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How exactly do YOU do content curation?

by theultimate1
12 replies
Hello Warriors,

I have a domain lying around that's not been used in quite a while since I bought it. I want to test curation with this domain. It addresses a particular very-much-in-demand niche.

I want to understand how exactly YOU go about content curation, if you're doing it.

What plugins (content aggregation, curation, quoting, linking-to-source, etc.) do you use, and why?
What 3rd party content partners (zemanta, outbrain, etc.) do you use, and why?
What are some of your best practices about running a curated website?
How do you promote your posts?
How do you drive traffic to your curated websites? Do you rely on social media? Or do you rely on platforms like zemanta, outbrain, etc.?

I understand that these are 'too many questions all at once', but I haven't come across something that tells me this is exactly how one person (who's successful at it) does it, when it comes to the 'actually doing it' part.

Thanks for your thoughts.. in anticipation
#content #curation
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    The Huffington Post and the Drudge Report are two very successful examples of the curation model.

    Curating content can be likened to a museum director curating an exhibit. The word curate means to organize, to pull together, to select for presentation.

    So the site owner goes online in his/her niche and organizes (selects) interesting news, events, stories, articles, even products and presents them on his own site (typically a blog platform).

    Those presentations are not copied or printed in their entirety . . . just small snippets of the content chosen are given in order to bring attention to the full article and site where they appear. Attribution back to the site so your readers can see the original piece is very important.

    Curation works because it is focused on a niche topic and it is seen as a hub or authority site in the niche. It's the one place to go to read all the day's important news and commentary in the niche.

    Curation also includes the curator's "take, " "opinion," or views on each news item presented. For the curator (you) it's not about just saying "look what I found here" or "you should see this article." You want to develop a voice, a persona, a personality who is an expert in the niche and can be relied upon to give important and valuable comment to the information you curate.

    So the visitors to your site come to see what the expert in the niche has found of interest online and what he has to say about it. They come for organized, interesting, and the latest info in the niche rather than having to search all over online to find this same information for themselves.

    I have found no plug-ins that help much. Some purport to do everything for you (as the curator). Here's the problem with such tools - they take the work out of the human experience. Based on key words, they go out into the Internet and find and post articles on a topic. But that's not curation. Bots don't have a voice, they don't think, they can't provide human commentary. The people who create these plug-ins don't really know what curation is all about.

    Promoting your curated site and driving traffic to it is really no different than what you would do for any niche blog. I'm not going to go into that because this post is already way too long. But just be very targeted in the niche and go after those who will be passionate about your niche subject.

    Good luck to you,

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
    Thanks Steve.

    I wasn't looking at running an autoblog. But, it isn't also true that plugins won't help at all. They'll help aggregate the content for me to go through (from my chosen sources), and pick out interesting ones that I can add my 'voice' to. That's what I was after.

    I've been a freelance writer for nearly 8 years now, so I definitely understand the importance of the human experience and having a different voice that provides value to the target audience.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

      it isn't also true that plugins won't help at all. They'll help aggregate the content for me to go through (from my chosen sources), and pick out interesting ones that I can add my 'voice' to. That's what I was after.

      Ultimate,

      I agree, content aggregators can be helpful in gathering articles, blog posts, and other content from which you select to review for your own curation. Recognize that they do have their limitations and won't always give you the best and most up to date information. I would use such tools as one source of potential material. I would think you would also want to visit authority sites in the niche, portals, hubs, forums, niche news sites, and even niche magazines. The more comprehensive and "breaking news" you can curate, the more your site will become the leader in the field.

      This brings up another thought that I have about curation. The bulk of the work of this model, IMO, is reading, gathering, and analyzing the various pieces of content you find and then have to decide what to curate.

      That's part of the reason people look for software to take that human work out of the process. It takes time, effort, and thought to be good at understanding the niche and finding and reporting on relevant high quality content. Tools like bots and aggregators that return articles based on a keyword don't always turn up the highest quality material or the "latest and best" information. That's what the curators for.

      The curator also provides commentary and insight. Theoretically, software and plug-ins might get to that point someday, but right now I know of no such tool that will replace an intelligent human.

      Good luck with your curation,

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author AlexBisset
        So, to start off with, my company uses Opentopic's content marketing platform to find, curate and share content. Opentopic allows you to filter content based on keywords and then publish it directly to connected social channels, newsletter templates and other web applications. We've found it really useful, particularly helpful with content discovery. Because it pulls data from multiple channels and displays them all in one dashboard, I think we've saved a lot of time. We don't have to actively seek out the infomation and news in our industry by going to FB, Twitter and News sites separately to gather the information.

        It's really important that when you curate content you put your spin and perspective on the content. Always indicate that you've referenced another article and provide a link back to that site. Content Curation is a good practice because it allows a brand/company to really take a broad topic and add value to it for their niche. It not only allows users to experience current trending and important news, but it allows them to experience it in a frame of reference and point of view that's relevant to them.

        We're not currently doing any paid media or paid content discovery, as we don't have the budget for it. We're building a brand through content marketing and establishing ourselves as thought leaders in our industry, which works in conjunction with SEO. We've seen positive change in organic traffic. I agree with Steve--you are trying to reach those who will be passionate about your niche subject.
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        • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
          Originally Posted by AlexBisset View Post

          So, to start off with, my company uses Opentopic's content marketing platform to find, curate and share content. Opentopic allows you to filter content based on keywords and then publish it directly to connected social channels, newsletter templates and other web applications. We've found it really useful, particularly helpful with content discovery. Because it pulls data from multiple channels and displays them all in one dashboard, I think we've saved a lot of time. We don't have to actively seek out the infomation and news in our industry by going to FB, Twitter and News sites separately to gather the information.

          It's really important that when you curate content you put your spin and perspective on the content. Always indicate that you've referenced another article and provide a link back to that site. Content Curation is a good practice because it allows a brand/company to really take a broad topic and add value to it for their niche. It not only allows users to experience current trending and important news, but it allows them to experience it in a frame of reference and point of view that's relevant to them.

          We're not currently doing any paid media or paid content discovery, as we don't have the budget for it. We're building a brand through content marketing and establishing ourselves as thought leaders in our industry, which works in conjunction with SEO. We've seen positive change in organic traffic. I agree with Steve--you are trying to reach those who will be passionate about your niche subject.
          I just checked it out. Opentopic looks good. Are you on their basic plan? How much does it cost?
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          • Profile picture of the author Steve B
            Alex,

            Thanks for the share about Opentopic. I agree that a service like this can help with content discovery . . . although there are limitations. In many niches, some of the most valuable content, the latest news, and the events that are helpful in the niche will never be discovered because the sources are not tagged and/or they may not show up in the usual search engine results.

            Not only that, true curation is all about presentation and the analysis, commentary, and helpful insight of the expert. You get none of that with plug-ins, software, or bots that I am aware of.

            Opentopic republishes aggregated sources to various channels - which could be a good thing for certain business models - but it does not provide true curation which, by it's very definition, requires a curator to choose suitable content, present it in a unique way, and add the curator's commentary based on his/her expert opinion and experience in the niche.

            Content discovery and aggregation can aid the curator in identifying possible sources of content to curate . . . but none of the bots or software I've seen actually do the curation. To me, that's the whole point of this business model. It goes beyond gathering content and republishing it.

            Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
    Techmeme is more of a content aggregator. That's different from curation, technically.
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  • Profile picture of the author RonGold
    Soooo you want to be spoonfed?
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    • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
      Originally Posted by RonGold View Post

      Soooo you want to be spoonfed?
      Thanks for calling it that. If I could have that, I might as well have asked someone here to do it for me, for free.

      You realise what I'm trying to convey, yes?
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  • Profile picture of the author jeremy49
    Using Alltop.com might help
    They have pages dedicated to interest which reveal the top blog articles.
    here is the bollywood page

    As a thought you can use this to find appropriate articles for your niche
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    There is the RIGHT way and there's the LAZY way.

    Lazy = autoposters and RSS rippers and collage automators = worth less than the steam rising off a freshly-laid turd

    Right = Summarize the idea of the content source and compare/contrast it with other content sources to engage the reader and add value to the reader's life

    Don't fall for the classic IM lie that there's a 'turnkey' solution.... There isn't.
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