You might have seen the stat doing the rounds over the last couple of weeks. Breaking news content is up 103% across Google properties. Evergreen content is down 40%.
If you’re a small business owner who’s spent the last few years carefully building up a library of helpful, timeless content about what you do, how you help people, and why clients should choose you – you’re probably wondering whether you’ve wasted your time and should immediately start posting hot takes about whatever happened in your industry this morning.
You haven’t. And you shouldn’t.
Who is the “breaking news beats evergreen” stat actually about?
Let’s look at where this data comes from. It’s from a publisher analysis – the kind of research that tracks how news sites, media outlets, and editorial content perform across Google’s surfaces, including Google Discover.
The BBC has breaking news. The Guardian has breaking news. A solicitor in Swindon does not have breaking news.
This stat is about publishers whose entire business model is built around being first with a story. It tells us nothing useful about whether a HR consultancy in Sheffield should abandon the blog post explaining what TUPE actually means, or whether an accountant in Bristol should stop writing about the questions their clients ask every single month.
For businesses like yours, the question isn’t “is breaking news beating evergreen?” It’s “is the content I’m creating bringing in the right people?” And that question has the same answer it always did.
Why evergreen content still works for B2B service businesses
Your potential clients don’t find you by googling “breaking news.” They find you because they have a problem and they’re looking for someone who can solve it.
They’re searching for “what happens to my VAT when I restructure my business.” They’re asking “how do I know if my employment contracts are compliant.” They’re looking for “why is my website not showing up on Google.” These aren’t news queries. They’re evergreen questions that people have been asking for years, and will keep asking for years, and that a well-written page on your website can answer brilliantly – bringing in enquiries while you sleep.
That’s not dying. That’s exactly what content marketing is supposed to do.
The blog posts that quietly rank and convert don’t care about algorithm mood swings or what’s trending on LinkedIn today. They care whether someone typed a question into Google at 11pm on a Tuesday and found an answer that made them think “this person knows what they’re talking about – I should get in touch.”
When timely content does make sense for your business
Here’s where it gets a bit more nuanced, because “ignore all timely content” isn’t quite right either.
There are moments when writing something current is really worth your time. When the Autumn Budget changes something relevant to your clients. When there’s a Google update that affects small business websites (obviously relevant if you’re an SEO). When a piece of legislation your audience has been waiting on finally comes through. When something shifts in your industry that your clients will have questions about.
The difference between this and chasing breaking news is intent. You’re not trying to be first. You’re trying to be helpful and relevant to the people who trust you. A timely post that answers the question your clients are all asking this week can sit perfectly alongside your evergreen content – it just serves a different purpose.
It’s also worth remembering the content that often gets forgotten in this conversation. The questions your clients ask repeatedly. The posts that educate and inform your readers about your industry. The content that demonstrates your expertise and quietly sells your services to someone who found you six months before they were ready to buy.
None of that is breaking news. All of it is worth writing.
Stop optimising for stats that aren’t about you
The SEO industry loves a dramatic stat. “Evergreen is dying!!!!!” sounds like a crisis requiring urgent action – ideally the kind of urgent action that involves paying someone for a new content strategy.
Publishers chasing news traffic and service businesses building authority through helpful content are playing completely different games. The rules that apply to one don’t apply to the other.
Your evergreen content strategy doesn’t need ripping up. It needs maintaining, updating when necessary, and adding to consistently over time.
That 103% figure doesn’t mean you need to become a news outlet. It means news outlets are getting more traffic from news content. Which makes complete sense, when you think about it.
Keep writing the stuff that answers your clients’ questions. Keep creating content that proves you know your industry. Keep publishing the posts that bring in enquiries months after you wrote them.
That’s what works for businesses like yours. It was true last year. It’s true now.
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