Tracking and updating evergreen (with spreadsheet template!)

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses strategies for tracking and updating evergreen content, which is content that remains relevant to readers over a significant period of time. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to identify and track evergreen content using a spreadsheet template, as well as best practices for effectively updating this type of content.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Recap: What is evergreen?

1. What is the definition of evergreen content?

• Evergreen content is content on a topic that is relevant to readers over a significant period of time, but is not tied to a single, short news event. It should drive traffic, answer the W5s or How questions, and provide information that doesn't change significantly over time.

2. What is the appeal of evergreen content for publishers?

• The appeal of evergreen content for publishers is having a source of continuous, quality traffic for little ongoing effort. When packaged well on-site, evergreen content can also drive solid internal referral traffic and keep readers engaged.

3. How does durable news content differ from true evergreen content?

• Durable news stories or explainers require updates more frequently than true evergreen content. Durable content has a shorter shelf-life than true evergreen, and may require more updates, but it is less overall effort than a new piece.

[02] Updating news evergreen content

1. What steps are recommended for identifying and tracking evergreen content?

• Start by taking inventory of existing content that is considered "evergreen" by creating a spreadsheet of URLs for content published more than 90 days ago that is still seeing traffic.
• For durable content related to newsier topics, adjust the timeframe to cover recent news events.
• Pull the data using various analytics tools and identify the evergreen content worth updating by looking at metrics like page views, sessions, attention time, and conversions.
• Use the provided spreadsheet template to track the evergreen content, including details like headlines, meta descriptions, canonical URLs, original publish date, sessions, primary keyword focus, and plans for updating the content.

2. What are some best practices for effectively updating evergreen content?

• Do additional keyword research to uncover new or useful questions that haven't been covered.
• Compare your content against what's ranking for your top keyword and identify any angles, subtopics, questions, or content formats that you've missed.
• Remove date references in the body copy where possible to make the content more date-agnostic.
• Incorporate non-text elements like infographics, charts, checklists, and interactive features to make the content more comprehensive.
• Optimize on-page elements like headlines, meta descriptions, subheadings, links, and images.
• Treat the updated evergreen content as a fresh story by promoting it on the homepage, key section pages, and social platforms.
• Set a reminder to review the content's performance in 6 months and use the data to inform future updates.

[03] Auditing what works, evergreen edition

1. What are the key considerations when auditing the performance of evergreen content?

• Review the metrics that are meaningful in your newsroom, such as page views, sessions, attention time, and conversions, to identify the evergreen content that is worth updating.
• Analyze the content type, tone, and target audience to uncover trends and inform future editorial planning and experiments.
• Use the pivot table feature in the provided spreadsheet to review what content formats and approaches work best for different verticals or audience segments.
• Align the tracking spreadsheet with your editorial priorities, such as focusing on subscriptions over sessions, and add columns to measure the level of effort against the gains from updates.