Video Script:
Hi this is Patrick from SpyFu.com
Today is March 31st 2020.
And you might be able to tell that there are a few differences from our normal content,
namely,
Check out these braces yo!! Rawwwrrr!!
*intro*
It’s crazy that I thought that this (*points at braces*) was going to be the biggest life changing event to happen for a while. But here we are, quarantined for a global pandemic.
SpyFu is doing their part by having us stay home, stay safe, and
to embrace the introverted nerdiness that has been resting within us allllllll
But, like a lot of you! SpyFu is still very much open (not physically) very much active, and just making business work as best we can.
So today, I want to talk about Time Sensitive vs. Evergreen content. Seems appropriate.
Let’s start with what’s called Evergreen content.
Evergreen Content
Evergreen Content is content that is meant to last; to be relevant to users foreverrrrrr. Or at least the foreseeable future.
These are important to your site because you can write them once, and they will keep gaining clicks for months or even years to come.
And I’m not talking about landing pages or the “about us” section of your website, I’m talking about long lasting content.
The kind of content you can promote over time, double down on,
add into auto-response emails, put on your site, etc.
Subjects like, “how to stain your wood cabinets”, or “what is SEO” are going to be things that people will be asking about for a long time to come. That translates to a steady stream of clicks, engagement, and conversions.
Heck even, “what is it like to get braces on as a grown man?” could be considered evergreen!! Maybe not wide reaching, but believe me, I was reading them before I got these bad boys on. Didn’t matter if they were 12 days old, or 12 years old, still relevant to someone who wanted to know more.
The beauty of evergreen content for content marketers is that it can grow on itself.
You might need to prune it every once and awhile.
As you get feedback on it through data or through direct customer comments, you can improve the content. Maybe update the language and relevant links to keep it fresh.
But with enough evergreen content on your site you should be able to harvest the fruit of your efforts for a long time to come.
Time Sensitive Content
When people talk about time sensitive content it’s frequently about different holidays -
Christmas!
Valentine’s day!
National Puppy Day!
Which was on the 23rd, but here’s my quarantined pup anyway.
(*lando picture or video*)
Happy National Puppy Day everyone!!!
It’s essentially any piece of content that you create to engage peoples’ immediate interest, excitement, or concern.
Pieces of content that you don’t expect to be relevant in the future, but are incredibly relevant right now.
The royal wedding
The final season of Game of Thrones.
That thing that politician did a few hours ago.
The rising price of bacon.
Even an event or award that your company was a part of recently!
Express it, hype it, post about it now.
Creators seem to have more license to share content aggressively when it's more topical. Dropping your own “general topic” article into a reddit room comes off as self-promotional
and a little gross.
Normally, that kind of low-key spamming can even hurt your brand, but doing it with an of-the-now topic is more understandable and potentially viral!
It’s the content people want to share with their friends and colleagues.
So go after it a little more.
Build up some buzz to pollinate that sweet success.
Just don’t fall into the trap of expecting your CTR to continue to be off the charts, especially in a few weeks.
And that brings us to today.
So, right now
Articles on things like social distancing,
drive through testings,
and toilet paper
Would be considered Time Sensitive Content
Because they have a limited shelf life
Bit ->
(*extremely awkward silence as patrick looks into the camera*)
(followed by a standard awkward fake audience *cough*)
(which patrick is then visibly terrified by - and then smash cut to normality)
<- that whole bit should last about 3 - 4 seconds.
But don’t expect this content to be relevant 6 months from now
(*patrick prays*)
Some time sensitive content isn’t even relevant 6 hours from now. It depends on how long that topic is important to the mass of searchers.
But let’s take right now.
It’s difficult to go to anywhere online and not see articles about things relating to the Covid-19 virus.
It’s also difficult not to click on those!
A mass of searchers are consumed by it, and want to know more information. And since it feels like we’re learning new things pretty much every passing minute, this content is circulating like mad.
Even by the time this video comes out, I’m not sure if people are going to be so burned out by the constant media explosion of everything, that they will just not want to hear any more of it, and close out.
That’s the gamble with time sensitive content. It can completely flop, for any number of circumstances, but it also has the potential of significantly boosting your traffic and impressions overnight.
That’s why it’s important to focus both evergreen and time sensitive content on your site.
Focus more on evergreen, since that content is an investment that can continue to pay over time. But use time sensitive material to help pay for those investments now.
A good ratio is 4 to 1.
Four evergreen articles for every one time sensitive article.
One helps the roots of a potential ever growing audience. The other creates enough immediate buzz to guide traffic and engagement to your site today.
Hopefully that buzz improves your impressions overall.
So in a very time sensitive, but also incredibly sincere sentiment:
Stay safe everyone.
….And as always, thank you for watching.
