An alternative to writing your own original content is curating it from trusted sources. There are several common sense strategies to build your audiences legitimately using external clearly attributed content.
Define your strategy
Before you begin curating work out clearly what you want to achieve. Do you have credible domain expertise that you intend to amplify?
Keeping your focus relatively narrow will make your curation simpler. If it is too broad the sheer volume of content that you wish to curate can be overwhelming.
Sourcing, checking, attribution and context
Use a routine method for your curation. Find content that is relevant for your website; Save and organise it; Add your own context ~ why it is relevant to your readers.
Include the original source so that your readers can access or embed it for their own use.
In a world of growing ‘fake news‘ research your content thoroughly from multiple sources.
Curating authentic content is straight forward if sourcing established publishers, but can lead to content that is commonly available unless your established source has a scoop or exclusive content they obtained by extensive research and investigation ~ and you share it very early after it is published.
For example the Amelia Gentleman researched Windrush campaign where long term UK residents were classed as illegal immigrants and in many cases were wrongfully deported.
Content curation value
The value in content curation is that it increases your knowledge and demonstrates to your clients and followers that you are a useful resource. Mix curation content with your own original content to be seen as a leader or expert in your sector.
There are pitfalls that can occur when automating curation. If you set up keyword topic for articles and auto publish the search results directly in a daily newsletter or just add them to your site with no human intervention, then this ‘content aggregation’ will be obvious do to the poor quality.
Take the time to read and filter the best quality content before sharing it with you network. Your reputation is on the line here.
See more from Editorial Consultancy including Content Migration, Content Creation and Navigation
Simplified Summary
An alternative to writing your own original content is curating it from trusted sources. There are several common sense strategies to build your audiences legitimately using external clearly attributed content.