How Blog Content Curation Can Help You Write Stellar Posts

Creativity, expertise, and time — these are the essential elements of a successful blogging strategy, but they’ll only take you so far in reaching your target audience. Even if you’re already getting a return on your blog marketing, there are always new readers to attract and new markets to break into. So, if you’re feeling like your returns are stagnating, it might be time to infuse some new life into your blog. 

You can elevate your blogging strategy by harnessing some of the great content that’s already out there on the internet. This is what’s known as blog content curation. It’s a great option whether you’re just growing your blog or wanting to present something new to your existing followers.

What is blog content curation?

Blog content curation is when you select content from other creators and feature it on your own site. Remember, “curation” is the key term here. Essentially, you’re carefully choosing what content to offer your readers and contextualizing each piece with lead-in commentary or captions so readers know why you chose it. 

Curation lets you feature some of the best and brightest bloggers in your market niche. It gives your readers a taste of quality content on the topics that interest them. You offer a value-add with your own take on the content, letting readers know why they should take the time to have a look. 

Blog content curation can include social media posts, but you might also use the best of videos and thought leadership pieces. With proper attribution, the options are endless.

The benefits of blog content curation

You’ll see the advantages of blog content curation quickly once you start using it. Firstly, you should notice an increase in website visits and engagement as your visitors browse through various content types, such as video, imagery, and graphics.

Visits and engagement are critical to your bottom line. A survey found that 80% of people believe brand experience is as important as products and services. Engagement develops long-term relationships, which can lead to greater sales.

Secondly, blog content curation allows you to produce more content without spending extra time, effort, and resources on things such as physical photoshoot setups and design graphics. It’s a way to make your site a “one-stop shop” for your industry or market niche. 

When your followers want to know what’s the latest in your area of knowledge, they will go to your blog first. That sets you up as an expert, which creates a positive association with your business or brand. 

Let’s say you’re a gift shop on a busy commercial street. Devoting a part of your blog to community content from neighboring shops, nonprofit organizations, and schools can help you develop a following of curious locals who want to know what’s going on in the area. 

How does blog content curation support SEO

Blog content curation helps improve search engine optimization (SEO). When done right, curating content can increase the amount of time visitors spend on your site. They might also visit other areas of your digital real estate, including your product pages.

These actions decrease the bounce rate, which is the rate at which visitors land on your site and then leave without taking action. A low bounce rate indicates a positive user experience (UX). And a good UX design is one of the top eight ranking factors for appearing higher in Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), allowing more people to see your offering.

Don’t forget the authority you get from when the original content creators link back to your pages. These elements — backlinks, high page time, and increased engagement with content — are all factors Google takes into account when ranking content on its browsers. The better your online reputation, the higher you’ll appear on organic search rankings. 

Blog content curation examples

Here are five examples of how to curate content for your blog. These content curation blog examples show the kind of content you might want to feature and how to package it on your site.

Roundup posts

Roundup posts are a collection of “must-see” or “must-read” posts on a particular topic. A common type of roundup post is “this week’s must-read posts from around the web.” This gives your readers a handy guide to what’s happening in your niche’s media, and they can pick and choose which articles to read. 

Remember, curation is key. Instead of simply reposting these articles, collect snippets and links into a post of your own. Introduce each item and say why you’ve done so and what the reader gains from having a look. 

Trend analysis

Trend analysis is when you use your own investigation and expertise to offer insight into what’s going on in your market niche. You can select articles and event reports to explore the trend. 

Let’s say you have a jewelry blog and want to post a trend analysis of recyclable materials. You can feature social media posts from jewelry makers using these materials, articles about consumer demand, and markets or fairs dedicated to products made from recyclable materials.

Expert insights

Expert insights are when you feature the knowledge and analysis of others in your industry. You could have a feature interview with a notable thought leader or invite guest contributors to your blog. Expert insights are a great way to give your readers access to a range of valuable ideas.

If you run a fashion or beauty blog, an interview with a designer or makeup artist can give readers a first-hand account of what it’s like to work in the industry.

Infographics and visual content

Your blog also needs a visual appeal to elevate the interest of readers. Curating content into an infographic can make the blog look good while offering valuable information.  

Let’s say you run a health and wellness blog. One infographic idea is “quick and healthy meals for every season,” where you curate recipes from food blogs and combine them into a visual representation for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. At the same time, you can highlight each chef or food blogger with a brief intro as to why readers should check out their meal. 

Since infographics are visual, consider the colors and graphics of each one to increase their appeal.

Case studies

Businesses often feature case studies to demonstrate how clients have found success with a product or service. This is a great way to curate content, as it has the added benefit of showing real-life examples of how to do things right in your industry. The result is practical takeaways for your readers that they can model or use for inspiration. 

Let’s say you run a digital marketing blog. Your curated case studies could highlight how different businesses put theory into practice, using specific digital marketing strategies to improve sales or accelerate growth.

Why curate content for blog posts?

Blog content curation is a way to collect and distribute high-quality content. But why should you do it? Why don’t you just develop your own content from scratch? What are the other benefits of content curation?

Sharing the content of others saves you time and money on your digital content strategy. It also allows you to “piggyback” on the popularity of other content creators. Think about it: when was the last time you were scrolling the social media feed of a brand and stopped because you saw a celebrity or personality you enjoyed watching?

There are other important reasons blog content curation is a valuable strategy:

Helps you get quality content out faster

Curation can help save time producing blog content, as you’re not developing it from scratch. Chances are, you’re already following other blogs and media sources from which you’ll curate content, so all it takes is choosing pieces and fitting them to your blog with proper attribution. This takes fewer hours than researching and writing your own content from scratch.

Improves your blog’s visibility with backlinks

By creating a blog that features your own original content and high-quality curated content, you can develop a strong following and raise your profile as a reputable blogger in your industry. First and foremost, you’ll get more backlinks, which is when other sites link to your blog. These backlinks drive referral traffic to your blog and contribute to your SEO efforts.

Keeps you on top of industry trends

By regularly looking outside your own content marketing efforts to curate pieces, you’re keeping up-to-date with what’s new in your industry. This is beneficial for your business as you can have an ear on what’s going on and can pivot your business accordingly. It’s also great for your blogging strategy, as your followers will recognize you as an authority on your niche. 

Builds and maintains an engaged audience

By curating content and adding commentary, you’re creating a conversation around issues relevant to your business. This can make readers more engaged and prompt them to join the conversation. Audience engagement is critical to maintaining and building interest in your blog content.

Positions you as a knowledgeable thought leader

Thought leadership is when individuals in an industry change the conversation by bringing forth new insight. By curating blog content, you’ll demonstrate you have a wide scope of knowledge about your industry. You’ll also have the opportunity to offer your own take on the issues. In this way, you’ll show yourself as someone who can go one step beyond conventional wisdom and say something new. 

How to start curating content for your blog

Here are the best practices for curating content to help you get started:

1. Choose reliable sources for original content

When you curate a piece of content, you’re vouching for its credibility. Whatever you select reflects your reliability and trustworthiness not only as a blogger but as a brand owner and ambassador. 

Select trustworthy sources for your content. If it’s a new creator, do a quick check to learn a little bit more about them before you encourage your readers to engage. 

2. Add your thoughts and annotate your sources

Your readers go to your blog because of your insight, so it’s important to provide it even with curated content. Introduce the curated content with your perspective about why the piece is interesting and worthy of additional highlight. You can also offer a value-added commentary on the issues brought up in the curated piece. In your lead-in to the piece, mention where the original piece came from and who was the creator. 

3. Compile a list of aggregated content

Whenever you collect a range of content, you’ll want to make it easy for your readers to reference it. You can do this with a list of aggregated content. An example of aggregation is snippets of articles from other sources, where you have the title and source of each article, along with a short blurb, organized into categories.

4. Properly cite your content sources

Content curation should be obvious. It’s important to say outright you are showcasing the work of others. Mention the creator’s name and include a hyperlink to the original source.

Let’s say you’re creating a post about ten must-read articles on current events that impact small businesses. Each entry can include an introductory blurb, such as “Suleika Smith discusses how inflation impacts consumer buying trends in this online publication.” You’d replace “this online publication” with the name of the site and/or article and a hyperlink to it. 

Remember, citation also applies to visual content, so credit photos, videos, and social media posts, too. 

Blog content curation vs content creation: what’s the difference?

Content curation and content creation can both be important parts of your blogging strategy. But they’re quite different. Curators select the best pieces of content created by others while creators develop new content from scratch.

Content creation involves brainstorming and researching ideas to develop new pieces. Content curation requires your reflective take on each curated piece, highlighting why readers should check it out.

Power your digital marketing strategy

Blog content curation can help elevate your content strategy. It can save time on content development, attract a more diverse audience, boost engagement, and position your business as a trusted authority. And all this will positively impact your bottom line.

But even the best blog content curation can fall short without the right digital marketing strategy. You will want your curation efforts to reach the right people at the right time, whether through email, social media, or SMS marketing.

The good news is that Constant Contact can help you achieve this with minimal effort. Our drag-and-drop email templates and automation will allow you to send just perfect emails tailored to your specific audience at the right time with little manual input. And our social media and SMS marketing tools will aid you in expanding your reach and connecting with customers with relevant and efficient messaging and content.

Contact us at Constant Contact to learn more about how we can fuel your blog content curation efforts.

Next, sign up for our Hints & Tips newsletter