.
Content that’s good for the moment is anything topical that ensures an immediate but short-lived boost in traffic.
Both strategies have their place in the grand SEO scheme.
Using evergreen content practically
Some of the classic examples of evergreen content include article series, tutorials, how-to guides, videos and charts. Once it’s published, you can be sure that anyone searching for knowledge on your topic will come across it as long as it’s useful and relevant.
Using link bait to keep the natural links coming in is another evergreen strategy that can typically be counted on for a healthy traffic surge with some staying power. Priming the SEO pump with social media sites like Reddit and Twitter are guaranteed methods for making evergreen content work right out of the gate.
Adapting evergreen content to a change in the search engine algorithms of Google and Bing is tricky, since manually modifying content is a time-consuming process. It’s certainly possible to repackage content to suit present needs, and you’ll probably be forced to at some point. In addition, adapting your evergreen content to a new algorithm scenario will typically require that you fiddle with some meta-data and alter some or all of your linking strategy.
Regardless, quality evergreen content is far more resistant to the whims of the latest algorithm update.
Seizing the moment
Every year or so, there’s a hot new strategy for outwitting the search engine algorithms that’s in fashion at least temporarily.
Not long ago, many relied on old school directories, article spinning, and link farms for quick traffic. Nowadays, infographics are the latest trend that savvy SEOs and even amateurs are capitalising on.
Infographics can be generated in a hurry, although from personal experience tend to do better when you spend some real time on them, are powerful examples of link bait and can seriously pull in page views like no other. Youtube videos, provided they’re tastefully restrained and to the point, are another solid spur-of-the-moment tactic.
Whatever the delivery method for your “right now” content, you’ll need to take the current reigning algorithm factors into account when composing it. For instance, the Google Penguin update punishes content that relies on link-exchange schemes that were popular a few years ago.
Since that’s no longer a viable option, you’ll need to leverage social media to bolster new content with more organic links from everyday users and authority sites.
Keep in mind that Google will always strive to deliver the most relevant content to users and they’re not used to failure, so any success you experience in gaming the system won’t last for long.
The only constant is change
No SEO professional can possibly be expected to anticipate what the future holds for website optimisation. That’s why it’s wise to employ a mix of content types and stay flexible.
The divide between evergreen content and so-called silo pages isn’t really as wide as many believe. Content that’s topical now can have a second life as evergreen content if done right from the beginning.
Adapting to new algorithms isn’t that big of a challenge if you stay on your toes and maintain a focus on quality content at all times.
