Curating Content – Take It and Make it Your Own

Creating content means taking a blank sheet of paper and coming up with interesting and engaging content for your website that’s 100% unique and uses no information, facts or figures from anywhere else. Or in other words, it’s a bit like sitting down and writing the news instead of just reporting on it…not the easiest job by any means.This is precisely why about 99.9% of all business owners and web masters the world over rely on content curating processes as opposed to creation. As the name rightly suggestion, content curation is all about taking the information that’s already out there and putting it to work on your own website. And don’t be fooled into thinking this is cheating or an easy way out – outsource SEOto the most elite minds in the business and chances the vast majority will base their services around content curation.    Which of course leads onto the question of how exactly it is possible to use and reuse the same information over and over again without ending up with a carbon copy of someone else’s website. After all, there’s only so much news out there to be shared and plenty of folks looking to share it, so what’s a site owner to do?Far and WideWell, the first rule when it comes to avoiding making a carbon copy of another site is to always…always…source information from a wide variety of sites. Not only will this lead to a much richer and more unique blend of information, but you also rule out the chance of being accused of outright copying, which of course is a bad thing. From standard sites to articles and right through to resources like Wikipedia, the wider the variety, the better.A New PerspectiveAnother important tip is to make sure that whatever you have to say, you approach it from a perspective that makes it in some way different. If everyone is talking about the negatives of something, speak of the positives. If they’re talking about the downside for businesses, talk about the effect on the consumer. Feel free to go off on a tangent if necessary and really come out of nowhere with something fresh and different – this is what engages readers and impresses Google.Your Unique VoiceFrom the word go, be sure to establish your own voice and stick to it like glue. If you prefer to write informally and with a touch of humour, don’t expect to curry any favour if you keep slipping into the serious. Likewise, if you make it clear you’re opposed to something, don’t suddenly start sticking up for it out of the blue just to lick proverbial boot. Be you and only you – this is something none of your rivals can take from you.Invite Commentary And finally, perhaps the very best way of all to keep your content fresh, relevant, up to date and sharable is to invite your readers to do the hard work for you. When curating content, try bringing in the basics of a very interesting and relevant subject, then open the floor and allow anyone with an interest to get involved and share their two cents. Don’t forget though – you yourself have to lead by example and be very much involved, or chances are nobody else will bother.