Ideas for the online managing editor who struggles to produce daily evergreen content
That’s because if you’re a niche content expert who’s been running your Portal for a while, you may feel like you’ve covered everything. If someone new came in, they’d be clueless about the history of every article you’ve published, so they’d happily hop in and start coming up with new versions of what you’ve already written. But if you’re deep in the trenches, you might be thinking, “What can I possibly write about now? I’ve already written 65 ways to plant roses, and there aren’t even 65 ways to do it!”
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Well, regardless of whether you’re the online managing editor, or the after-work buddy who’s consoling the brain of a tired managing editor, here are some ideas to save the day when you feel like your last big idea was the last drop of water in the bottom of a well.
2. Google trends. There’s nothing evergreen about news that you’ll find in Google trends, but it sure does help lend to themes you may not have touched on before. Plus, you can look up phrases and get ideas for similar topics, much like Google Keyword Planner. So for example, here I am so tired about writing about rose gardening, so I search for it and see phrases like “rose gloves” and “gardening zones.” Suddenly I have two new topics I can write about that I never even thought of before. Google Keyword Planner is our #1 way to find content ideas, which we document in our Google Visibility Report, but for the sake of broadness – assuming you might not be a Mequoda Gold Member – you should know both options are available to you.
3. Old Portal archives. So you’ve written 65 articles about how to plant roses, have you? For Pete’s sake, put together at least a top 20 list on how to plant roses and link to some of those articles. Also, feel free to recycle content from your old articles into your new articles. As long as it’s mixed with new content, you won’t run into any dupe content issues with Google, and you’ll have loads of new articles to re-publish. This is especially gratifying when you feel like you wrote an article at one point that didn’t see enough eyeballs.
5. Transcribe an event session. If your company records live events and webinars, have them transcribed. Then, see what you can do with the content. If you need permission to publish the content, then get it, and publish it under their byline or quote them. If not, because it’s by someone on your team, then turn it into as many articles as you can.
Now it’s your turn. If you’re the online managing editor of a niche magazine, I’d love to hear all the ways you come up with evergreen content ideas.
One reply on “5 Easy Evergreen Content Sources for a Magazine Portal When You’re Fresh Out of Ideas”
Perspective pieces on issues important to the audience within the bounds of the editorial philosophy gets my vote. Offering forward thinking about best practices, individual experience, benefits, or concerns during times of evolution, has an “evergreen” appeal. That is, I find issue based pieces return more consistently over time than content with a bounded timeline. Additionally, issue based content is easy to recycle, update, or repurpose. On a content plan, I’d revisit these pieces periodically, or when national news breaks. The addition of a fresh, dynamic personal story from someone affected by change, or a feature element with pull quotes from 4-5 persons who represent the audience and its concerns, are options. Charts showing the aspects and affects of change are also within the range of updates I’d consider.