ChrisCD writes:

One thing I have found is that even though some of the articles I write have dated information, people still find it, read it, and click-thru to our site.

If the information is genuine, and you still offer to provide a solution, even dated information can lead to “leads”. I believe people can see value in the research even if material is dated.

Our top performing article was written about 4-years ago and it still remains as our top performing article.

One thing I have been doing of late is actually providing some backlinks to the articles. That helps keep up their authority.

I am also now on a mission to update some of them. I think Google likes content that is updated and that will also help keep them performing well.

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Chris,

That’s a great point: A good article is a good article, whether it’s got dated information in it or not.

None-the-less, I’d opt for stacking the deck by creating articles that are both good and evergreen.

June 11, 2010 at 10:34 PM

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Steve Sponseller writes:

Great tips on writing evergreen articles.
I am also careful when I discuss examples about new products or services. I try not to mention specific product or company names to avoid “dating” the article – this keeps my examples evergreen. This also keeps me focused on the lessons offered by the example rather than the specific products or companies involved.

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Tolani writes:

Thanks, valuable insight. Regarding “dated” information, I think that would depend on the topic and target audience. Information regarding certain small business resources which may be subject to legislation for instance, could be subject to change.

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NZmoores writes:

As a young newspaper reporter in Texas in the eighties, I remember hating it when an editor would tell you to writer an evergreen story. I think we called them “everpuke” stories. So much for the wisdom of youth… In truth, a great story that helps solve age-old problems is everGOLD more than everGREEN. For my blog, the challenge is delivering evergreen humor columns, rather than epics that satirize stupidity of the day (Obama, oil spill, Fergie, Oprah, etc etc etc). Hmmm.

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Joseph D. Shiller writes:

So, basically we need to write in a manner which is NOT time sensitive. Some of our content may just need to be converted into a non-temporal mode, other info is better omitted. This makes me think it’s better to lean towards the more abstract subject matter which seems to have a vagueness which easily spans time. In contrary then, the more specific the content is, the higher the risk of it losing temporal integrity. In the additional light of the tendency for long tail keyword phrases to grow in specificity, I then see the stage set for quite a potential balancing act.

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Not necessarily. The easiest way to decide is to ask that one question: “What is the life expectancy of this article?”

If it’s shorter than you’d like, then perhaps a little revamping is in order before you click “Submit.”

June 11, 2010 at 10:11 PM

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James M Hussey writes:

Thank you for the informative strategy! EzineArticles has the best coaching, hands-down, that I have come across, and I’m a member under various names of dozens.

This is pretty much what I’ve been trying to do — now if you combine “evergreen” with “SEO’d,” you’re really set!

Thanks, Marc.

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finallygettingtoeven.com writes:

I have not heard the ‘evergreen’ term before now but the idea makes perfect sense. I will keep this in mind when writing in the future. Fortunately most of my writings on my blog (and here) are about my life and life experiences. The only thing getting old here is ME.

Thanks for the info, if i learn one new thing a day i am that much further ahead in the game….

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Yuan.Yu writes:

My only specific technique to keep articles evergreen is articles must be useful to visitors. Thanks share so great post too.

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Elur writes:

This is the first time I heard of the term “Evergreen”. Thanks for such a valuable information. Now I know how to write a better article.

Look forward to your next sharing!

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Gerry @ Families4Life writes:

The “evergreen” concept also applies to websites.

One of my websites http://www.LawnGreen.com.au has a photograph with the owners (my wife and I) with the Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Sydney, receiving an award back in 2006. On the website we did not mention the year 2006, hence, an evergreen home page.

I thought this might be relevant to the evergreen concept.

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Dr Grisham writes:

Best and most helpful acticle I’ve seen in a long time. Good Work!

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Lisa writes:

Marc, I have learned alot about ths article writing lately. This is what is lacking all over the computer these days, people need education. I like what you had to say and see that very clearly.

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Ulrike F. writes:

Hello Marc,

reading your post it comes into my mind that I heard the word ‘evergreen’ for the first time referring to hits. And yes, you’re right: or we have to write an article on an everlasting theme which is of interest also times are changing or we create an ‘evergreen’ by ourself because we are so exciting with our article on an actual theme which will be a theme in the future too.

Thanks for this great thought.

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Sean Breslin writes:

That is a way or writing I try to stick too! Evergreen content in evergreen niches!

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Rob Britt writes:

It’s amazing that good information stays good information. I read a lot of “fitness” articles that are just the flavor of the month, while things that worked 40 years ago, still work today. Consistent effort works wonders whether you are talking about fitness or article marketing.

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Mahendra Sharma writes:

Yes its necessary to write something that could shine forever like a diamond. I write on the basics of the topic i choose, i have experienced that basics never change in any industry. Like HTML is html, it has not changed its basics, internet is still available on http and various business in the world still read Kotler for their marketing techniques.

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Ulrike F. writes:

Hello Mahendra,

thanks for your wonderful words which really brings it to the point:

June 14, 2010 at 9:08 AM

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Cary Pest Control writes:

In trying to learn new marketing techniques I am finding myself reading articles from back as far as 2007. They must be “evergreens”. Hadnt heard the term before.Very useful information for my own writing. Thanks

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Andrea writes:

Your video was well presented and very helpful to me. Thanks!

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Adwello writes:

Should we ever write about current interest topics which will prove to be short term fads and so date our article a year or more from now? To me, clearly the place to write about trends is your blog posts: EzineArticles need to have a deeper long term focus. Writing about current aspects tends to be opinion based and lacks the mature reflection of an article beased on evergreen principles. EzineArticles have a great reputation for clean cut high quality well researched subject matter written in an informative but dynamic style to draw the reader to conitinue. I believe this website has improved the standard of article writing online during this last decade!

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Adwello-

You’ll want to check out this blog post for a current events article template:
http://blog.EzineArticles.com/2009/07/current-events-article-template.html

Current events can be very popular and very powerful article fodder provided you understand how to use their popularity now AND into the future. Believe it or not, it is possible to turn a current hot topic into an evergreen article. Give it a try – it’s a fun and rewarding challenge.

June 16, 2010 at 8:19 AM

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talfonso writes:

I agree Marc, the news long buzzed me with news of the Harry Potter themed area at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and days before opening, I was so tempted to write on it, but decided to create an evergreen article about it. I wrote about the land in general – on the eve of opening, and avoided dating it!

June 19, 2010 at 8:23 AM

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Thomas writes:

You are really driving us to expertise with such hints.
In fact, I will be folowing up with every of your Newsletter which provides endless ways to write the best for our readers.

Thanks Marc.

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teamcurtisfamily writes:

Always awesome to see traffic from articles that were typed and posted several months or years prior.

Consistency and Persistence. Find your niche and give your efforts time to produce. The internet will reward the diligent and committed, while those who come expecting quick returns and jump from niche to niche miss out the real benefits long term.

Excellent tip!
Ron

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Jannette Barrett writes:

This is very useful. It takes quite a while to prepare a quality article so longevity is important. thanks Jannette

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Clayton writes:

If you are an ‘expert’ author, more likely than not you will produce articles that can add value to the reader. Most industries operate based on a pool of knowledge that does not change drastically with the progress of time. For example, accounting concepts are same today as they were 30 years ago. Yes, the technology to maintain records has changed considerably even in the last 10 years.

The one challenge we face is in references to dates, especially while citing examples. The safest approach is to avoid mentioning years as far as possible. You can mention months (MM) and days (DD) as these are constant year-in year-out. But if you cannot, then do not let this one issue take away value from the rest of your article. So try to write articles whose validity does not depend only on time or legislation etc.

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Larry Tutino writes:

NOW….I realize what “evergreen writing” means.
Apparently, I lucked out when writing my articles prior to now. I believe that is because I spent over ten years working in the real estate industry before I started sharing my trade secrets with internet researchers and potential clients.

A special thanks to Mr. Chris Knight and the very helpful team at EzineArticles.com

Also, to be LinkedIn with one of the most successful internet publishers is a blessing.

Yours truly, Larry Tutino

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Andre Kalis writes:

A highly informative and enriching article highlighting the importance of long-term relevance and validity of articles with the refreshing term, evergreen. Nice!

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Bill writes:

Evergreen is a great way to put it. Another way to look at your article is “does it have a sell-by date or experation date?” If it does, it’s not evergreen.

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Louis Martin writes:

Marc
As usual, thanks for this valuable content. Keep doing it.
Louis

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John Bradstreet writes:

I always find the information that you provide very useful in continuing my knowledge of article marketing.

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Stewart Spencer writes:

I absolutely agree with the point about ‘evergreen’ articles but it has to be said it is not always easy to achieve with certain subjects or data.

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Andrew writes:

I completely agree that Evergreen, or Pillar articles as I’ve heard elsewhere, are vital to building up a steady flow of traffic. Too few article writers and bloggers for that matter do not write content that will be relevant into the future.

Do you have other examples of EzineArticles Evergreen articles that continue to bring in the traffic?

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Michael – Almost all of Christopher Knight’s articles, which were written several years ago, continue to bring in massive amounts of traffic and are good examples of evergreen articles. You can see them here: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Knight

February 23, 2011 at 1:28 PM

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Andrew writes:

Thanks for the reply. I did visit his profile and took a look at some of his other articles.

I was more asking for examples from other authors that are not the CEO of EzineArticles. Examples of articles that were written a year or two ago and have garnered a steady flow of traffic.

I took a look at your Expert Authors section and clicked on around ten different authors, ranging from those that have written over a thousand to several hundred articles, and found no one with nearly the same amount of per article views that Knight has. Knight has an average of 18k views per article!

I know full well the value of using articles for building backlinks, and use this strategy myself, but I am not convinced of the potential for creating anywhere near the amount of per article views that Knight has been able to build.

While I don’t doubt that some traffic will be funneled to an authors website(s) by writing articles, it seems that in order to build up hundreds or thousands of visitors a month from articles, one would have to write hundreds or thousands of articles.

Thanks for dealing with my obstinate ruminations.

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Andrew,

I intentionally chose Chris Knight because he has some of the oldest articles on the site. My point was to show the time/value of high-quality, evergreen articles. But I see your point that he could be a very skewed example.

My next suggestion would be to take a look at any one of our Case Study authors: http://blog.EzineArticles.com/category/author-spotlight . These folks demonstrate that by doing right things right, even a modest amount of articles can garner thousands of views over time. The key is to write articles that stay evergreen and can continue to produce years after they’ve been published. The result is very much a cumulative effect.

I will say this, article marketing is not a “quick” way to drive traffic. It’s a long-term strategy with proven results that can pay dividends indefinitely.

February 24, 2011 at 9:00 AM

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Chris writes:

It seems like the overall quality of articles you find online nowadays has incredibly degraded.

In the past, when you searched for solutions to your dilemmas, only entitled opinions would have the opportunity to guide you.

It’s a shame that things have progressed this way, but the best option we do have is to individually take the responsibility to post relevant and helpful content.

It’s through leading by example, that others may see the fault in their ways, and truly begin to offer value to our community.

Great article, and I do agree that more people need to focus on the longevity and value of an article, as opposed to a quick spammy link.

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stewart spencer writes:

It is a good article but only just read it when I received an email about latest comments. Anyway, Its probably true that one of the reasons why there has been a deteriotation in the quality is due to people simply writing in order to get backlinks for their site.
In itself thats ok and if the aticle is well written, interesting and ‘evergreen’ they deserve the backlink, unfortunately and all too often they are not!

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David MacKay writes:

New to article writing, I had no idea as to the long term results of an article on this site.. certainly encouraging. In my own pursuit, I have been reading articles by one of the contributors that has about 1,800 articles on the site and her articles have led me to a couple other article writers that seem to be masters of their craft. At the time I was reading their work I had no idea that they would be getting visitors to their sites for years and years. Astonishing.!

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Sarah @ Zoomer Robot Dog writes:

Thanks for explaining what “evergreen” is, in this context. I had heard it mentioned recently on an SEO site somewhere I think. I took it to mean a topic that was not seasonal, i.e. only relevant at certain times of the year – Spring, Christmas, Thanksgiving and so on. You have defined it a little more closely.

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John Martin writes:

Well thanks for the information. Sounds a lot like what I’ve been doing here since 2008. Strange though that very few of my 25 articles have any views at all. In fact most of my articles have zero views.

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