What is evergreen content?

The word evergreen reminds me of a pinecone tree which stays fresh and green all year around. That is exactly what evergreen content is about – content that is relevant and in demand for long time (I wouldn’t dare to say forever as nothing is forever, right?). For example, the London Tube Map is unlikely to change and will be used until we no longer need to take the London Underground. 

The opposite of evergreen content would be topical content which is mostly related with current news, events and trends. For instance, news on today’s traffic – it is valuable information today but not tomorrow. 

Evergreen content vs. topical content

To show the lifespan comparison between evergreen content and topical content, the following two posts from the Obergine blog are chosen. 

Topical content: 

We created an infographic for London 2012 Paralympic Games in July 2012 and as you can see there was a distinct peak just before and after the games.

However as soon as the hype for London 2012 Paralympics declined, the traffic for the infographic diminished too and it is very unlikely to pick up again naturally in the near future.  Therefore topical content is short lived – like a butterfly – beautiful and vibrant but dies quickly. 

Evergreen content: 

On the other hand the blog post - “How to pass Google Analytics Individual Qualification?” written in October 2012 has been bringing consistent traffic to the website. 

It shows that there is continuing demand for information on how to tackle the Google Analytics exam and people are and will be searching for this until the exam no longer exists. As a result the blog post consistently ranked high on the first page for the relevant keywords. 

Overall:

In six months the Google Analytics exam advice post drove more than twice as much as traffic compared to the visits that the topical content for London 2012 attracted in 9 months. 

However topical content is great to get that instant boost in web traffic and is essential to your marketing plan. In other words – any content marketing strategy needs to maintain the right balance between evergreen content and topical content.   

How to create evergreen content?

1. Identify evergreen topics that are relevant to your business and create an editorial calendar, for example:     

• “How to…” articles such as this one can be popular for a long time as people are always on the lookout for ways to do things and solve problems

• Historical events and people are not going to change and therefore can be evergreen content, for example: “The life of Coco Chanel” 

• Standard information – for example, if you run an international e-commerce clothing shop you may want to create content on the correlation between cloth size measurements used in UK, Europe, USA and Asia. They are all different and can be confusing for consumers

• “Forever new” old topics, for instance; first love, dieting, depression and so on

2. Create evergreen content that can stand the test of time by

• Including evergreen sources that have authority and are not likely to be 404 pages in a few years’ time

• Make it easy to read for the majority – in other words the language needs to be simple and easy to understand if the content is going to be searched and consumed for a long time 

• Divide the content into a step by step guide – More subheadings you include easier it is to digest the content and the keywords are likely to be picked up by Google. 

P.S. Can anyone guess who the Lego character is? Anyone who guesses it right can have the lego person. I will post it to you :)  

This post was written by Oyunerdene Battulga - Marketing Executive at creative & digital marketing agency - Obergine. She can be found onTwitter and Google+.

Silver tongued and fleet of foot, these agile scamps typify all that is great and good about the modern age of digital, commerce and quite often, digital commerce. 

Whilst many of our household names have been relegated to the role of the Fisher King, unwilling or unable to react to a changing environment, challenger brands fight day in and day out to avoid this same cruel fate.

Because challenger brands are without the crutch of historical success unto which they can lean, they must work just that little bit harder. It is this creed that is often the deciding factor in endearing them to their customers - and rightly so. 

The challenger brands of today do just that, they challenge. They go a lot further than just answering a simple human need. This offers the customer a welcome break from feeling ever so slightly empty inside after making a routine purchase from a capacious market leader.

Challenger brands take differentiation, add credibility and then make it relevant.

The good news is that challenger brands, in their various forms, are abundant right here in the UK. 

Take for example, the good folk at Brewdog – they are driving a craft beer revolution and grabbing some of the industry Behemoth’s by the horns. Yeah, Brewdog do shake it up a bit (the drinks industry, not the beer) but this can ultimately only mean good things, both for those who imbibe and for those that abstain. It means that the same tried, mediocre offering that market leaders have been spoon feeding customers for years is no longer matching expectation.

Long may the challenger brands grow, multiply and inspire.

Long may the challenger brands provide us with amazing content, the real content that resonates and includes. Long may the challenger brands be at the forefront of every digital advance and be rewarded for both their agility and guile.  

And for goodness sake, let there be a day when using a drumming gorilla to flog chocolate is treated with the respect it deserves, precious little. 

This post was written by Adam Savage - Digital Project Manager at creative & digital marketing agency - Obergine.

Content marketing is currently held as a must-do for promoters of companies and brands. 

This trend has emerged in the wake of major search engine updates that overturned traditional SEO techniques: Gone is the need for repetitive texts great for ranking but eye-wateringly dull to the human eye. Now content is king (again – it has been said before). 

Defining the Undefinable

This movement is unsurprising: Few things attract visitors more than content they actually want to see and read. But the term content is general in the extreme, and for that reason, discussions about content (in the context of content marketing) are often rich in sweeping statements.

For example, many explanations stress the importance of well-produced content that adds value, but don’t elaborate on how to source this material. Others caution against shovelling generic text into websites, however this is merely stating the obvious. Few discussions tackle the creation of actual content – which is easy to understand, as there are no grand solutions that work for all types of content.

Consider the challenges of texts on a typical e-commerce website: Outside product descriptions, what content will attract customers and make them return? Which types of articles will actually drive sales? The answer depends on audience demographics, the nature of the product, current market tendencies, and other factors. 

Getting under the hood of texts

For this reason, the right copy is unique for every product and organisation, but there are universal guidelines that are effective. Some tried and triple-tested methods can help producing content that more readily snags the attention of visitors pressed for time and money. 

Here are seven tips for writing better straplines, feature articles, and anything in between:

1. Good writing takes time

Copy is a powerful tool and should never be treated as an extra. Sharp writing underpins good design and functionality, while rushed and slapdash efforts can make any website look amateurish.

Treat copywriting as a central part of the project, whether it is a large website or one-off campaign, and schedule enough time for writing, editing, and proofing. Content templates can be useful in larger projects to make the process easier.

2. Dare to be original

Text can spark interest at glance, yet uninspired and redundant texts litter the Internet. Blandness is the bane of curiosity, but it’s easily remedied with planning and a little pluck.

Don’t settle for dated truisms or promotional copy that means little to anyone outside the office.  Instead, draw on your organisation’s identity and use it to make your copy come alive. See the J. Peterman Company for a great example of what can be done with product text. 

3. Kill the clichés

In conversation, platitudes whizz past almost unnoticed. On pages, both printed and digital, humdrum jokes and snazzy jargon leave readers uninterested or cringing. The reason is simple: clichés are by their very definition common, and therefore unsurprising. As a result, they’re also boring. 

The remedy is simple: Think of new comparisons or hooks to pique interest. Again, be original and personal. Everyone knows how hard a rock is, but they don’t know you.  

4. Don’t bury your message deep in paragraphs

This straightforward rule is surprisingly easy to miss. There’s a widespread fear that getting to the point quickly is offensive, old-fashioned or – strangest of all – suggests a lack of education. In truth, readers enjoy getting the core idea served without having to skim through endless waffling.

Unless there is need to frame the central message in context, too many introductory lines risk turning readers away. The average visitor is stressed - don’t make them wait.

5. Clarity and brevity above all

Any good writer knows the value of tight and clear copy. Conciseness is a virtue, especially in an online environment. Many first drafts are too wordy, and the solution is editing, testing, discussion, and more editing. 

6. Grammar is vital…

Correct spelling suggests reliability. Conversely, one typo can undermine a page of polished, balanced and brilliant copy. Proofreading is a task often accompanied by sighs and winces, but it’s an absolute necessity. Ideally, involve several people – proofing is a tricky chore at best.

7. …but creativity matters just as much. 

Copywriting is not spelling. Flawless grammar is important and finished texts should be blotch-free, but this doesn’t guarantee creativity behind the writing. Solid grammar is equal to faultless alignment of graphic elements – it’s essential, but separate from a good design or a compelling message. 

In (very) short

Make room in the schedule and write with gusto. After that, edit until you cannot stand seeing the text. Ask for opinions and edit again. Proofread and publish. 

Your readers will thank you, and come back for more.

This post was written by Erik Boman - Web Designer at creative & digital marketing agency - Obergine. He can be found on Twitter and Google+.

For marketing agencies and their clients, an effective creative brief is essential if you want to get things right the first time.  

Whether charged with designing a new website, developing an iPhone app or creating a multichannel marketing campaign – the creative brief must align client and agency expectations.  This helps creative teams conceptualise ideas that achieve client business objectives and satisfy user needs.

What should be in a creative brief?

The creative brief needs to consist of the following elements:

• Background – this should not be an essay but just enough to communicate the context of the brief, the client business and broader industry context
• Brief objectives which should be SMART i.e., Specific, Measurable  Attainable, Relevant and Timely 
• The key challenges to achieving the objectives
• Target audience personas are very useful as they help the creative team understand and visualise the people for whom they are creating user experiences
• Examples of similar work to take inspiration from, what elements to be influenced by and most importantly why to be inspired by the work
• Competitors.  Don’t just list direct competitors from a product or industry context but identify competitors that compete with your client from a brand identity context – there is a lot that can be learned from indirect competitors
• What the deliverables resulting from fulfilling the brief are.  This needs to be clear and explicit
• Look and feel considerations that outline colour palettes, fonts and photography goals and constraints
• Tone of voice that outlines if copy should stylistically be formal, irreverent, scientific, fun, relaxed, emotive or any other style
• Client contact details.  Maintaining an open dialogue between client and creative teams is essential to the creative process and fosters closer client relationships which can only be a good thing

Creative brief writing do’s and don’ts

Whilst compiling the creative brief, keep the following in mind:

• Avoid contradictions unless you want to get a wry smile from your creative team.  For example, can something really be “excited yet relaxed “?
• Be specific and get to the point
• Be objective and avoid subjective language
• Don’t use clichés or state the obvious.  Who doesn’t want a usable and modern website with clear goal-driven call-to-actions?
• Use as few words as needed

This post was written by Jeremy Anderson - Client Services Director at creative & digital marketing agency - Obergine. He can be found on Twitter and Google+.

I went to my first OxonDigital event last week and it turned out to be a relaxed networking event with useful and interesting presentations that provided some real insights and easy-to-digest takeaways. 

Ned Wells started the session with a presentation on “How to sell SEO” with the key takeaways being:

• Set specific benchmarks and targets at the start of the project rather than goals such as “better keyword rankings”

• Link the SEO approach with the client’s business goals

• Explain the process in a language that is familiar with the client (cut the jargon) 

• Give clients a broad understanding of SEO so that they can contextualise recommendations and make informed decisions when judging how allocate budgets for maximum effect 

• Show prospects and clients a SEO process they can understand, control and measure 

The presentation answered a question that I was curious about, “Who should do SEO?” Ned’s answer was that it is a team effort instead of only PR or copywriter or any other digital marketing related person’s job.  I agree with him on that and also the point that SEO is an outcome of good digital marketing.

Next Kunle Campbell  talked about “Building thought leadership beyond SEO” and how agencies can differentiate themselves from their competitors and be the authority in a subject area. Some of the strategic pints he proposed to help the clients to become thought leaders in their field are: 

• Get involved in speaking events

• Get visual with image and video

• Listen to media influencers and press in order to discover the questions and issues that your target audience is asking or facing. Then answer those questions through your content.  

• Reinforce your personal authority on SERPs by focusing on creating quality content and promoting it rather than relying fully in Google plus authorship ranking  

• Flaunt your success on your website and blog

Most importantly he enforced the point that the companies should find the niche market that they can be the ultimate thought leader. And finally the best (and easiest) way to create content is to find some problems that need solving and provide the answers.

Finally, both of the presentations highlighted the fact that SEO rules are changing constantly; making the ability to evolve and learn new skills the only constant in the world of SEO and digital marketing.

This post was written by Oyunerdene Battulga - Marketing Executive at creative & digital marketing agency - Obergine. She can be found on Twitter and Google+.

Print design for Marlow Forge jewellery #shocase vine.co/v/bH0qrbprW6X

— Obergine (@Obergine) March 7, 2013

Last Friday, Jenny and Holly from Obergine had a great afternoon with some of the Helen & Douglas House guests. They were involved in running a fun and informative workshop on how to create a photography collage using Picasa and how to stay safe online.  Helen & Douglas House is a hospice provides respite care to children and young adults suffering from life-limiting conditions.

Holly and Jenny from Obergine were welcomed with a warm invitation on arrival at Douglas House where they met the caretakers, guests and parents before being taken to the play room area to take a part in the workshop. 

Social media security workshop

Jenny kicked off with a discussion on social media security and why it is important to take caution when sharing information online. 

The guests were given social media security tips that included not accepting friend requests from strangers and other do’s and don’ts of social media interaction to ensure the guest’s safety and security was maintained whilst having an enjoyable social media experience using Facebook and Twitter.

Image editing workshop

Holly undertook a training session on how to use image editor - Picasa. The free Google software provides basic edit tools to enhance photographs in addition providing many filters which can be layered on top of the image to create a diverse range of effects and distortions to the original image.

The workshop focused on how to import photographs, crop, straighten and touch up the colour. Once the guests were happy with their photographs, they were taught how to merge the imagery with text and other graphics to make a unique Mother’s Day Card.

All the guests picked it up really quickly and expressed their personalities through their art work! The class got everyone’s creative juices flowing and it was rewarding to teach them something new and have fun while doing it! The guests were a lovely group of ambitious, talented young people that it was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with. 

According to a representative of the charity that it was the first interactive educational workshop organised by a sponsor for Helen & Douglas House and the guests will be looking forward to similar sessions in the future. 

Obergine has worked with My Life My Choice, an award winning Oxford charity run by and for people with learning disabilities, on number of social media projects including the infographic. 

The infographic was created as a part of the “10 Things” programme in which My Life My Choice is going to commit to doing 10 things in 2013 to improve the health of the learning disabled. The project will work closely with NHS to train hospital staff in caring for people with learning disabilities. 

The infographic addresses the issue of low awareness of health problems among people with learning disabilities and stresses the importance of ensuring regular health checks for those with learning disabilities.  

The design of the infographic combined large text, simple illustrations and the colour plate from the My Life My Choice logo in order project a clear brand identity of the charity. 

Dan Harris, Marketing Coordinator in My Life My Choice said:

“At the start of a big project, with really ambitious aims to change the lives of people with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire it’s so reassuring to work with Obergine to create an infographic that’s not just locally significant but nationally important. Infographics are a beautiful format for communicating powerful information, and their accessibility across diverse communities mean will continue to return to them for our campaigns”

My Life My Choice is a user-led, self help charity for people with learning disabilities. It focuses on raising levels of self-esteem, confidence and quality of life for people with learning disabilities; it does this by providing volunteering, training, employment and social opportunities for over 300 people.

See the full infographic at: http://mylifemychoice.org.uk/10things/ 

Visit the My Life My Choice website: http://mylifemychoice.org 

Learning to edit your design is an essential part of your process, but it doesn’t come easy.

It is always easy ‘to add more’ in your quest for a more engaging website. Add more content, add more fonts, colours and textures, add more interactive elements and animations. But all this extra stuff comes at a price; adding more elements equals more visual noise for your website visitor to filter. Before they can get to the content they have to wade through all the latest news, tweets, blog articles and customer testimonials, prompts for keeping in touch and sharing the content, most popular and read pages, and so on … all these distractions make it much harder to get to the content they want.

As a designer, managing all this content is also one of the main challenges of website design. But it is too easy to get carried away with ‘more’ when designing. You add an extra graphic or two, liberally apply textures and gradients, use a generous colour palette and add more fonts. 

With the success of mobile devices, ‘more’ is becoming increasingly difficult to add. With limited screen space available, we need to question everything … and this is a very good thing!

Question everything throughout the process – start at the beginning

Having immersed yourself in the brief, you start to map out the user journey using sitemaps and wireframes. Decide what is the most important thing on each page, and how the visitor will interact with it. Analyse and question every element you add to the design, and map it against this main purpose. If it doesn’t fulfill that purpose remove it! 

Consider browsing habits. As people are increasingly active on the Internet, they are getting better at turning a blind eye to certain areas of content. All those carefully designed sidecars encouraging users to click may get completely overlooked, and only end up making the web page appear cluttered. Consider removing all unrelated content, and moving some of it underneath the main content so you help guide the visitor’s experience.

Immerse yourself in the content

Read and fully understand the content of the website. This can often be overlooked during tight deadlines, but it is an essential part of the design process. After all, you are making the content engaging but if you don’t read it how can you? Identify the main points in the content and emphasize those in the design, so that you make it easier to scan and read it .

Learn to design without all those frills

Does adding that texture or gradient add value? What are you trying to achieve with that extra graphical element? Can you achieve the same result with less? When creating graphics for the design, you need to be mindful of the brand aesthetic but also the user experience. Adding more means there is more for the visitor to look at, so question every element you add and make sure it fulfills the needs of the brand and user.

Less is more

We have all heard this phrase before, and there are plenty of articles on the Internet about it, so we don’t need a further explanation here. Less is more should always be part of the editing process: can you achieve the same results or better with less? As you question each extra element and filter out the noise, your design will ultimately become less busy and more readable.

Question yourself

Be honest with yourself. It is easy to justify adding that lovely wooden textured as the background effect makes your design look beautiful and your visitors will love it, but does it really? Remember that you are designing for your target audience, so you should design the content around them.

Keep it up

Don’t ever stop. Don’t sit back believing you have mastered website design and no longer need to edit because you know all the tricks. As browsing habits change, technology advances and new things arrive every year it’s important to keep editing so your designs remain relevant.

Don’t ignore the analytics

How can you measure the success of this editing process? Understand the analytics and immerse yourself in them, and you might be surprised by some of the results. The great thing about website design is that you can always update and change it (budget depending). Invest time in identify ways of improving (or removing) your design using the analytics as a guide.

This post was written by Jonathan Schofield - Senior web designer at award winning web design, digital marketing and branding agency - Obergine.