How To Save Time And Drive ROI With Content Curation

Source: Neil Patel

I’m going to be honest with you.

I love writing. But even I’ll admit that it can be pretty exhausting.

The process of planning, producing, and editing original content can take days or even weeks to complete.

So I use a time-saving but money-making method that helps me publish content without burning out.

It’s called content curation.

Content curation is the act of collecting high-quality sources from the web and sharing it with my audience.

For example, when I can’t brainstorm new blog ideas, I share incredible insights or infographics from other online experts.

I save myself time and effort, and I help a fellow marketing nerd out by sharing his or her content.

And I still maintain my high online traffic. Sometimes it doubles!

Save time and drive your ROI by adding content curation to every stage of your marketing strategy.

Here are four easy yet powerful curation methods that will grow your online traffic:

• Report breaking news with newsjacking.
• Get influencers’ attention with round-up posts.
• Stay relevant with curated newsletters.
• Increase your social media following by reposting.

These methods might seem complicated at first. But luckily for you, I’m going to break down each tactic.

You’ll be a content curation master in no time.

Report breaking news with newsjacking

Newsjacking is very common in the journalism world. It’s when you paraphrase a news article, then add your commentary or interpretations to it.

Have you noticed that popular news and gossip sites always report on the same trending topics? And don’t claim copyright?

It’s because they’re using the same sources. Or they’re referencing each other.

For example, CNN will initially report an event. Then Business Insider will reference CNN in their summary of that event.

This practice is so popular because website traffic tends to explode from the relevance and timeliness of breaking news.

That’s how Mike Allton increased his website traffic by 2,500% by reporting on Vine.

When Vine announced that they were shutting down, Mike knew he had to write about it.

But first, he had to ask himself these three questions:

• Is the news interesting and relevant to my audience? (If not, ignore it.)
• Am I interested in writing about this news? (If not, share the original source.)
• Do I have time right now to write and publish an article? (If not, share the original source.)

He answered yes to all the questions and started working. He expanded on the Medium post, published the article on his blog and email list, and optimized it for SEO.

Soon, Google started ranking it high for keywords like “what’s happening to Vine.”

Usually, Mike’s blog posts get an average of 750 visitors over 30 days. But this blog post received 20,051 views over a 4-day period! That’s a 2,500% increase in traffic!

And as of today, it has been shared 1.3K times.

Get similar results by riding the waves of trending topics. But you need to understand that there’s a fine line between newsjacking and violating someone else’s copyright.

Here’s how to guarantee that you won’t get in trouble.

How to effectively newsjack

1. Be very selective.

Just because a topic is trending doesn’t mean you should report on it. The failure to be selective will cause a PR nightmare.

Not everyone can indulge in the positive press that Whataburger got for newsjacking the Meek Mill vs. Drake beef on Twitter.

2. Credit your sources.

To protect your credibility, you must credit the website, writer, or content page you took your information from.

Provide direct links to articles and the writer’s social media accounts. Put captions on images and embed their videos.

If they don’t have a writer profile, search their name on Google. Here’s how you can confirm a writer’s identity with Buzzfeed.

First, click on the writer’s bio.
You’ll be directed to the writer’s profile. Their social media and contact information will be displayed here.

Confirm their name and job title by visiting their social media accounts.

3. Offer your twist.

You have to work harder to stand out from the major media sites. Be unique by offering your opinion on a topic. It can be controversial, funny, or inspiring.

But it should never be boring. Expand on the news by taking the source content in a new direction.

Here’s Gary Vaynerchuk’s commentary on the success of Uber and Airbnb.

4. Don’t rush to be first.

Fake news has been a problem since long before the recent presidential election. When major news breaks, media sites rush to report it first.

But this shouldn’t be your mentality because you’ll be vulnerable to mistakes and untrustworthy sources.

I know this goes against the newsjacking model (presented below), but I recommend waiting 48 hours to report on the news.

But if you do want to publish first, be transparent by explaining that new updates on the story are coming.

5. Use relevant keywords.

When you’re done writing your article, it’s time to promote it.

Use the names of people, places, and events in your social media posts. Tag relevant people to piggyback on their audiences.

Like Mike from The Social Media Hat, confirm that your blog post is optimized to rank in Google.

How to find breaking and viral news fast

I just taught you the basics of newsjacking. Now I’m going to explain how to get the hottest news quickly.

Sign up for Google Alerts

Get the latest news on specific topics and keywords sent to your email inbox.

First, go to Google Alerts. Enter the keywords you want to monitor.

Google will give you a preview of the notifications they’ll send you.

Click Show Options. Filter your alerts by frequency, location, and source type.

Follow major news sites and subscribe to their newsletters.

Find what’s trending by following the leading media sites in your industry.

Read articles on their websites or watch videos on their YouTube channels.

But if you want daily updates, subscribe to their email newsletters.

You can subscribe by entering your email in a popup form. Or search for “website + newsletter” in Google.

Follow breaking political news by subscribing to CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC.

Get the latest celebrity news with DailyMail, Cosmopolitan, and People Magazine.

Find what’s hot online with Reddit, Buzzfeed, and Upworthy.

Get influencers’ attention with round-up posts

I love these pieces! They’re easy to digest and full of valuable information.

A roundup post is a collection of curated links or excerpts focused on a specific theme. These posts have many forms.

• Weekly compilations
• Lists
• Expert roundups
• Top or best of
• Content roundups

These curated blog posts are addictive to marketers and writers.

Use these posts as networking tools when you reach out to influencers. They’ll appreciate you featuring them on your blog and exposing them to your audience.

That’s how SEO expert Shae Baxter boosted her blog’s traffic by 80%.

She asked 44 networking experts for advice on how introverts can be social butterflies at parties.

The round-up post was a mega success with these results:

• Attracted over 960 social shares
• Generated 2,875 page views on the first day and 5,568 page views in the first week
• Generated a lot of inbound links
• Boosted her new blog’s organic search engine traffic by over 80%
• Got first-page ranking on Google for two target keywords

Heck, you can do a less serious post by copying and pasting expert interviews and articles. You’ll still get traction.

Just remember to credit your sources.

How to write a quick but effective round-post

1. Find an interesting topic.

Don’t waste time with information that isn’t relevant. Use social media, Buzzsumo, and Google’s keyword planner to find content that your audience wants to learn more about.

2. Do your research.

Search all over the web to find articles, products, or interviews that you can include in your post.

Spend time filtering through this mass content to find the best and most helpful…

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