In today’s digital world, content is king. But with over 3.2 million blog posts published daily, making more content is not enough to stand out. This is where content curation comes in. Content curation is the process of sorting through masses of content on the internet, then carefully picking and sharing the best pieces for your audience. A study by Buzzsumo found curated content gets 3x more social shares than original content. Curating excellent, relevant content from across the web is a proven social media and content marketing plan. In this complete guide, we’ll walk through the steps to make an effective content curation process. It covers keyword research, content discovery, optimizing and sharing curated content. You’ll learn key ways to use content curation to grow your audience, increase engagement, and improve SEO rankings. Let’s start!
Finding Content to Curate
The first step to a successful content curation process is knowing where to find excellent content to curate. Start by doing keyword research to identify relevant long-tail keywords that match your brand and appeal to your target audience. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Soovle can uncover keyword opportunities.
Next, use search engines like Google and YouTube to find recently published, on-topic content optimized for those keywords. Notice content types your audience likes, such as videos, infographics, and slide decks. Social platforms like Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn are great for finding share-worthy content.
Dedicated content discovery tools streamline curation research. For example, BuzzSumo lets you search by keyword and sort content by social shares. Meanwhile, Feedly gathers content from websites you follow. Other helpful tools are DrumUp, Curata, and Scoop.it.
Also, watch social media for shareable content. Set up listening streams for relevant keywords and related terms like “content marketing” and “inbound marketing.” Check trending hashtags and what influencers are sharing. Make lists of sources to watch like industry websites, blogs, and thought leaders.
Using keyword research, search, content discovery tools, and social listening will give a steady stream of timely, relevant content to curate for your audience.
Evaluating and Selecting Content
Once you’ve found excellent content to curate, it’s time to optimize it for your audience and share it through the right channels.
First, write compelling headlines that highlight the core value of the content. Also, include keywords for SEO. Introduce the curated content with a short paragraph summarizing why it’s worth reading. And make sure to link back to the original source.
Next, include strategic calls-to-action in your curated posts to drive traffic and conversions. For example, say “Download the full report” or “Learn more about this topic.”
Then, optimize meta descriptions for each curated post to boost click-through rates. Use power words that create interest.
After that, share curated content on your social media channels, email newsletters, and website. Schedule posts ahead of time using tools like Hootsuite and Buffer. Put curated content into your email newsletter between original articles.
Finally, use content curation tools like DrumUp and Feedly to simplify finding and sharing content. These tools let you discover, curate, schedule, and track content in one platform.
Optimizing curated content and sharing it through the right channels will maximize its reach and engagement. This amplification spreads the value of excellent content you find.
Optimizing and Sharing Curated Content
Once you’ve found excellent content to curate, it’s time to optimize it for your audience and share it through the right channels.
To start, write compelling headlines that highlight the core value of the content. Also, include keywords for SEO. Introduce the curated content with a short paragraph explaining why it’s worth reading. And link back to the original source.
Next, include strategic calls-to-action in your curated posts to drive traffic and conversions. For example, say “Download the full report” or “Learn more about this topic.”
After that, optimize meta descriptions for each curated post to boost click-through rates. Use power words that create interest.
Then, share curated content on your social media channels, email newsletters, and website. Schedule posts ahead of time using tools like Hootsuite and Buffer. Put curated content into your email newsletter between original articles.
Finally, use content curation tools like DrumUp and Feedly to simplify finding and sharing content. These tools let you discover, curate, schedule, and track content in one platform.
Optimizing curated content and sharing it through the right channels will maximize its reach and engagement. This amplification spreads the value of excellent content you find.
Measuring Results of Content Curation
Once you start regularly curating and sharing content, it’s important to measure the results so you can improve your strategy over time.
To begin, track engagement metrics on each curated post. Look at social shares, clicks, comments, and conversions. Compare engagement rates between curated content and your original content.
Next, see how curated content impacts your SEO rankings. Track keywords in Google Analytics and Search Console. Content curation provides more high-quality backlinks which can increase domain authority.
After that, analyze social media insights using your various channel analytics. Look at reach, engagement, clicks, follower growth and engagement. See which types of curated content resonate best.
Then, set specific benchmarks for your top metrics to evaluate the impact over time. For example, aim for 50 social shares per curated blog post or a 10% increase in organic traffic from keywords related to curated content.
Continuously improving your curation process based on results will maximize the return on your time spent. The right analytics will show what’s working and what’s not. Refine your strategy to increase value for your audience.
Conclusion
In summary, content curation is a powerful way to stand out from the noise and give your audience timely, excellent content. By taking time to research keywords, use content discovery tools, optimize curated content, and share it across channels, you can see major benefits. These include increased website traffic, social engagement, and better SEO rankings.
The content curation process takes initial time, but the long-term rewards are huge. Focus on finding and sharing content that truly benefits your audience rather than just promotional content. Measure your results over time and keep refining your content curation approach.
To recap, consistently curating great content allows you to become an industry thought leader. You amplify excellent content while also boosting your own reach and authority. Try the tactics in this content curation guide to take your marketing results to the next level. Developing a strategic curation process is one of the most valuable things you can do.
Resources for Content Curation
Finding the right tools and resources is key to developing an effective content curation strategy. There are many options out there, so we’ve compiled this list of helpful content curation resources to get you started:
- Sprout Social – Sprout Social is a social media management platform. Their blog provides a helpful overview of what content curation is and tips for curating content strategically.
- HubSpot Blog – HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform. Their blog has an in-depth post covering 10 top content curation tools for marketers. It includes details on how each tool works.
- SocialPilot – SocialPilot is a social media management tool. Their blog lists 12 classic content curation tools and explains how each one can be used for curating and sharing content.
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