After years of working with Adsense, I’m often asked: “Teacher Sanmu, how does your site network consistently earn over $15,000 monthly? Is there some secret formula?”
Truthfully, if I had to pinpoint one core strategy, it would be the content planning methodology I’m sharing today – the art of balancing seasonal content with evergreen content. This approach took me from earning $20 in my first month back in 2018 to now operating a network of 50+ sites.
Bloody Lessons: The Danger of Single Content Strategy
Let me share a painful experience. In 2019, I ran a tech news site focused exclusively on chasing trends. I thought hot topics meant big traffic and high ad rates, so I spent days monitoring Google Trends and Reddit for material.
Those were exciting times. During major events like iPhone launches or Black Friday, daily RPM reached $15, and I could earn $500+ in a single day. I felt smug, thinking I’d discovered the wealth code.
But when the off-season arrived, particularly during slow months like January-February with few hot topics, traffic halved and RPM dropped to $2-3. At its worst, the entire site earned just $20 daily – worse than when I first started with Adsense.
That’s when I realized: purely chasing trends is incredibly unstable. The website felt like a rollercoaster, with ups and downs that tested my nerves.
Evergreen Content: The Ballast of Cash Flow
After reflecting on these lessons, I began studying how consistently successful websites operate. Analyzing hundreds of profitable Adsense sites through SimilarWeb, I discovered a pattern: stable-earning sites consist of 60-80% evergreen content.
What is evergreen content? Simply put, it’s content that remains relevant regardless of time, meeting continuous user demand. Examples include:
Technical Tutorials
• “How to Remove Backgrounds in Photoshop”
• “Complete Python Beginner’s Guide”
• “Excel Functions Comprehensive Explanation”
Tool Reviews
• “2025 Best Video Editing Software Comparison”
• “10 Free Online Design Tools Recommended”
• “Main Cloud Server Performance Tests”
Life Guides
• “Beginner’s Guide to Personal Finance”
• “Home Renovation Budget Checklist”
• “Principles of Healthy Eating”
Among my 12 main Adsense sites, 8 focus primarily on evergreen content. These sites feature stable traffic; while RPM might not peak extremely high, it consistently stays between $5-8, providing reliable cash flow for the entire network.
Take my technical tutorial site as an example. Since its establishment in 2020, monthly earnings consistently range between $2500-3000 with minimal fluctuation. The core driver is over 100 evergreen tutorial articles that continuously generate traffic.
Seasonal Content: The Amplifier of Explosive Growth
However, relying solely on evergreen content isn’t enough. Like an investment portfolio, you need high-risk, high-reward elements to amplify overall returns. Seasonal content plays this role.
I categorize seasonal content into several types:
Holiday Marketing
• Christmas gift recommendations (Nov-Dec)
• Valentine’s Day ideas (Jan-Feb)
• Halloween decorations (Sep-Oct)
• Mother’s Day gifts (Apr-May)
Industry Hotspots
• CES coverage (January)
• WWDC Apple events (June)
• Black Friday shopping guides (November)
• Tax filing guides (Mar-Apr)
Seasonal Demands
• Summer sunscreen products (May-Aug)
• Winter heating equipment (Nov-Feb)
• Back-to-school supplies (Aug-Sep)
• Fitness and weight loss plans (January, Apr-May)
My strategy involves selecting 4 sites specifically for seasonal content among my 50+ site network. These sites experience significant traffic fluctuations but achieve RPMs of $12-15 during peak seasons, with single-site monthly earnings exceeding $2500.
During last year’s Black Friday, my shopping recommendation site earned $400 daily. Although this lasted only a week, that week’s income equaled two months of earnings from evergreen content sites.
My Golden Ratio: The 7:3 Rule
Through seven years of practical experience, I’ve developed a golden ratio: 70% evergreen content + 30% seasonal content.
Implementation specifics:
Content Planning Ratio
• For 20 monthly articles: 14 evergreen, 6 seasonal
• Evergreen content ensures baseline traffic; seasonal content drives income peaks
• Adjust based on site positioning: tech sites can use 35% seasonal, lifestyle sites 25%
Effort Allocation Ratio
• Evergreen content: Deep keyword research for SEO effectiveness
• Seasonal content: Focus on timeliness and trend tracking
• Evergreen aims for long-term stable rankings; seasonal targets short-term traffic bursts
Budget Distribution Ratio
• 70% budget for long-term SEO optimization of evergreen content
• 30% budget for rapid promotion of seasonal content
• Includes content creation, image procurement, promotion costs
This ratio isn’t arbitrary but based on seven years of actual data. Following this比例, my site network’s income curve shows a healthy pattern of “steady growth with seasonal peaks.”
Practical Techniques: Implementing This Strategy
I now create next year’s content calendar every November. Specific steps:
Seasonal Content Planning
• List all potential hotspot time nodes
• Analyze previous year’s traffic and income data
• Begin preparing related content 2-3 months in advance
• Build a hotspot material library for quick access
For Christmas content, I start preparing in September, begin publishing in October, ensuring good rankings during search peaks.
Evergreen Content Planning
• Analyze target keyword competition difficulty
• Develop long-term topic cluster strategies
• Maintain consistent output monthly, unaffected by trends
• Regular updates and optimization to keep content fresh
2. Data-Driven Adjustment Strategy
Monthly, I analyze each site’s data, adjusting content ratios based on performance:
Key Metric Monitoring
• Traffic fluctuation ranges per site
• RPM peaks of seasonal content
• Stability performance of evergreen content
• Overall income variance analysis
If a site’s seasonal content performs exceptionally well, I might increase the ratio to 40%. Conversely, if fluctuations affect overall stability, I reduce it to 20%.
• Stagger seasonal peaks across different sites
• Avoid all sites entering off-season simultaneously
• Create complementary content matrices
Warning Systems
• Set alerts for 20% traffic drops
• Remind when seasonal content exceeds 40%
• Adjust when overdependence on single content type occurs
Common Pitfalls
Pitfall 1: Over-Chasing Seasonal Traffic
In 2021, one site saw excellent Christmas content performance, so I aggressively produced related content, reaching 60% seasonal ratio. Result: January traffic dropped 70%, requiring half-year recovery.
Lesson: Even the best seasonal content shouldn’t exceed 40%; otherwise, risk becomes too high.
Pitfall 2: Overly Niche Evergreen Topics
Early on, I created content I thought “would always be useful,” like “How to Repair Windows XP Systems.” While technically evergreen, search volume was too small to generate meaningful traffic.
Lesson: Evergreen content must also consider search volume; no-search evergreen equals zero.
Pitfall 3: Untimely Seasonal Content Preparation
During 2020’s pandemic, I noticed surging searches for “work-from-home tools” and quickly wrote numerous articles. But by the time they ranked, the trend had passed.
Lesson: Prepare seasonal content 2-3 months in advance; don’t wait until the last minute.
Future Trend Predictions
Based on recent observations, I believe this balancing strategy will grow increasingly important:
AI Era Changes
• Evergreen content easier to be learned and recommended by AI
• Seasonal content’s timeliness value will amplify
• Increased need for content uniqueness and depth
Search Behavior Changes
• Voice search increases demand for immediate content
• Video content becomes new seasonal traffic entry point
• Mobile users prefer quick-access seasonal information
Advertising Market Changes
• Brand advertisers more willing to pay for seasonal traffic
• Programmatic advertising stabilizes evergreen content monetization
• Diverse ad formats require different content types配合
Final Thoughts
My biggest insight from years of Adsense work: Stability matters more than explosive growth, but stability without peaks is mediocrity.
