Content Curation – Is It Just Auto Blogging?
This is pretty much the question that was posted on the WPGM Forum 3 weeks ago by one of the highly esteemed members (I don’t just call him that coz he took me to dinner when he was in town last). Well content curation seems to have passed me by!
Rob from Internet Marketing in A Hour A Day jumped in and shared a load of info on what it is and what software there is out there. To make it short and sweet, think of news sites like the huffington post, they take a news article give it their own spin and then link back to the original. I really respect Rob and he is all over this curation thing like a rash (I am not saying he has a rash of any kind, I don’t know him that well), So I offered to run a test and here is what I found..
Links From The Video Here
Magazine Style Plugin I mention in the video (it is actually 2 plugins, one for posts and one for pages), this is one of the must have plugins for any wordpress install in my opinion.
The way of doing content curation I mention in the video is probably not the highest level version of the art but it was a quick and dirty test. Did it work? Well watch the video and see what you think.
Content Curation Software – I haven’t tried this yet but I am going to take it for a run over the weekend and will let people know my thoughts.
Have you tried this, do you have success stories, any tips and tricks to share with us. Please do share your thoughts and stories in the comments
Hi Paul, Ive never even looked at, or heard about this.
I own an established site that does well on Adsense. Its always had 100% unique content and Ive been working on BMR links to it in recent weeks. Im trying to “up” the amount of content I add to the site, and was thinking of 100% unique anyway, but this could be an alternative, or at least an extra method of adding content I can mix in with the regular content creation.
Thanks for taking the time to do the video,
Shaun
Hi Shaun
When you think of the work for BMR, 150 words of unique content, would the same amount of effort spent on a curated post be better use of your time?
I don’t honestly know if it is a better use of your time, or if it will be as effective for increasing income but i do think it is worth testing out on a site or two
Paul
true… Im doing all the work myself at the moment, only focusing on 2 sites for maximum impact, so I think I can do this.. no extra time tho, so why not.
Paul, I loved this video! I see many possibilities for quality, authority, and product funnels here. Thanks.
Cheers,
Mary Greene
Mary
Glad you enjoyed it, I do think that if you did some content curation of authority pieces along with longer unique content (which could even refer back to the other shorter posts) you could help build an authority site.
Paul
Hi Paul I have been doing something sort of the same but adding relevant posts . I use BMR also but not sure how much it is helping . Like you I think the constant added content and if relevant it works . it seems to me it is doing more work watching what your customers are looking for. I watch my statpress for the terms that are questions.
Then check and find keywords that are low competition high traffic just using the free adwords keyword tool. My traffic went from 50 to 90 clicks a day to some days over 240. I am not really sure what to use for seo after the panda shake up but this is the best idea I have found. and your video sort of reproves it as well.
The other big change to get things rocking is to go back to promoting one website a big site with age and authority. It has always had original content on it. It has not always been readable . I had to learn to write as well. If you find any more great ideas I for one would really be interested. Thank you for sharing and If I find more I will post them here as well if you like.
Hi Bruce
While I think the constant content matters , I do wonder if linking out to high quality sites had something to do with the increases. If you start doing content and links and something else it can be hard to definitively know what is helping.
I laughed at the learning to write comment, this is maybe why we need to do something we are interested in. It is generally easier to write about things we have vague knowledge of and at least give a rats about.
Paul
Thanks for the video Paul. This sounds worth a try, especially if SEO is not involved as that takes up so much time. This is writing for the visitor rather than the search engines nso is bound to create readership and time on site. Please keep us updated.
Wendy
Really enjoyed this post – am going to have a go. Thank you
Hi Paul cool study. been hearing about all the big bucks tools out there for content curation Not hearing any results. . Wonder if google reader would help any more with the content gather. have some dole drum blogs to try it on to . thanks for reviving post ,cheers
I think if you can do it with no software (and this is from someone who sells software!) it has to be a good thing doesn’t it?
Consistent action
Be careful where you link to
Paul
Here, here!!
Good video on content curation.
I’ve been working on this on one of my sites and it seems to be helping with traffic.
Thanks for the video, Paul.
I assume this post … http://www.thenewbiehelper.com/does-the-date-of-your-post-matter/ … is the way you do your content curation.
Well noticed George!
That was a quick example that I did here and should probably have done before I did the video post. You can expand the posts as far as you wish, although I think where we link to matters in the equation
Thanks for sharing so much of your data Paul. Looks like you just lucked into a good system for curating. I have not started this yet. I tried out a training in curation but thought it poor. and I hit the refund button.
The software only makes things a little easier but will be cool when you have a handful of sites.
Good luck with your next trials – they are both competitive and will be a very good test of the power of the method.
Alex
Hi Alex
Thanks for your comment, I am not sure that anything I have seen so far, software wise, is any better than setting up google reader or even just alerts. I wonder if the products are all making this all a lot more complicated than it needs to be.
I imagine it is all harder in niches that you have no real care for. Not sure how much news there is to curate on tube socks, fireplaces or most products in general
Paul
Great info, Paul! Curated content has been around since the Internet began. It was one way we connected before Yahoo developed into a useful alternative for finding sites on a particular topic.
I’m thrilled to see curated content return to popularity. And, I think it’s becoming essential to have (and use) curated sites. Search engines simply cannot keep up with the volume of webpages added every minute, and the complexities of content, especially when “black hat” tactics and loophole exploits skew the search engine results.
So, I hope lots of people start curating content to make the Internet a more interesting place. I’m adding my own how-to info as time permits, and in response to questions about curated content.
Though it’s not actually a new concept, it’s new to most people. So, I’m delighted when someone with authority — like you — talks about this.
Thanks!
Hi
Thanks for coming over, I remember the days when Yahoo was useful! I did take a look through your blog and you clearly put a LOT more effort into your curation than I do. I am not sure what level of effort brings the biggest return.
I see you also mentioned youtube videos, I did not even look at them. A friend of mine had some problems with a dcma warning (or similar) about including a youtube video on her site and she ended up losing her adsense account (which may or may not have been related of course). I am wary of putting videos that I do not control on pages.
You mention 4 hours for one piece, I don’t work 4 hours a week sometimes never mind about spending that long on one piece. More power to your elbow as we say in the UK.
I have the feeling that my process will evolve and I will share more as it does.
Paul
Great post, Paul.
I do believe linking back to authority sites such as the NY Times,
Chicago Tribune, CNN, etc., gives your site more credibility
in the eyes of Google.
I have done this both for my sites and for
other people who are very successful. It is a simple
matter to quickly rewrite an article or to just sum it up.
I also look for quotes from major universities such as
Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, etc. It works to include
the name of an institution in a Google search, i.e.,
“cure for vertigo” + “Johns Hopkins.”
I know marketers that put up Adsense sites that are nothing but
synopses of news articles on specific subjects.
Think about it — if you are ardent about a subject, finding a site
made up of current news stories is probably what you are searching
for — and you will spend a lot of time reading the content.
Hey Paul,
Thanks for sharing your method and results. You demonstrate that just short frequent posts can be effective in drawing traffic. I have that in mind for a couple sites. I’ll start with one today. Please write more as you see more results.
Deb
At the end of the video you talked about adding links to the content curated articles. I think if you’re pulling these from the news, perhaps just a BMR post would be enough to make it stand out from other autoblogs pulling the same content.
Nice experiment.
Hi Paul,
It has been a while since my last purchase your article helper. BTW, Just to let you know. I had a WP website which was created by WF member to create content for Adsense. To cut the story short, in one of the content post (which covers more than 1000 words), I noticed he uses a plug-in which capture a related paragraph from a different website and paste the exact content onto the middle part of the content and repeatedly doing that (a total 4 exact copy paste related paragraph in between the original content) and wallaa there you have it 1500 words content. My Question:
1) In your opinion, is it wise to redo/rewrite this “curated content” on all of my post/pages?
2) Can I still use this plug-in but limit the curation to once in 2 weeks like in your video above?
Appreciate your expert advice. Thanks
Hi Shahril
This is only my opinion..
Copy and pasting in lumps from another site is not “curating” it is just copy and pasting.I believe that the percentage of unique content matters, if you do include a quote or two from the original that is ok as long as it makes a small % of the total page. By small I mean 10%-15%.
Use the software to drag in the quotes, but then rewrite them would be my advice. Content curation is definitely the hot topic of the moment and everyone seems to have a different idea on how to do it best. Less sites with better posts, or loads of sites with automated posts? I would go for the less posts options nowdays
Hope this helps at least a bit
Paul – I’m wondering how your website is structured. You mentioned that you didn’t change the home page. So where does the new content go? Are there tabs or links on your home page?