Writing Timeless Content

Each day, millions of people access blogs around the world, looking for information.  Search engines take out a lot of the work out of finding and separating what is relevant and what isn’t.  However, you also need to focus on content that will stand the test of time, otherwise known as timeless content.

When you take a look at the definition of timeless, it is defined as: eternal; not affected by time; ageless, then add in the content portion and you’re set to create content that builds up your brand.

photo credit: Lin Pernille ? Photography

Timeless content can provide useful in more ways than one for your site.  Unlike news posts, people will continue searching for your content through search engines like Google and others for much longer, providing additional revenue and traffic no matter how long the post has been on your blog.

Main Benefits

• A view as an authority source.  When people visit or find a website that they find valuable, it is likely that they will bookmark or subscribe to it, referencing it in the future for more news and content.  Becoming an authority will lead to even more benefits, which are referenced below.
• Timeless content is more valuable as time progresses.  Unlike news stories (primarily celebrity and local news), people won’t be searching for those stories nearly as often as tips, tutorials, and guides that they will be able to use right now and in the future.  
• You are in more control.  Many news stories are published within a day of the story being published by another site, as you are trying to inform your readers about it as close to the release date as possible.  With timeless content, you don’t have to worry about errors or inaccuracies in your posts – they are typically correct when you publish them as you have more time to publish them and further revise them as your blog becomes older.
• Timeless content is pillar content.  Pillar content, or content that draws in a rather high amount of traffic to your blog as it is linked to and provides value for your readers, can also be timeless, as it helps grow your site while being of value to your readers.
• Others link to your content more often.  Once you have published a piece of timeless content and people recognize it as timeless, they have a much higher chance of linking to it.  In addition, your entire site, if not just the timeless posts, will be increased in search engines and on more popular sites alike.

How to Create Timeless Content

While timeless content has different formats, below is a listing of a few different ways to help achieve the sense of timeless content on your blog, even if the post did originally reference a date and product.

1. Don’t add date words to your posts, such as yesterday, tomorrow, or any other specific dates, which draw the reader away from your post.  If you are referencing a specific date, you might want to add value, rather than simply stating that something will happen/has happened.  For example, add your thoughts and what happened of importance.
2. Remove dates from your posts or locate them in less prominent positions.  Often, I look at content that has been published more than two years ago as not up-to-date, although this may be the most accurate, as the author should have updated or replied to comments on the post.  You also have to check the date of the most recent post to be sure that the blog hasn’t been abandoned.
3. Avoid writing about fads or using slang words.  By next year, the terms you use today will be long gone, replaced by a new term, which will be replaced just a quickly.  In a sense, you also want to use timeless words, or words that nearly everyone recognizes and have been in the dictionary since they were first published.
4. Avoid writing about people.  Unless the person has been president, you don’t want to reference people who may not be as popular years from now.  Putting this in reference to blogging, if you write an article about a specific blogger, you should provide reference to the author’s blog and the significance of him or her – as the blog could be offline within the next year.
5. Continue updating a post as time goes on.  The way we publish and write changes over time, so you will want to be sure that your older posts, which may contain references to the date are updated with additional thoughts, information related to the post, and any further developments on the topic/product.
6. Don’t make older content appear as neglected.  Reply to the most recent comments, at the very least, of your oldest posts to ensure that they are given the same treatment as new content..

Conclusion

Although timeless content should be put foremost in your list of building up your blog, it is just as important to provide relevant, yet timely content for your readers, which isn’t timeless.  Both forms of content will help spread your blogs audience, but the most important idea to remember is the fact that your readership will change and evolve over time too, so your timeless content won’t be weighed as heavily against new content.