What is Content Curation – A Basic Guide for Beginners

To build a strong online visibility, the underlying need is to serve the content needs of your prospective audience. There are two ways to achieve the same – content writing and content curation.

If you are opting for content writing, make sure it is original and effective. In fact, you need to aim that the content you post on the web must add to the existing knowledge base. If this is not achievable, in my view, you should opt for content curation.

To be a good curator you need to have an eye for valuable content available on the web. Besides, you also need to have a good working knowledge of the various useful content curation tools available. While going for content curation be mindful about the type of content you choose for curation. An ideally suited content is one that has a longer shelf life as it will ensure that the traffic you drive is sustained and doesn’t disappear within a day or two after publishing. And, for this reason, it is better to avoid news based content while going for content curation.

Why Opt for Content Curation?

The web is cluttered with information, and it has become an uphill task to search for accurate and valuable information on a subject. The ability of search engines to mine and bring out the best information to the crowd is restricted and only human intervention can help the cause.

Utilizing content curation, you can weed out bad from the good and present the most relevant information to your audience. You can even add your fresh perspective on the curated content, to make it even more valuable. By doing so, you help the web to be more organized and at the same time you are also cost effective in your efforts to win audience for your website or blog.

Developing original content is expensive and time consuming hence when the value addition does not justify the cost, a wiser approach is content curation. When you opt for content curation, you basically share what others have produced and so, not just the audience but also the publisher of the content appreciates it. Content curation also encourages interaction within the community which is one of the important objectives behind sharing information.

How Content Curation Works

Content curation begins with aggregating relevant content on a given subject. The process of aggregation can be simplified by identifying resources of value for the subject. You may select multiple sources that may be the gold standard for that topic. Once the content has been aggregated, you need to cherry pick the most relevant and valuable content for your audience. When you publish cherry picked content, make sure that you do some value addition, like adding your perspective and making an attempt to make it interactive by arousing the audience interest to participate.

For curated content to make sense you have to ensure that the content has a long shelf life. Contents with long shelf life include those which would make sense to your target audience not only today, but will retain its value over time. Examples of such content could be definitions of important terms or description of a methodology for a particular task or a process, FAQs on a subject and others.

There are many content curation tools that will not only make the curation job simpler but also add value to the process by enhancing its quality. Content curation tools help you aggregate curated content, identify content for curation and also assist in publishing and sharing the content.