{"id":4814,"date":"2022-05-09T12:20:03","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T12:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/"},"modified":"2022-05-09T12:20:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T12:20:03","slug":"we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/","title":{"rendered":"We Analyzed 3.6 Billion Articles. Here\u2019s What We Learned About Evergreen Content"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We analyzed 3.6 billion articles to better understand evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, we looked at a number of different factors (including content formats and promotional channels) that may lead to a higher chance of publishing evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>With the help of our data partner <a title=\"BuzzSumo\" href=\"https:\/\/buzzsumo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BuzzSumo<\/a>, we learned a lot about why certain content continues to get shares and links over time.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get right into the data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"d-block h2 text-center\">Here\u2019s a Quick Summary of Our Key Findings:<\/p>\n<p>1. <strong>List posts and how-to posts are the two \u201cmost evergreen\u201d content formats.<\/strong> Presentations and press releases tend to be the least evergreen.<\/p>\n<p>2. Podcast episodes very rarely get shared over time. In fact, <strong>podcasts are 4.28x less likely to be evergreen compared to a list post.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>3. <strong>Content that\u2019s heavily shared on Reddit has a high likelihood of becoming evergreen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>4. Articles with lots of engagement on Twitter very rarely end up receiving shares and links over the long term.<\/p>\n<p>5. <strong>Posts that include \u201c2020\u201d or \u201c2021\u201d in their title tend to be highly evergreen.<\/strong> This shows that content with recent information is more likely to receive shares.<\/p>\n<p>6. Content types with the highest proportion of evergreen content include <strong>\u201cbest of\u201d lists, guides, data-driven research and industry reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>7. Among publishers that we analyzed, Social Media Examiner, HBR and Mindful tend to publish the highest amount of evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>8. Verticals that tend to publish evergreen content most regularly <strong>include digital marketing, health, and technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>9. Industries with relatively low amounts of evergreen articles include SEO, business, and fashion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#How-to_Post_and_Lists_Have_a_High_Likelihood_of_Becoming_Evergreen\" >How-to Post and Lists Have a High Likelihood of Becoming Evergreen<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Podcast_Episodes_Very_Rarely_Become_Evergreen\" >Podcast Episodes Very Rarely Become Evergreen<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Content_With_Engagement_on_Reddit_Has_a_Strong_Likelihood_of_Becoming_Evergreen\" >Content With Engagement on Reddit Has a Strong Likelihood of Becoming Evergreen<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Twitter_Shares_Dont_Correlate_With_High_Evergreen_Scores\" >Twitter Shares Don\u2019t Correlate With High Evergreen Scores<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Posts_With_The_Current_Year_In_Their_Title_Are_Likely_to_Become_Evergreen\" >Posts With The Current Year In Their Title Are Likely to Become Evergreen<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Evergreen_Content_Types_Include_Best_Of_Lists_Reports_and_Studies\" >Evergreen Content Types Include Best Of Lists, Reports and Studies<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Social_Media_Examiner_HBR_and_Mindful_Regularly_Publish_Evergreen_Content\" >Social Media Examiner, HBR and Mindful Regularly Publish Evergreen Content<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/09\/we-analyzed-3-6-billion-articles-heres-what-we-learned-about-evergreen-content\/#Content_About_Technology_Marketing_and_Health_Has_the_Highest_Overall_Evergreen_Scores\" >Content About Technology, Marketing and Health Has the Highest Overall Evergreen Scores<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How-to_Post_and_Lists_Have_a_High_Likelihood_of_Becoming_Evergreen\"><\/span>How-to Post and Lists Have a High Likelihood of Becoming Evergreen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>First, we wanted to analyze the impact of content format on an article\u2019s ability to become evergreen.<\/p>\n<p>While the <strong>topic<\/strong> of a piece is obviously a key element of a piece\u2019s interest over time, we hypothesized that the format might play a role as well.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we found:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"How-to posts and lists have a high likelihood of becoming evergreen\" alt=\"How-to posts and lists have a high likelihood of becoming evergreen\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.76\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/05\/how-to-posts-and-lists-have-a-high-likelihood-of-becoming-evergreen.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>As you can see, list posts are (by far) the content format that tends to become evergreen most often. Followed by how-to posts, \u201cwhat\u201d posts and \u201cwhy\u201d posts.<\/p>\n<p>This is in-line with <a title=\"We Analyzed 912 Million Blog Posts. Here&#039;s What We Learned About Content Marketing\" href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/content-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">our previous research<\/a>, which found that list posts tended to get a high amount of shares overall.<\/p>\n<p>To calculate how evergreen a piece of content was, we used BuzzSumo\u2019s \u201cEvergreen\u201d metric.<\/p>\n<p>This metric looks at shares and links <a href=\"https:\/\/help.buzzsumo.com\/en\/articles\/1633304-what-is-an-evergreen-score\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">that occur 30 days after an article was first published<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For example, this list post from Healthline has an extremely high Evergreen score:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Healthline \u2013 Relieve stress post\" alt=\"Healthline \u2013 Relieve stress post\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.81166666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/healthline-relieve-stress-post.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>While this content did get a fair number of shares and links early on, the post continues to generate traffic and buzz years after it was first published.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, we discovered that Evergreen scores were not evenly distributed between different formats.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, a list post is 15x more likely to become evergreen than a presentation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> List posts and how-to posts appear to be the best content formats for publishers looking to maximize the amount of evergreen content that they publish.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Podcast_Episodes_Very_Rarely_Become_Evergreen\"><\/span>Podcast Episodes Very Rarely Become Evergreen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We found that podcast episodes don\u2019t generally have a very long shelf life.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Podcast episodes very rarely become evergreen content\" alt=\"Podcast episodes very rarely become evergreen content\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.76\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/podcast-episodes-very-rarely-become-evergreen-content.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>This may not come as a surprise to folks in the podcast space. There are definitely certain podcast episodes that people listen to years after they\u2019re first released.<\/p>\n<p>However, most people\u2019s podcast apps are designed to feature new episodes that were just released.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Social Media Marketing podcast\" alt=\"Social Media Marketing podcast\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.0116666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/social-media-marketing-podcast.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>In fact, the feeds themselves are listed in chronological order. This may partly explain why very few podcast episodes receive social media shares after their first month.<\/p>\n<p>We also found that content in the format of a presentation, press release or infographic tends to get most of their shares early. And then fizzle out. In fact, these three formats were even <strong>less likely<\/strong> to become evergreen compared to podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>However, due to the fact that podcasts are an increasingly popular content format, we thought it would be helpful to highlight this finding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Podcast episodes tend to create a buzz early on. But very few podcast episodes continue to receive shares and links over the long term.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Content_With_Engagement_on_Reddit_Has_a_Strong_Likelihood_of_Becoming_Evergreen\"><\/span>Content With Engagement on Reddit Has a Strong Likelihood of Becoming Evergreen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Next, we wanted to look at the impact of engagement on different channels on evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, we looked at how shares on four different popular social networks correlated with content becoming evergreen.<\/p>\n<p>Here are our findings:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Content with engagement on Reddit has a strong likelihood of becoming evergreen\" alt=\"Content with engagement on Reddit has a strong likelihood of becoming evergreen\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.76\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/content-with-engagement-on-reddit-has-a-strong-likelihood-of-becoming-evergreen.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Among the articles in our data set, content with high engagement on Reddit had a relatively high likelihood of being shared over time.<\/p>\n<p>Why might this be?<\/p>\n<p>Like any social platform, Reddit\u2019s users <a title=\"Why do people use Reddit?\" href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/reddit-users#why-do-people-use-reddit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">are interested in<\/a> news items, recently-published content and trending videos. In fact, there are several subreddits dedicated to discovering new content on different topics.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Reddit \u2013 Announcements\" alt=\"Reddit \u2013 Announcements\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.03\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/reddit-announcements.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>However, unlike other platforms, Reddit <a title=\"Statista \u2013 Leading Reddit usage reasons\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/262331\/digital-communication-platforms-of-us-internet-users\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">also has a fair number of users interested in timeless content<\/a>. Including entertainment articles and videos that may have been published years ago.<\/p>\n<p>For example, here\u2019s an article from our data set that received quite a bit of Reddit engagement:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"The New Yorker \u2013 Why facts don\u2019t change our minds\" alt=\"The New Yorker \u2013 Why facts don&#039;t change our minds\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.79\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/newyorker-why-facts-dont-change-our-minds.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>(That article also ended up having a high evergreen score.)<\/p>\n<p>Unlike a news article or a piece from TMZ, this is the type of content that people can get value from months, years and even decades after it first goes live.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Reddit may be a helpful \u201clitmus test\u201d for figuring out which topics in your niche are likely to lead to evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Reddit engagement highly correlates with an article\u2019s chance of generating links and shares over time.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Twitter_Shares_Dont_Correlate_With_High_Evergreen_Scores\"><\/span>Twitter Shares Don\u2019t Correlate With High Evergreen Scores<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We discovered that content with lots of shares and retweets isn\u2019t likely to have high evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Twitter shares don\u2019t correlate with evergreen score\" alt=\"Twitter shares don&#039;t correlate with evergreen score\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.76\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/twitter-shares-dont-correlate-with-evergreen-score.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>To anyone familiar with Twitter, this shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise. The platform is largely dedicated to the here and now (in fact, Twitter\u2019s tagline is \u201cHappening now\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also the fact that many heavily-shared articles on Twitter are news pieces. Which, by definition, don\u2019t receive much interest after they\u2019re initially shared.<\/p>\n<p>We also found that Pinterest pins didn\u2019t tend to correlate with a blog post\u2019s ability to become evergreen. Unlike Twitter, it\u2019s possible for pinned content to appear in people\u2019s feeds long after it\u2019s first shared.<\/p>\n<p>However, based on our data, it does look like heavy Pinterest pinning early on doesn\u2019t indicate that an article will get long-term links and shares.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Twitter shares have very little correlation with a piece of content\u2019s ability to become evergreen.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Posts_With_The_Current_Year_In_Their_Title_Are_Likely_to_Become_Evergreen\"><\/span>Posts With The Current Year In Their Title Are Likely to Become Evergreen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Interestingly, we found that articles that featured the current year in their title had a high chance of becoming evergreen.<\/p>\n<p>At first, this finding may come as a surprise. After all, content that\u2019s focused on a specific year is likely to become <strong>less<\/strong> relevant as time goes on.<\/p>\n<p>However, there are two reasons that focusing on the current year can boost the odds that your content becomes evergreen:<\/p>\n<p>First, content with recent information may get shares and links to begin with. And that effect persists over time.<\/p>\n<p>(Remember that BuzzSumo\u2019s Evergreen score counts engagement that happens after 30 days.)<\/p>\n<p>So, depending on the month a post was first published, there are still months of potential sharing within the year featured in the title.<\/p>\n<p>For example, here\u2019s a post that contains the current year. And has a relatively high evergreen score:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Gartner \u2013 Top strategic technology trends post\" alt=\"Gartner \u2013 Top strategic technology trends post\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.04\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gartner-top-strategic-technology-trends-post.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>This is the rare breed of post that\u2019s relevant the day it\u2019s published. And can still be valuable months down the road.<\/p>\n<p>Second, posts that feature the current year weren\u2019t necessarily published that year.<\/p>\n<p>For example, this post was first published in 2017:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"SproutSocial \u2013 Best times to post on social media\" alt=\"SproutSocial \u2013 Best times to post on social media\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.1016666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/sproutsocial-best-times-to-post-on-social-media.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>However, the title still contains \u201c2021\u201d. This reflects the fact that the post has been updated this year. Again, offering readers a piece of new (or updated) content likely leads to more shares.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, we also discovered that including the year in your blog post titles seems to be more effective now compared to previous years.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Articles with \u201c2020\u201d or \u201c2021\u201d in their title had higher evergreen scores compared to previous years\" alt='Articles with \"2020\" or \"2021\" in their title had higher evergreen scores compared to previous years' data-aspect-ratio=\"0.82\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/articles-with-2020-or-2021-in-their-title-had-higher-evergreen-scores-compared-to-previous-years.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Specifically, articles with \u201c2020\u201d or \u201c2021\u201d in their titles had a median Evergreen score of 33 \u2013 significantly higher than previous years.<\/p>\n<p>This may simply be due to the fact that there\u2019s more content out there than ever before. And users are increasingly seeking out shortcuts (like a title containing \u201c2021\u201d) to help them find recent, relevant information.<\/p>\n<p>It could also be due to 2020 and 2021 being dominated by the coronavirus. And considering the changes brought on by the world\u2019s response to the virus, people increasingly saw content published before COVID as largely irrelevant. While a post featuring \u201c2020\u201d or \u201c2021\u201d would stand out as something relevant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Including the current year in your title and title tag may help lead to more shares over the short <strong>and<\/strong> long term.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Evergreen_Content_Types_Include_Best_Of_Lists_Reports_and_Studies\"><\/span>Evergreen Content Types Include Best Of Lists, Reports and Studies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our next step was to drill down into specific content types that tend to result in evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, we identified top-performing formats (list posts, how-to posts, etc.) above. But there are dozens of different variations within those formats.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a comprehensive list of dog breeds is going to be completely different than a list of tips for optimizing your site\u2019s SEO.<\/p>\n<p>Both are technically list posts. But the final result will be completely different.<\/p>\n<p>This is why we wanted to dig a bit deeper into a number of popular content types. And figure out which content types were the best option for marketers wanting to put out more evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, we looked at terms that tended to appear in the titles of highly evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we found:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Evergreen content types include best of lists reports and studies\" alt=\"Evergreen content types include best of lists reports and studies\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.90857142857143\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/evergreen-content-types-include-best-of-lists-reports-and-studies.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Content focused on \u201cthe best\u201d tends to have the highest Evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<p>This shows that readers highly value content that curates the best products, apps, videos and social media accounts in one place.<\/p>\n<p>For example, here\u2019s a \u201cbest\u201d post from our data set:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Elle Decor \u2013 Home decor ideas\" alt=\"Elle Decor \u2013 Home decor ideas\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.98166666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/elledecor-home-decor-ideas.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Another highly evergreen content type was guides.<\/p>\n<p>Like \u201cbest\u201d posts, the main value of guides is that they save time. But instead of curating the best items, you\u2019re essentially curating information.<\/p>\n<p>For example, this beginner\u2019s guide to blockchain from Forbes continues to get shares and links more than 4 years after it was first published:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Forbes \u2013 Beginners guide to blockchain\" alt=\"Forbes \u2013 Beginners guide to blockchain\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.79666666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/forbes-beginners-guide-to-blockchain.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>We also discovered that content containing \u201cdata\u201d, \u201creports\u201d, \u201cstudy\u201d, \u201cscience\u201d, \u201cfacts\u201d and \u201cresearch\u201d in their titles had relatively high evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<p>This shows that users are hungry for data-driven information.<br \/>\nHere\u2019s an example from the articles that we analyzed:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"NonProfitsSource \u2013 Online giving statistics\" alt=\"NonProfitsSource \u2013 Online giving statistics\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.95333333333333\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nonprofitssource-online-giving-statistics.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>(Note how this piece is from 2018. Yet it continues to generate backlinks.)<\/p>\n<p>Finally, content about \u201cthe future\u201d and \u201ctrends\u201d get shares over time. Which makes sense: people are always on the lookout for what\u2019s coming next. And as long as these trend-related posts have a long outlook, they can remain evergreen over a fairly long period of time.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of an evergreen post focused on trends:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"McKinsey &amp; Company \u2013 Future of work\" alt=\"McKinsey &amp; Company \u2013 Future of work\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.0933333333333\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/mckinsey-future-of-work.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Readers are hungry for content that curates the best, collects information in a single place and includes plenty of data.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Social_Media_Examiner_HBR_and_Mindful_Regularly_Publish_Evergreen_Content\"><\/span>Social Media Examiner, HBR and Mindful Regularly Publish Evergreen Content<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>At this point we had analyzed a number of factors that correlate with evergreen content. And we wanted to see which publishers did the best job at actually creating it.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, we analyzed all domains in the BuzzSumo database that have published at least 10,000 articles.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we found:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Social Media Examiner, HBR and mindful regularly publish evergreen content\" alt=\"Social Media Examiner, HBR and mindful regularly publish evergreen content\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.94\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/social-media-examiner-hbr-and-mindful-regularly-publish-evergreen-content.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Among the domains we looked at, <a title=\"Social Media Examiner\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediaexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Social Media Examiner<\/a>, <a title=\"HBR\" href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HBR<\/a>, <a title=\"Mindful\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mindful<\/a>, <a title=\"Brain Pickings\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brainpickings.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brain Pickings<\/a> and <a title=\"Visual Capitalist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visualcapitalist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Visual Capitalist<\/a> publish evergreen content at world-class levels.<\/p>\n<p>Although the types of content and topics that each of these sites cover differ, there are some commonalities that tie their content together.<\/p>\n<p>First, these publishers lean heavily on content formats that we already discovered correlate strongly with evergreen content.<\/p>\n<p>Social Media Examiner essentially only publishes content in these two formats.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Social Media Examiner \u2013 Posts\" alt=\"Social Media Examiner \u2013 Posts\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.2316666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/socialmediaexaminer-posts.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>While HBR leans heavily on how-to content.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"HBR \u2013 Strategies to convince people\" alt=\"HBR \u2013 Strategies to convince people\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.125\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/hbr-strategies-to-convince-people.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>And Mindful tends to write lots of \u201cwhat\u201d and \u201cwhy\u201d posts \u2014 two formats that significantly correlate with Evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<p>Second, the content itself is outlined from scratch to stand the test of time:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Visual Capitalist \u2013 Top 10 most spoken languages\" alt=\"Visual Capitalist \u2013 Top 10 most spoken languages\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.93166666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/visualcapitalist-top-10-most-spoken-languages.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>And for content that can\u2019t be truly evergreen (like the content Social Media Examiner publishes), it\u2019s designed from scratch to be content that can be regularly updated.<\/p>\n<p>For example, this post from Social Media Examiner is likely to go out of date as LinkedIn\u2019s UI changes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Social Media Examiner \u2013 How to manage LinkedIn presence\" alt=\"Social Media Examiner \u2013 How to manage LinkedIn presence\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.92166666666667\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/socialmediaexaminer-how-to-manage-linkedin-presence.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>But the core content and strategies aren\u2019t going to stop working any time soon. This means the post will just need a quick touch-up (and some new screenshots) sometime over the next 12-18 months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Publishers that put out the highest amount of evergreen content tend to focus on effective content formats, evergreen content types, and topics that people are likely to be interested in years down the road.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Content_About_Technology_Marketing_and_Health_Has_the_Highest_Overall_Evergreen_Scores\"><\/span>Content About Technology, Marketing and Health Has the Highest Overall Evergreen Scores<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to different verticals, which tend to publish evergreen content most often?<\/p>\n<p>To answer this question we analyzed 12 verticals. And sorted them by their average evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the results of that analysis:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__visual-chart backlinko-image\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Content about technology marketing and health has the highest overall evergreen scores\" alt=\"Content about technology marketing and health has the highest overall evergreen scores\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.86\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/05\/content-about-technology-marketing-and-health-has-the-highest-overall-evergreen-scores.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>Overall, content about digital marketing, content marketing, health and entertainment tend to be highly evergreen.<\/p>\n<p>For example, here\u2019s a blog post about marketing with a very high Evergreen score:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Think with Google \u2013 YouTube stars influence\" alt=\"Think with Google \u2013 YouTube stars influence\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.96\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/thinkwithgoogle-youtube-stars-influence.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>On the other hand, content related to business, finance and fashion is less likely to have high evergreen scores.<\/p>\n<p>To anyone in the content world, these findings may not come as a surprise. As we touched on when we talked about Social Media Examiner, a fair amount of marketing-related content is evergreen (or can be made evergreen with a few tweaks).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same story with health-related content. Like marketing content, articles about health need updating over time. But the guidelines and advice are fairly durable as time goes on.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of a piece of evergreen content in the health space:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"backlinko-image__screenshot backlinko-image backlinko-has-border\">\n<div class=\"backlinko-img-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Vox \u2013 High intensity interval training post\" alt=\"Vox \u2013 High intensity interval training post\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.175\" src=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/06\/vox-high-intensity-interval-training.png\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<p>On the other hand, content about finance and fashion tends to be more focused on events or fads happening during the current day or week.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaway:<\/strong> Verticals publishing the highest rate of evergreen content include marketing, technology, health and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"h2 text-center\">Conclusion<\/p>\n<p>That wraps up our analysis. I hope you found the data interesting and useful.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019d like to again thank <a title=\"Henley Wing\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/henleywing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henley Wing<\/a> and <a title=\"Louise Linehan\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lou_linehan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Louise Linehan<\/a> from <a title=\"BuzzSumo\" href=\"https:\/\/buzzsumo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BuzzSumo<\/a> for making this study possible.<\/p>\n<p>With that, it\u2019s time to hear what you have to say.<\/p>\n<p>Were any of these findings surprising? Or maybe you have a question.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/evergreen-content-study\" target=\"_blank\">We Analyzed 3.6 Billion Articles. Here\u2019s What We Learned About Evergreen Content<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Backlinko<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We analyzed 3.6 billion articles to better understand evergreen content. Specifically, we looked at a number of different factors (including content formats and promotional channels) that may lead to a higher chance of publishing evergreen content. With the help of our data partner BuzzSumo, we learned a lot about why certain content continues to get shares and links over time. Let\u2019s get right into the data. Here\u2019s a Quick Summary of Our Key Findings: 1. List posts and how-to posts are the two \u201cmost evergreen\u201d content [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}