{"id":12936,"date":"2017-05-21T14:43:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T18:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/promotelabs.com\/blog\/?p=12936"},"modified":"2022-05-03T02:43:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T06:43:56","slug":"content-curation-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/promotelabs.com\/blog\/content-curation-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Curation Best Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Content curation best practices are essential …<\/strong>Content curation is a strategy that bloggers and website owners use to gather and present digital content on a single category.<\/p>\n

It is not like content marketing where content is created and presented to readers. Content curation is all about choosing quality information on a single topic from a variety of different sources and presenting it in an organized way.<\/p>\n

The process can include gathering content from a single niche or theme, sorting it into an easy to understand arrangement then publishing the content.<\/p>\n

Content curation is one of the biggest trends in content development, and there are several reasons for that.<\/p>\n

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  1. It takes less time<\/strong> than traditional content development. You simply link to other people\u2019s content, perhaps with a short excerpt, and add your own unique commentary.<\/li>\n
  2. It gives you content ideas<\/strong> you might not have thought of on your own. Browsing websites in your niche will let you find all sorts of ideas quickly and easily.<\/li>\n
  3. Google loves it<\/strong> when you link out to other sites. It\u2019s not all about backlinks, anymore. Now it benefits you to link TO quality sites.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But there are a few pitfalls you might fall into when using content curation on your website. This post\u00a0is going to discuss some of \u00a0the content curation’s best practices, and how you can use\u00a0them on your own site.<\/p>\n

    You\u2019ll find out how to avoid potential legal problems, how to avoid mistakes that might upset Google and get your site penalized, and how to be sure you\u2019re using content curation properly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\" Link\u00a0ONLY Top Quality Content<\/h2>\n

    When you\u2019re in a hurry to get some content posted, it can be tempting to just Google your topic and link to a bunch of different articles without taking the time to really vet the content to ensure it\u2019s actually worth linking to.<\/p>\n

    Sure, it may have a spiffy image or a very interesting headline, but is the content itself well-written, informative, and interesting? \u00a0Or is it full of grammatical errors as though it were written by someone whose first language was obviously<\/u> not the language it was written in? Are there factual errors?<\/p>\n

    You should always take a few minutes to make sure the content you link to is easy to read and factual, even when you are in a hurry!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Not only that, but if you\u2019re linking to a site that has been banned by Google or is seen as spammy and has received a penalty, you could hurt your own website, too. Big time.<\/p>\n

    Be sure you\u2019re linking to quality content that is on domains that are in good standing with Google. (If you Google site:domain.com it will tell you how many pages are indexed from that domain. As long as there are a decent number of indexed pages, you\u2019re probably safe linking to it.)<\/p>\n

    Always check the content before you link to it to be certain that both Google and your readers would approve.<\/p>\n

    \"\"Chose a wide range of Sources<\/h2>\n

    One trap a lot of webmasters and bloggers fall into is using the same few websites on a regular basis, thus limiting their scope as far as content and SEO benefits.<\/p>\n

    Sure, you\u2019ll probably want to pull most<\/u><\/strong> of your content from a few trusted sources, but it\u2019s important to seek other sources from time to time, as well.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s tempting to fall into this trap because you know the sources you\u2019re using are posting only high quality content on a regular basis, and you trust those sources. But if you\u2019re only linking to those same places, you won\u2019t get as much SEO benefit and your visitors may just start going directly to those sources instead of your site because they see the same ones again and again.<\/p>\n

    Pinterest is a great place to find potential content, because it\u2019s all organized by keywords and it\u2019s represented visually, making it faster to find what you\u2019re looking for. Plus, there is content from thousands of sites in pretty much any niche.<\/p>\n

    Facebook is another perfect place to locate different sources. Just locate a few fan pages or groups in your niche and watch what is being shared. This is especially true if you\u2019re looking at fan pages that are NOT run by website owners.<\/p>\n

    \"\"Curate Different Types of Content<\/h2>\n

    Google loves to see a lot of different types of media on blogs and websites, not just articles. This means posting videos, infographics, PDF files, images, and so forth.<\/p>\n

    Fortunately, this means you can find an abundance of content just by searching sites like YouTube and Pinterest. (Remember, though, if you\u2019re posting images and such, you\u2019ll need to get permission to post the full document. Otherwise, you can only legally use a thumbnail sized image.)<\/p>\n

    Fortunately, YouTube allows embedding of their videos. In fact, they encourage it because it gets more views of their content, thus increasing value for advertisers.<\/p>\n

    Simply embed a video into your blog post or web page and describe the video with a paragraph or two of text. You can also work keywords into this text to be sure you\u2019re attracting search engine traffic with your post.<\/p>\n

    \"CuratedProvide Good User Experience<\/h2>\n

    Creating a good user experience means giving some thought behind what you post so don’t just have a software slap something on your site without vetting it first. Content curation can certainly be completely automated if you\u2019re not really interested in providing a good user experience and you don\u2019t really care what type of content shows up on your website, but there are several reasons you do NOT want to automate content.<\/p>\n

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    1. Google doesn\u2019t like automated content<\/strong>, and they could penalize or ban your site if that\u2019s all you\u2019re posting. (Or even if it\u2019s a majority of your content.)<\/li>\n
    2. AdSense has already stated that you\u2019re not allowed to post their ads on sites<\/strong> that are comprised primarily of automated video or article postings that offer no added value.<\/li>\n
    3. Spammy or offensive content could get posted<\/strong> on your blog and upset your visitors. Imagine a pornographic video being added to a blog about children\u2019s toys, for example!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The only way automated content might work well is if you moderate every single post BEFORE it goes live, simply placing those automated posts in review until you can check them for quality and add your own unique description to each one.<\/p>\n

      But I am not saying not to use automation to save time… manually looking for the most relevant content in a given niche and then publishing can be time-consuming so by all means use an automated system to gather your content. \u00a0Using services like Storify and Scoop.it to gather all your content into one place is a great way to help cut time in find relevant content easily. Because ultimately \u00a0a good user experience will save you time in the long run, giving you return traffic and a solid base readership.<\/p>\n

      \"content-curation-best-practices\"Give Proper Attribution<\/h2>\n

      Not to try to scare you off from using content curation but sometimes it straddles the line of copyright infringement if it isn\u2019t done correctly<\/em>. Considering you could face thousands of dollars in fines if you are found guilty of infringing on someone else\u2019s copyright, it\u2019s vital to be certain you\u2019re properly attributing all content.<\/p>\n

      Here are some ways to be sure you\u2019re following best practices as far as attribution:<\/p>\n