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If you're relying solely on the current view count of a video to understand content on YouTube, you're missing out on crucial insights that can help you make more informed decisions about its potential.
When you examine the last 10 videos on any channel, all you can see is their current view count. But what are you not seeing? The lifetime performance of those videos—how they performed from the day they were uploaded until now. Even more importantly, just looking at the view count doesn't provide any indication of how the video might perform in the future.
Evergreen content on YouTube refers to videos that remain relevant, valuable, and engaging to viewers over an extended period, often for years or even indefinitely. Unlike time-sensitive or topical content, evergreen videos have a timeless appeal, making them consistently useful and enjoyable regardless of when they are published. These videos are not tied to specific events or trends, allowing them to continue generating views and engagement long after their initial upload.
The Evergreen Score measures the longevity of a YouTube video's performance by analyzing the ratio of views gained in the first 30 days compared to those gained afterward. It identifies videos with enduring value, providing insights into content that continues to attract viewers over time.
The Evergreen Score is a critical metric for understanding how YouTube videos perform over the long term. While most YouTube analytics focus on short-term metrics like views within the first few days, the Evergreen Score shifts the focus to a video's long-term relevance.
This score highlights the difference between content that experiences a short burst of popularity and content that continues to attract viewers well after its initial release. YouTube's algorithm often prioritizes videos with sustained engagement, making the Evergreen Score an essential tool for creators and brands looking to optimize their content strategies.
Videos with higher Evergreen Scores often appear in search results, recommended feeds, and playlist suggestions over time. For example, videos on topics like "how-to guides" or timeless entertainment tend to rank higher due to their consistent relevance.
By understanding this metric, creators can focus on producing content with lasting appeal, and brands can identify sponsorship opportunities that continue to provide ROI long after a video’s release.
Examples of evergreen content on YouTube include "how-to" tutorials, educational videos, product reviews, and topics with lasting relevance, such as health and wellness, personal finance, or relationships. These videos maintain their value to viewers long after their initial upload and often continue to attract views and engagement over time.
Producing evergreen content is a powerful strategy for YouTubers to cultivate a sustainable and expanding audience. It enables creators to build a library of timeless resources that viewers can revisit repeatedly, fostering long-term growth and engagement.
Ali Abdaal, with 6 million subscribers, has mastered the art of creating high-quality, evergreen content. His videos are not only informative and expertly crafted but also designed to remain relevant and engaging for years. Check out the graph below:
Kara and Nate (4M subscribers) explore the world and share extraordinary experiences, making their content timeless. From spending 48 hours in Tokyo's top capsule hotels to testing Google Maps by walking across an entire state, much of their content remains relevant year-round, consistently delivering value to viewers.
The evergreen score helps identify which videos are likely to continue gaining views over time and which ones have lost momentum or flatlined. This metric provides valuable insights for YouTubers, agents, marketers, and even casual viewers, enabling a deeper understanding of why a particular video performs the way it does, what defines "evergreen" content, and why some videos fail to sustain their appeal.
The evergreen score also makes it easy to spot anomalies—highlighting videos that continue to attract significant views long after their original upload date.
The evergreen score measures a video's view longevity by comparing the number of views it received in the first 30 days after publication to the views it accumulated in the following period. The score ranges from 0 to infinity, with a score of 1 or higher indicating evergreen status. A score of 1 or above means the video garnered more views after its initial 30 days than during that initial period.
For brands, sponsoring a video with long-lasting appeal is like hitting the jackpot. Once the sponsorship deal is completed, the video can continue to provide value for years due to its "evergreen-ness." Our evergreen score helps brands easily identify the channels and videos most likely to become evergreen content.
Here’s why it matters:
An average sponsorship placement on a channel with 50,000 projected views typically costs $2,000, resulting in a CPV (Cost Per View) of $0.04. Most creators reach the required 50,000 views within 30 to 45 days of publishing the video. However, few brands track how many views that video garners a year later.
Data from our platform shows that some videos double or even triple their views over time. What’s more, these additional views aren’t factored into the sponsorship price, meaning the CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) can drop to as low as $0.01–$0.02 a year after publication.
So, how does this connect to evergreen content? Brands that sponsor evergreen videos can achieve even lower CPMs as these videos continue to attract views for years. As a brand, ask yourself: do you want to sponsor a video that fades after a few months or one that grows in relevance and viewership over time? The choice is clear.
For creators, producing content that remains relevant and engaging long-term is a game-changer. Evergreen content allows videos to generate consistent views over time, translating into sustained AdSense revenue long after the initial upload.
This steady stream of views can provide creators with a reliable income, regardless of how future videos perform. By focusing on evergreen content, creators can build a foundation of consistent earnings and viewer engagement, setting themselves up for long-term success.
These two videos by Jesser Reacts were published at almost the exact same time last year.
Today, both videos are at over 3.1M views, but they have completely different timelines.
As you can see from the views over time graph, the Recreate the Dunk, Win Rare Jersey! has been growing consistently from the time it was uploaded to today. While, the Karens Who Got Owned video has flatlined. However, if you focus on November 2022, it looked like Karens Who Got Owned was the clearcut winner in terms of its evergreen-ness - it was at 3M views then, whereas, at the same period of time, Recreate the Dunk, Win Rare Jersey! was only at 1M views.
Our evergreen score and views over time graph make it clear that Recreate the Dunk, Win Rare Jersey! is still getting a lot of views and continues to grow today. On the other hand, viewers have lost interest in Karens Who Got Owned and the amount of views this video gets on a regular basis has flatlined.
Here is our CEO, David Tintner, explaining this example in more detail:
According to our calculations, less than 7% of videos on YouTube are evergreen, but with the help of our evergreen score - you can see exactly which videos are evergreen and investigate them to understand in depth why they are evergreen content.
For example, Trend Spot published a video on August 8, 2022 and for the first 2 months of that video’s life, it was slowly gaining views. But, suddenly, on October 6, its views started to shoot up, getting over a million and a half views in less than 10 days.
Currently, the video continues to get views.
By being able to point out these anomalies on various successful videos, creators can understand how to make their content better and brands can find channels and videos to sponsor that will ultimately offer them even more value.
A key aspect to keep in mind while aiming to create evergreen is to focus on keywords. It’s crucial to find out what your audience wants to know and pinpoint specific keywords that viewers will search for. While reviewing evergreen content on our platform, it’s easy to highlight popular keywords. The next step is to create content focusing on these keywords. Tip: Avoid mentioning a specific time/date, such as ‘productivity hacks in 2023’, because it will likely cause viewers to disregard this content in the future as it won’t be ‘up to date’.
Related Metrics and Data Points
Lifetime Views
30-Day Views
Average View Duration
Watch Time per Viewer
Engagement Rate
Subscriber Growth Over Time
Want to know more about how evergreen can apply to how you work with YouTube? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
