It’s spring 2024, and an unfamiliar sound has taken over the southern air.
The song of the cicadas.
A species has emerged from underground after spending a decade in the dark.
At first, I must admit I found their song to be hypnotizing.
After about two weeks of non-stop buzzing and occasionally getting dive-bombed anytime I approached a tree, they quickly became annoying to me.
Yet these little pests got me thinking about how they awakened to live and sing in a slightly new world.
I wondered if I disappeared for 10 years and came back to content creation, would my old content still be relevant?
Hell, would my approach to creating content still be relevant?
Even the most evergreen content becomes irrelevant, so what's the point?
So when developing a strategy, should you focus on creating relevant content or evergreen content?
Evergreen Content: The Benefits and Pitfalls
I’m going to assume you know what evergreen and relevant content is.
So, let’s take a minute to highlight the benefits and pitfalls of each approach.
Benefits:
1. Long-term Value: Evergreen content continues to attract traffic and engagement over time, providing a consistent return on investment.
2. SEO Benefits: Search engines favor content that remains relevant, boosting your site's visibility and ranking.
3. Authority Building: Evergreen content establishes you as a reliable source of information, building trust with your audience.
Pitfalls:
1. Initial Effort: Creating high-quality evergreen content can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
2. Maintenance Required: To remain relevant, evergreen content needs periodic updates and revisions.
3. Potential Staleness: Without updates, even the best evergreen content can become outdated, losing its value over time.
Relevant Content: The Benefits and Pitfalls
Benefits:
1. Immediate Engagement: Relevant content captures current trends and events, drawing immediate interest and interaction.
2. Timely Authority: By addressing current topics, you position yourself as a thought leader in real-time discussions.
3. Social Media Gold: Relevant content is highly shareable, driving traffic and engagement across social platforms.
Pitfalls:
1. Short Lifespan: Once the trend or event passes, relevant content quickly loses its appeal.
2. Constant Creation: To stay on top of trends, you need to produce content frequently, which can be demanding.
3. Volatility: Trends can be unpredictable, making it challenging to consistently hit the mark with relevant content.
Choosing Your Path
Decisions, decisions.
What provides value to you and your audience will be based on the way you decide to create content.
Imagine this...
To your left, a path lined with ancient oak trees that are sturdy and reliable.
This is your evergreen content, offering timeless wisdom but requiring a bit of upkeep to keep those branches from getting too gnarly.
To your right, a bustling flower garden, filled with colorful annuals that change with the seasons.
This is your relevant content, buzzing with vibrant blooms and offering something new with every season, but requiring constant attention and seasonal planting.
So, which do you build with your content?
Do you take the time to plant those sturdy oaks, ensuring your content remains valuable year after year?
Or do you wander through the flower garden, enjoying the ever-changing array of trends and timely topics?
Or, dare I say, is there a way to combine both paths, creating a content strategy that balances the timeless with the timely?
Your audience is waiting.
The decision is yours.
What's your your move?
Here's a tip, maybe your next piece of content can be a "What's changed in the last ten years".
Trust me, you don't have to wait for a year that ends in '00 to create it.
-Gabe-
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