Curating content is not new, in fact, it has always been there, news aggregation websites have been curating content from other news websites and from the wire since online news reporting began, and before that if you count newspapers and TV media.
What is content curation?
Content curation is simply a process whereby you write a post based on a given subject and within that post, you add snippets from other bloggers posts written on the same subject. Although this sounds like you are stealing other bloggers content it is deemed acceptable as you will be giving them full accreditation in the form of a link back to their blog post. When you write your post, you include a commentary running throughout linking all the snippets together, this makes the post very readable and adds your own slant.
Is this not Cheating?
Some could call it cheating, however, if it is done correctly and you only use a small snippet most bloggers would find it acceptable, don’t forget you have to research the subject thoroughly in order to allow it to be viewed as a quality post or it will give no benefit to your blog.
What content can be curated?
This is where the exciting bit comes in, you can curate any kind of content as long as you include a link to the author, for example you can curate written content, any video material, such as YouTube and Vimeo, or in fact any video which is shareable and can be embedded, images, news from aggregation sites, let your imagination take you there by trial and error (always be aware of copyright issues and check if you are unsure).
Can I Monetize Curated Content?
There are very well-known websites making millions of dollars by curating content for their readers, once you have built a quality website you will get subscribers and once you have subscribers you can advertise products to them, simple. based upon the theme of your website there will always be opportunities to monetize, however, if you are building a website from scratch it will pay you to think your niche through and do your research before you begin as some niches are easier to monetize than others.
Are there Examples of Successfully curated blogs?
There are a ton of hugely successful blogs with hundreds of thousands of active subscribers which have been built by curating content , here are a few: The Huffington Post founded by Arianna Huffington and was launched on May 9, 2005, and recently sold for a staggering US$315 million , Mashable is a great example of how a blog which was founded by Pete Cashmore and created I 2005 when he was only a teenager it attracts 50+ million monthly page views and has an Alexa ranking under 250 and was recently sold to CNN for US$200 million.
So, in conclusion, can curating content help create a better blog? in my opinion it is the way forward, and with Google recently stating that it favors sharing news and information it can only enhance your presence on the world wide web.
