Content really is king when it comes to effective SEO. It’s not enough for your website’s content to be well-composed and keyword rich though. It also has to be timely and perfectly on point in regards to relevancy. Efficient content curation is the key to making sure all of your efforts and research really pay off in a big way.

What’s It All About?

The term “content curation” refers to the act of locating, collecting, and redistributing existing content in a way that’s useful or entertaining to your readers, followers, and customers. (If you have an active feed on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter that includes shares and retweets, then you’re already familiar with the practice.)

The content you curate for your website, blog, or social media feeds doesn’t necessarily have to be 100 percent original content written by you. Many successful businesses utilize a hearty mix of original work and content gleaned from other relevant sources. However, you should always make sure to include original insights or commentary on content that wasn’t written by you. Your followers really do want to hear why a particular post caught your eye in the first place.

How Does It Help Your SEO Strategy?

Keyword research and Google algorithms aren’t all there is to effective SEO. Factors like backlinking, social media shares, and overall engagement count for a lot in the eyes of the search engines as well. There’s only one surefire way to make sure those things are happening for you and your company in an organic, fruitful way – value.

Posts that resonate with people and get them talking are posts that put you on the map. Here’s how you can make sure yours do exactly that and more.

  • Take the time to really get to know your audience. Find out what they’re talking about and what matters to them. Pay attention to what they get excited about, and use what you learn to inspire posts that generate results.
  • Make sure your content adds real value to the lives of those that consume it. It should be timely, relevant, and engaging.
  • Pay close attention to the effectiveness of your posts, and include more of what delivers results in your future content curation efforts. 

You’ll want to make sure you’re tailoring your efforts to the unique vibe and style of each platform you utilize as well. What works well for you on Pinterest or Tumblr may not be as effective on Instagram, Reddit, or Flipboard, for instance. Experiment with different strategies until you figure out which ones work best for your company, products, and services.