Back to the Basics of Content Curation

You have undoubtedly heard the term, content curation. In fact, you may be using curated content for your business as we speak. As you read the vast amount of material that is available to you on the Internet, you have come across content that is rather complex and convoluted. Getting back to the basics of content curation may be helpful at this point.

 The definition of content curation

If you are not familiar with the term, it can be explained in pretty simple terms. Content curation is defined as taking another writer’s content, sharing it on your website or social media channel(s) (with attribution to that writer, of course), and generally adding a commentary of your own. This will give your readers a new, insightful, hopefully deeper understanding of the topic and it will allow them to consider the topic in a fresh, new way. It is definitely to your credit if you can incorporate curated content into your overall content marketing strategy. You may be surprised at how many valuable pieces of content you can find on the web. You are enhancing your readers’ experience if you share it with them.

Although you are not starting from scratch when you choose to share curated content, you are still enhancing it with your own special touch. It is entirely possible that the content (before you started to work on it) was read on a very limited basis. Once you chose to work on it, your spin and your expertise and creativity may have caused it to go viral. It is all about giving your readers what they want and need. The truth is that what they want and need doesn’t always need to be original content that you write. The fact of the matter is that they will appreciate the widened perspective. You will be giving them a great deal to think about. Another side effect is that you will be creating a unity among your readers and they will have a desire to keep coming back, over and over again, for more interesting, insightful content about which they can relate. In many online situations, content is sifted and chosen by a non-human. In the case of content curation, it is  the human who is choosing to share that particular content. Considering that your relationship with your readers is critical, content curation is an extremely good idea (as long as you share a combination of original and curated content over time).

How is curated content positioned?

Well, as always, you must choose quality over quantity. That means that you should never share any content (your own or someone else’s) that is not top-shelf. The fact is that not all content is of the same quality. You will want to stay far away from the overtly promotional content. The approach of the content that you share should always be informational and educational. You are there to enhance the information of the reader, not to sell anything. Of course, your ultimate goal (just like anyone who is in business) is to sell your products and/or services. However, you need to build the relationship first so that there is trust and respect between you. With all of the content online today, it is really essential that you consistently share top-quality content. Not only is the person (or people) who wrote the curated content helping you and your business but you are helping them as well by giving them exposure. That will position them as thought leaders at the very least and as influencers at most. By using their content, you will be informing your readers about how great those authors products and/or services are.

The definition of content aggregation 

There are some additional terms whose definitions you will want to understand. Content aggregation is one of those. That means gathering content that is connected to your brand. There are many different ways (and examples) of content aggregation, such as a real simple search (RSS) feed. An RSS feed takes information from many different places and puts it into one repository.

Selection of content

With the tremendous amount of content that is available online, it is often a monumental task to choose the content that will work for your particular business. It often is not as simple as merely choosing content. It will also involve analyzing the content and ensuring that was you chose is really relevant to your readers and to your business.

Conclusion

Once you have found those gems of curated content, you will need to figure out which ones are the most valuable to share and to highlight in the most effective way possible. After all, you need to make the curated content your own in some way so that it will work well for your business. On the other hand, it is important to remember that content curation does not mean merely presenting someone else’s writing without any effort on your part. Your readers need to read what you think as well. In order to expand your knowledge and understanding of curated content and how to use it most effectively, you may also consider reading other people’s curated content postings. That will give you a healthy understanding of what and what not to do.

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