Module #6 – How to add curated content to your website

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How to Add Curated Content to your Website

Module #6.

What is Content Curation?

Content curation is the process of sorting through and analyzsing huge amounts of content on the internet relevant to a specific market niche and presenting this information onto a platform (or format that your audience can understand.

A content curator cherry picks the best content to share that is relevant to their audience. As a content curator, you will find (and share) a customized, pondered selection of the best and most relevant resources on a very specific topic or theme.

For instance, if your website is focused on ‘Reversing Diabetes’ then you would look for articles that pertain to diabetes and a lifestyle that that promotes the process of Reversing Diabetes.

A content curator continually  seeks,  makes sense of,  and shares the best and most relevant content on a particular topic online. And, if you curating for a specific audience, you are always on the look-out for content that meets the criteria that you have established for your website. In fact, you will have integrated the skill of content curation into your daily routine.

Why is Content Curation Valuable?

Since the average Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month, people create 571 new websites every minute, tweet 58 million times per day and upload 100 hours of new video each minute, a curator’s work is never done.

Simply put, we are living an era of content abundance. A content curator offers high value to anyone searching for quality content on a specific subject because finding that information (and making sense of it) requires more and more time, attention, and focus.

Content Curation Provides Value from the Inside Out

What does that mean for the content curator?  I can speak from personal experience… I learn new (and relevant) information about the fields that I curate content for. For instance, when I am searching for content for one of my websites, I find content that is not only relevant for my visitors, it is current, and also cutting edge for myself AND my audience.

The role content curation plays across the social Web

Finding curated content doesn’t have to be a time suck.

As you all know, it takes a lot of time to produce high-quality and compelling content from scratch. So if you are struggling with trying to produce a lot of content on a daily basis, it is a good idea to search the internet for well-written, relevant content that will appeal to your audience. This does not diminish the importance of original content, which is still the most powerful form of content marketing. However, curated content can save you time and help you stay on track with your content calendar when time is limited.

As a general rule, 80 percent of content shared is curated, and 20 percent is original. I personally try to keep that percentage at 50/50 which means for every article I curate, I also produce an article with relative and compelling content from scratch.

Curating content is a a human attempt to organize content that is available on the internet.

We all know that Google is amazing when it comes to serving up results when we need them. However, when humans locate and share relevant (and compelling) content, they are providing their audience with exactly the information they need, in a cost-effective manner. And, when they take the time to share their curated content (at social media), they drive traffic to their website. If that content is evergreen, they could be driving traffic to their website for some time. I personally have seen the traffic stats referring to curated content up to a couple of years down the road.

Curated content is the ultimate form of Social Media giving

Essentially, using curated content is a win-win situation… you are providing relevant content to your audience, not only driving traffic to your website, but also the the original content creator’s website.  In other words you are promoting someone else’s content and that ‘sharing’ is appreciated at the other end. Another benefit associated with curated content is the increased opportunities for engagement and interaction – which can help exposure over time.

Types of Curated Content

Top 10 Industry Articles

In it’s simplest form, content curation can be as simple as writing a blog post with snippets of the curated content, with links back to the original webpage where it was published. Over the years I have written many of these; Top 10 Real Estate News articles of the Month, The Year in Review, the Best Social Networking articles of 2018, or The Top 10 Internet Marketing Predictions for 2019, etc.

Newsletters

When I write a newsletter for my real estate clients, I usually include at least 5 pieces of curated content, usually in their entirety; Local Events for the coming month, an industry article that will benefit their target market, an article on home maintenance, an article on home improvements or interior decoration and an article on local real estate marketing statistics.

Videos

This may be the simplest form of Content Curation… go to YouTube and search for an expert in your industry. For instance, I found a Persuasion specialist, Jim Fortin. He shares a series of YouTube videos on the Art of Persuasion and how to use persuasion during the process of selling real estate.

Infographics

If you find infographics on the internet that are pertinent to your industry, copy and paste the image file, post them at your site and then take the time to write a detailed description of the information (in your own words) the infographics contain. Be sure to use relevant keywords when writing the description and include a source link to the original creator of the images. 

Local Community Events

If your target market is in a specific geographical location, this type of curated content is especially effective. For instance, if you are a real estate agent and a large part of your audience is not going to buy a home for at least 5 years, then providing them a website where they can get the latest information on local commuity events can be very effective. If you take the time to share snippets of upcoming community events (with all of the details) your audience will know to drop by your website for the specifics on upcoming events; farmers markets, concerts in the park, county fairs, etc.

Expert Tips

One of the great things about curated content is that anyone with good online research skills has the ability to curate. For example,  recently I was having trouble with a virus trying to take over my computer – so I Googled the phrase ‘remove conduit toolbar’. The first article that popped up was very useful by malwaretips.com. I haven’t done it yet, but based on the fact that people are always fighting viruses on their pc’s I could actually curate that article and maybe file it under PC Resources. Or, I could aggregate tips from various experts in the industry on a given topic into a list for one great piece of curated content.

Quotations

Years ago, probably one of the first blogs that I ever curated was written in celebration of Thanksgiving. At that time, all I did was put up about 10 Thanksgiving quotations (found at quotegarden.com) and added a Thanksgiving picture. Of course besides the quotations I added a couple of paragraphs of fresh content that talked about the season and why it was important not only to me, but also to our culture. Today, I would add value to the quotations by taking the curated content to the next level by adding images and overlaying the content to the quotations.

Books/Ebooks

Another great idea is to create a list of the Top books or eBooks in your specific industry. If you are actively learning in your industry you probably already have a stack of (printed) eBooks that you could reference (along with access links) to in an article.

Industry Examples

Recently I created a Construction website using curated content. I was having a hard time getting content from my client, so I just curated content from around the internet, sharing pictures (and sometimes written content) of the types of projects he is involved with on an ongoing basis. And, in every instance of curated content, I included gave credit the the website that I borrowed the pictures and description from.

FAQ’s and Glossaries

Many times I have curated Frequently Asked Questions and Glossaries. Oftentimes, when you are in an industry where the terminology feels like a whole new language, you can usually find someone who has taken the time to create a page of FAQ’s and/or a Glossary.This type of curated content is evergreen and may bring visitors back to your website over and over again, especially when your visitor is unfamiliar with your product or service.

Importance of Quality & Relevance in Curation

Final thought: no matter what type of content you’re curating, quality and relevance should always apply. No one wants to access a list of ten mediocre industry blogs. They want the best . The individual content elements you choose, therefore, should represent the utmost level of quality. In addition, make sure the content you’re curating is relevant to your audience. That aggregated list of funny viral videos may very well be funny, but if you’re not in the business of humor or marketing, it doesn’t belong on your blog.

Example of Curated Content (below) that could be posted in it’s entirety at your website.

NOTE: I included a link back to the source, and a reference to the author – Steven Rosenbaum and I also included (at the bottom) Comment by Lynn Albro to explain to the visitor why I thought the content was important to share.

5 Tips for Great Content Curation

Source: Mashable.com ~ By Steven Rosenbaum is the CEO of Magnify.net and author of Curation Nation.

You’ve heard the buzz word — curation — being thrown around like it’s a gadget we all know how to work. In reality, good content curation isn’t as simple as pushing a share button. It’s actually a combination of finding great content and following some simple best practices on how to successfully share that content.

If you’re a curator looking for some boundaries in what feels like the Wild West, here are five best practices to consider.

1. Be Part of the Content Ecosystem

Be part of the content ecosystem, not just a re-packager of it. Often, people think of themselves as either creators or curators as if these two things are mutually exclusive. What a curator really should do is embrace content as both a maker and an organizer. The most successful curators include sites like The Huffington Post, that embrace the three-legged-stool philosophy of creating some content, inviting visitors to contribute some content, and gathering links and articles from the web. Created, contributed, and collected — the three ‘c’s is a strong content mix that has a measurable impact. Why? Because your visitors don’t want to hunt around the web for related material. Once they find a quality, curated collection, they’ll stay for related offerings.

2. Follow a Schedule

Audiences expect some regularity, and they’ll reward you for it. It doesn’t need to be a schedule that you can’t keep up with. If you want to curate three new links a day, and write one big post a week, that’s a schedule. Make sure to post at the same time each week. This is so readers know when to expect new material from you. Consistency and regularity will also bring you new users, and help you grow a loyal base of members who appreciate your work.

3. Embrace Multiple Platforms

It used to be that your audience came to you. Not anymore. Today content consumers get their information on the platform of their choosing. That means you should consider posting short bursts on Instagram, images on Pinterest, video on YouTube, and community conversations on Facebook. And don’t leave out established sites and publishers. If your audience hangs out on a blog, you may want to offer that publication some guest posts or even a regular column. Essentially, you have to bring your content contributions to wherever your readers may be.

4. Engage and Participate

Having a voice as a curator means more than creating and curating your own work. Make sure you’re giving back by reading others and commenting on their posts. A re-tweet is one of the easiest ways to help build relationships with fellow bloggers and curators. And your followers will appreciate that you’ve pointed them to good content. One word here, I never hit an RT without clicking through to read what I’m recommending. You can also lose followers if you don’t put in .the effort to recommend material that you really think merits their attention.

5. Share. Don’t Steal.

Take the time to give attribution, links back, and credit. The sharing economy works because we’re each sharing our audiences, and providing the value of our endorsements. If you pick up someone’s work and put it on your blog, or mention a fact without crediting the source, you’re not building shared credibility. You’re just abusing someone else’s effort.

The important thing to realize is that we’re increasingly living in a world of information overload. So when people choose to listen to you it’s because you’re able to separate signal from noise. You provide a clear, contextually relevant voice within the topic or topics that you create and curate.

Lynn Albro’s Comments: Lots of good ideas here, I especially like #4. Engage and Participate. The author shares ideas for building relationships with the authors behind your content curation. Not only will your audience appreciate a well written curated article, they will also appreciate the fact that they didn’t have to search for it around the internet. And, if you share curated content at your social media sites, you will most certainly drive traffic to your website.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Curating Blog Content

NOTE: I couldn’t say this better, so I curated it to share with you here…

Source: kunocreative.com ~ By Barb Schmitz

Curating content is a great way to stock your blog with fresh topics and increase traffic, but as with everything in life, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.  But first things fist. What is curated content? Content curation is the process of sorting through the seemingly endless amount of content on the web, selecting what is relevant to your audience and presenting it in a thoughtful, organized manner structured around a specific theme.

Right and Wrong Ways to Curate Content

Don’t just collect. Anyone can collect and gather online content. As a content curator, your job is to handpick the content most relevant and important to your community. This involves searching, vetting, organizing and presenting a customized selection of content on a particular topic.

Do position yourself as an authority. For organizations and brands, curating content is a great way to establish thought leadership and become the go-to authority on an important topic or issue. Visitors don’t want to waste time hunting around the web for info; they want to go straight to a source of customized content selected based on a common interest, niche or industry.

Don’t get content fried. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the daily over consumption of content directed at us. Digesting content in a meaningful, thoughtful way takes time, patience, discipline and perseverance. Reduce distractions and budget time slots for researching so you don’t succumb to data overload.

Do know your audience. It’s impossible to deliver content of value and interest to your visitors unless you know who they are. Taking the time to learn about their world, their pain points and their concerns will enable you to better research, collect and present topics of value to them.

Don’t just repost. Add value by making sense of the information for your audience. This can be as simple as how you annotate shared links or writing a blog post using links or summarizing key points from a presentation. Be sure, however, that your opinions support your organization’s communication objectives.

Do play follow the leader. Find the best content curators in your industry and follow them. You will learn a lot from experienced curators: how they have honed their craft, established ows, tools to use, and general how-to tips.

Don’t steal. Curating content isn’t about stealing someone else’s work. Be sure you take the time to attribute work, give links back and credit to the original creator. Providing a link to the original piece not only drives traffic back to the original site but also provides all kinds of back-end website value when it comes to web and search engine rankings.

Do use the right tools. Curation tools, such as Storify, enable you to pull content from blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and other sources and then export to WordPress, Tumblr or Posterous blog or share it on social media.

Don’t just repackage. Remember, the best content curators are also content creators. A good content mix that offers measurable impact requires you to create, contribute and collect content.

5 Ways to Engage Readers Through Curated Content

NOTE: Again, I couldn’t have said it better, so I curated it.

Source: marketo.com ~ By: Pawan Deshpande

Creating fresh content is a vital part of any content marketing strategy, but you don’t always have to start from scratch. Curated content – content written by other people, which you then organize and share – is a great way to show off your subject matter expertise. “Best of” lists, trend highlights, and news round-ups can all be completely curated, but still appeal to your readership.

The hard part is getting your audience to engage. Without audience engagement (comments, shares, likes, and so on), curated content isn’t doing all that it could be for your brand, or your blog.

Here are five ways to curate content that drives engagement:

1. Curate from a variety of sources.

Yes, you should be following and curating the major players in your niche (for instance, TechCrunch if you curate tech and startup news, or Apartment Therapy if you’re into home décor). But don’t limit yourself to the big names. If readers see the same three or four sources week after week, they may lose interest. Keep them on their toes by introducing readers to smaller, but still credible sources they may not know yet. These smaller, up-and-coming sites may be more likely to engage with you or share your stuff than the big A-list bloggers. The discovery of a new gem may also prompt regular readers to chime in too.

2. Think multi-platform.

Readers consume content in different ways, so don’t limit yourself to your own blog and social media channels. Think about ways you could repurpose your curated content into a webinar, ebook, white paper, or other materials. Brainstorm topics for guest blog posts you could contribute to other sites. Consider starting a podcast or web series to discuss the most interesting content you’ve curated and invite guest experts to weigh in.

If you have a high concentration of readers in one geographic area, host an in-person event so you can engage with readers (and they can engage with each other) offline. If your readers are scattered around the world, why not host a Google Hangout or a meetup at a major industry conference? Anything that gets people interacting in new ways is likely to drive deeper engagement, and repurposing content across multiple platforms allows you to get more mileage out of every idea.

3. Get reader input.

When readers are involved in helping to create content, they’re more invested in you and more engaged with your content. You could publish well-written guest posts from readers or create a poll to find out what type of curated content they want to read in the future. If you publish an email newsletter, encourage subscribers to email you with suggestions on topics they’d like you to curate, or with links they suggest your share.

This type of input also encourages your followers to become customers. Say that you’re publishing a book. Why not post a few different design options for the cover, and have readers vote on the final cover design, or even on the title? This makes readers feel included in the process, which also boosts the likelihood that they’ll buy the book when it comes out.

4. Say something unexpected.

Annotation – or incorporating your own opinion instead of simply summarizing someone else’s piece – is a key part of content curation. Without your unique perspective, there’s no need for readers to visit your blog or website. After all, they can always read the original piece elsewhere online.

To compellingly annotate your curated content, try to say something fresh and new. If everyone is singing the praises of a hot new self-help book, can you think of a few challenges to the premise? If the original content creator predicts that Gmail tabs will destroy email marketing, why not post a few ways marketers could use Gmail tabs to their advantage? Always be respectful of other peoples’ opinions, but don’t be afraid to play devil’s advocate from time to time. You may have readers who agree, but are shy about voicing their opinions. Also be ready for a lively debate with readers who think differently.

5. Include a strong call to action.

Data shows that tweets using the phrase “please retweet” get four times as many retweets as other types of tweets. Calls to action are also a key component in blog posts, where you can encourage readers to share, comment, or take another action. Without this call to action (or CTA for short), readers may simply click over to a new window. Many blog posts conclude by asking readers for their opinions. Do they agree or disagree with the point of view you’ve just shared? Why or why not? These simple questions can spark conversations with your readers.

HOMEWORK

6:1. Choose a aggregate tool such as feedly.com

6:2. Choose at least 3 different types of curated content to share, find the content and then add 3 new posts to your website, see Curated Content Template

6:3 Share your curated content at your social media sites

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