When it comes to getting your site to dominate the search engine ranking there is a specific type of content that you must focus on.
Don’t get me mistaken, I am not talking about the content mediums but how about we categorize the content. There are primarily two types of content
- Topical
- Evergreen
Both these types of content can add a definitive value to our content marketing efforts but in a totally different way. So depending on your goals you should choose which one works best for you. Let’s go, deep-dive.
What Is Topical Content
Topical content is something that you create instantaneously. It can be some news that is trending at the moment. People are talking about it that is trending. It just goes trending all over the social media platform.
This is being tossed for a few days around the social media channels before being pulled back into the dark pit.
The topical content is very useful in growing the audience, but it will be unsuccessful in the long run considering the fact for driving traffic back to the website.
Topical content holds its relevance for a very short period of time. Once this type of content reaches its saturation point it decreases the value that it offers to the audience.
Pros of Topical Content
- Topical Content is something that has the ability to go “viral”. Just put it before the audience in the right way and they will take it from there.
- Helps in maintaining the freshness of the brand keeping it relevant demanding to the situation.
- It helps in driving seasonal traffic to your website and social media channels boosting the audience game.
- Gives an impression to the audience that you keep yourself updated to the happenings.
Cons of the Topical Content
- It does not benefit in the long run in the SEO game.
- Once it reaches the saturation point it loses its relevancy.
- It can be relentless trying to stay ahead of the curve.
What is Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is something that has high relevancy irrespective of the time period. People constantly come in searching for it whenever they feel unanswered. It gives them value today and still, it will answer the question a year later. Audience constantly returns whenever they feel they need a solution.
While creating an evergreen content what you need to take care of it is it has to answer what your audience wants.
How long does evergreen material stay correctly relevant? Most SEO experts believe that while there is no widely accepted expiry date, any material that is valid for at least many years is always evergreen content. In reality, some evergreen pieces don’t like their relevance. Once published, visitors are indefinitely given meaningful value.
These types of content always create a relationship between the reader and the content provider. It never gets outdated because people always come back for this type of content. This type of content includes;
- Case studies
- How to guides
- A detailed walkthrough of subjects
- Tutorials
- Podcasts
- Checklists
- Frequently answered questions or FAQ
- Comparison Articles, Reviews
Pros of Evergreen Content
- If done well, it has a magical ability to drive traffic to your website all year long, regardless of which topics are trending on social at any one point.
- As long as you answer the questions the traffic doesn’t drop down for the evergreen content.
Cons of Evergreen Content
- You can’t focus on anything specific or timely, because it will ultimately become dated if you do.
- Keeping it evergreen, chances are high you might have the case of delivering the content deviating from the context.
Evergreen Content vs Topical Content; What Should You Choose?
Now you might be wondering what should best suit your audience. Choosing between the two completely depends on what is your objective, who is your target audience and what they are expecting from you.
There is no constant shot that immediately you are going to dominate the search engine, one thing constant we can do is provide content that provides value that gets you more readers.
Choosing between topical and evergreen content is purely down to you and what you’re trying to achieve, who your audience is and what they like to read.
A successful content marketing campaign is always a mix of evergreen content to topical content. The general rule of thumb is that one topical post to every four evergreen content. Always maintain a high ratio when it comes to a mix between evergreen and topical content.
Content Marketing is never a one-way communication. Engage, ask and answer, build a better relationship between your prospects.
Got questions? Reach out to us.
