Boost Your Expert Reputation with an Evergreen Series

Writing a series of articles is a great way to connect related content together. It is also an attention-getter, encouraging readers to subscribe or return for the next installment in the series. And it can be a showcase for demonstrating your expertise on a particular topic.

A topical series of blog posts should be planned in advance to maximize its effectiveness. Here’s why:

• The finished series will flow more easily from one post to the next when you’ve created and edited a bullet outline of the entire series in advance.
• You can determine your link strategy and execute it seamlessly.
• You can promote the upcoming series in advance to generate interest and anticipation.

Suggested Workflow to Create Your Series

1. Determine your topic and create your series outline.
2. Create and post some teasers on social media with a call-to-action to subscribe.
3. Determine your link strategy and gather all relevant links. Paste them into your outline or create a separate text doc to put them all into.
4. Write and publish your first article, including a teaser for the next installment in the series.
5. Promote that post to all your marketing channels.
6. Write and publish your second article. Include a teaser for the next installment AND a link back to the first post in the series.
7. Promote that post to all your marketing channels.
8. Write and publish your third article. Include a teaser for the next installment AND a link back to the first and second posts in the series.
9. Continue these activities for the rest of the series.

Make Your Series Evergreen

For your finished series to be perpetually successful, it is important to have links between the posts so future readers can move smoothly from one to the next. Aside from the linking between posts mentioned above, consider these enhancements:

• Create a table of contents with links to each post in the series and add that to the start of each post.
• Use PREVIOUS and NEXT buttons/links that look the same at the bottom of each post.
• Use a unique, common label/tag/keyword only for this series. When you click on that keyword on your blog, you can grab the unique URL that will send readers directly to that series of posts. You could even assign a domain name to the series easily using redirects. (Example: this link takes you to all of my content templates and nothing else.)

Finally, a word of caution – after publishing, check all your links! A series can quickly become a disappointing experience if links don’t work.

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