To gain a deeper understanding of evergreen content, we examined 3.6 billion articles, taking into account various factors such as content formats and promotional channels that could influence the likelihood of creating evergreen content. With our data partner BuzzSumo, we uncovered significant insights into why certain content maintains shares and links over time.
Let’s dive straight into the findings.
Key Takeaways from Our Analysis:
- List posts and how-to articles rank as the most evergreen content formats, while presentations and press releases tend to be the least Evergreen.
- Podcast episodes rarely experience shares over time, being 4.28 times less likely to become evergreen compared to a list post.
- Content that receives significant shares on Reddit has a higher chance of becoming evergreen.
- Articles with high engagement on Twitter seldom achieve long-term shares and links.
- Posts containing “2020” or “2021” in their titles tend to be highly evergreen, indicating that recent information is more likely to be shared.
- Content types with the greatest prevalence of evergreen content encompass “best of” lists, guides, data-based studies, and sector-specific reports.
- Social Media Examiner, HBR, and Mindful are among the publishers that consistently produce the most evergreen content.
- Digital marketing, health, and technology are sectors that regularly publish evergreen content.
- Industries such as SEO, business, and fashion have relatively low amounts of evergreen articles.
The Impact of Content Format on Evergreen Potential: How-to Posts and Lists
We sought to determine the influence of content format on an article’s potential to become evergreen. While the subject matter is crucial for maintaining interest over time, the format also plays a role.
Our findings revealed that list posts are the most likely content format to become evergreen, followed by how-to articles, “what” posts, and “why” posts. This aligns with our previous research, which indicated that list posts generally receive many shares.
To measure a content’s evergreen status, we utilized BuzzSumo’s “Evergreen” metric, which considers shares and links occurring 30 days after an article’s initial publication.
For instance, Healthline’s list post on relieving stress boasts an impressively high Evergreen score. Although the post initially received a fair amount of shares and links, it generated traffic and interest years after publication.
We observed that Evergreen scores varied considerably across different formats, with list posts being 15 times more likely to become evergreen than presentations.
Key Takeaway: To optimize evergreen content production, publishers should focus on list posts and how-to articles.
Podcast Episodes Rarely Achieve Evergreen Status
Our analysis revealed that podcast episodes generally have a limited lifespan. Although some episodes continue to have been listened to years after their release, most podcast apps prioritize featuring newly released episodes.
As a result, only a few podcast episodes accumulate social media shares beyond their first month. Similarly, content in presentation, press release, or infographic formats tends to receive the majority of their shares early on and then lose momentum. These three formats are even less likely to become evergreen compared to podcasts.
However, considering the growing popularity of podcasts, this finding is worth noting.
Key Takeaway: Podcast episodes generate early interest, but only some continue to receive shares and links in the long run.
Content with Reddit Engagement Exhibits a High Probability of Becoming Evergreen
We investigated the influence of engagement across various channels on evergreen content by examining the correlation between shares on four popular social networks and the likelihood of content becoming evergreen.
Our findings indicate that articles with high Reddit engagement have a relatively strong chance of being shared over time. While Reddit users are interested in news items, recently published content, and trending videos like users of other platforms, they also appreciate timeless content such as entertainment articles and videos from years past.
For instance, an article in our dataset that received significant Reddit engagement also had a high evergreen score. This kind of content remains valuable to readers months or even years after its original publication.
Reddit could be a useful “litmus test” for determining evergreen content topics within a specific niche.
Key Takeaway: High Reddit engagement correlates with an article’s likelihood of maintaining links and shares over time.
Limited Correlation Between Twitter Shares and High Evergreen Scores
We found that content with a large number of shares and retweets on Twitter is not likely to exhibit high evergreen scores. This is unsurprising, given Twitter’s focus on current events and trending topics.
Numerous articles with substantial shares on Twitter are news items that generally lose significance soon after being circulated. Additionally, we noticed that Pinterest pins display a weak correlation with a blog post’s likelihood of becoming evergreen. While pinned content might show up in users’ feeds well after its first share, extensive Pinterest pinning at the beginning does not guarantee sustained links and shares over time.
Key Takeaway: Twitter shares correlate negatively with content’s evergreen status.
Titles Featuring the Current Year Are More Likely to Become Evergreen
Interestingly, articles with the current year in their title exhibit a higher likelihood of becoming evergreen. This may seem counterintuitive, as content focused on a specific year might lose relevance over time.
However, there are two reasons for this trend:
- Content with current information is more likely to receive shares and links initially, with the effect lasting over time.
- Posts featuring the current year may not necessarily be published that year. For example, a post published in 2017 may still have “2021” in its title, indicating it has been updated.
Notably, articles with “2020” or “2021” in their titles had median Evergreen scores of 33, significantly higher than in previous years. This could be due to the increasing content volume or the coronavirus’s impact, with users seeking recent, relevant information.
Key Takeaway: Incorporating the current year in your title and title tag can lead to more short- and long-term shares.
Evergreen Content Categories Encompass Best-of Lists, Reports, and Studies
We delved deeper into specific content categories, frequently resulting in evergreen content and identifying common terms in the titles of highly evergreen content.
Our research suggests that content centered around “the best” usually garners the highest Evergreen scores, demonstrating readers’ preference for carefully compiled collections of exclusive products, applications, videos, and social media profiles.
For instance, consider this “best” post from our data set:
Elle Decor – Home decor ideas
Another content type with high evergreen potential is guides. Like “best” posts, guides save time by curating information rather than items.
For example, Forbes’ beginner’s guide to blockchain continues to receive shares and links over four years after its initial publication:
Forbes – Beginners guide to blockchain
We also discovered that content featuring words such as “data,” “reports,” “study,” “science,” “facts,” and “research” in their titles generally exhibited high evergreen scores. This implies that users possess a significant interest in information backed by data. Here’s an example from the articles we examined:
NonProfitsSource – Online giving statistics
Furthermore, content about “the future” and “trends” generates shares over time, as people are always interested in what lies ahead. As long as these posts maintain a long-term outlook, they can remain evergreen for quite some time. Here’s an illustration of an evergreen post focused on trends:
McKinsey & Company – Future of work
Key Takeaway: Readers seek content that curates the best, consolidates information in one place, and is rich in data.
Social Media Examiner, HBR, and Mindful Consistently Publish Evergreen Content
After examining various factors correlated with evergreen content, we wanted to identify publishers that excel in creating it. We analyzed all domains in the BuzzSumo database with at least 10,000 published articles.
Our findings revealed that Social Media Examiner, HBR, Mindful, Brain Pickings, and Visual Capitalist consistently publish evergreen content at an exceptional level.
While the content types and topics vary among these publishers, they share some common characteristics. They tend to rely on content formats that strongly correlate with evergreen content, and their content is structured to remain relevant over time.
Key Takeaway: Publishers that produce the most evergreen content typically concentrate on effective content formats, evergreen content categories, and topics that will remain interesting in the long run.
Content Regarding Technology, Marketing, and Health Exhibits the Highest Evergreen Scores
Regarding subject matter, which areas tend to generate evergreen content most frequently? We analyzed 12 verticals and ranked them based on average evergreen scores. Our analysis revealed that content about digital marketing, content marketing, health, and entertainment tends to be highly evergreen.
Conversely, content related to business, finance, and fashion is less likely to have high evergreen scores.
Key Takeaway: The verticals that publish evergreen content at the highest rates include marketing, technology, health, and entertainment.
We hope you found our analysis interesting and valuable.
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