For many website owners, thinking of ways to improve content is like wandering in a fog – they’re not exactly sure what their customers are looking for, so they try to be all things to all people.

Unfortunately, this strategy seldom works out well as a content marketing plan.  Here’s what you can do to change that:

Where Are Your Buyers in the Buying Process?

Not everyone who visits your website wants, or is even ready, to buy or take the action you want.  Different visitors are at different stages of the process, and your content should “stack” accordingly to not only give them the information they want, but also let them know that you’re there to help them take the next step when they’re ready.

That being said, here are the five steps of the process, including what your customer  really wants, and how you can improve content on your website to be exactly what they’re looking for.

Your content should “stack” accordingly to not only give them the information they want, but also let them know that you’re there to help them take the next step when they’re ready

Recognition

Customer:  “Before I came to this page, I wasn’t truly aware of what the problem was. Now I better understand what I’m dealing with. My next step is to get more information on where to go from here.”

Looking for information on:  Preventing, treating, diagnosing, improving or changing current circumstances.

Your Content Strategy

Let the customer know that there is a solution available (but at this stage they aren’t yet ready to buy, so don’t push it), and inform them of what happens if they continue down their current path, with their problem unresolved or untreated.

This will spur them onto the next step in the process, which is:

Searching for Information

Customer: “I need to learn all I can about this, so that I won’t look foolish by making the wrong decision.”

Looking for information on: Identifying, understanding, or getting the bigger picture of the problem and possible solutions.

Your Content Strategy

Provide helpful, non-technical information on the possible options the customer has, and start to position your product or service as an answer (not THE answer – that comes next in the process…)

Evaluating Action

Customer: “I’ve gotten all the information I can.  Now it’s time to decide which course of action I’ll take from among my choices.”

Looking for information on:  Reviews of various solutions, testimonials, ratings, asking friends/family/colleagues, authority, trust and credibility

Your Content Strategy

Include relevant ratings, reviews, testimonials and social proof through your content. Answer the question of “Why should I buy?”   Don’t just look at your solution will help the customer – ask yourself “how can I prove it?” If you’ve won industry awards – share them and how you won them.

If you take orders online, consider testing with a security seal like Verisign or Norton as these are widely used and have better name recognition with the general public than some of the unknowns out there.

Purchasing

Customer: “Alright, I’m satisfied with what I’ve read and I’m going for it.  This had better work!”

Looking for information on: Getting their order shipped to them quickly, being updated along the way via email, along with the option to track their package. If you’re selling a digital product, they’ll be looking for instructions on how to download/open it and get started.

Your Content Strategy

Let the customer know approximately when the item will be shipped, or what software they need to view/use it. Don’t assume everyone knows how to download and open a PDF. Provide screenshots of the process and include a phone number, link to a helpdesk or other system to help them if they have questions.  No one likes feeling abandoned on the “thank you” page.

Post-Purchase

Customer: “I’ve ordered and received my product or service.  I’d like to tell others about it.”

Looking for information on: Sharing opinions, possibly asking questions of other product users on how to get more out of their purchase.

Your Content Strategy

Provide outlets for users to share their thoughts via social media, refer-a-friend, or ask them to write a review. Bonus points if you can get them to create a video testimonial about your product. Leverage this user-generated content toward increasing conversion rates by acknowledging and thanking users for their thoughts via Facebook and Twitter.

Knowing where your customers are in the buying process is crucial to connecting them with the kind of content they need to make an informed decision.  Use your blog, social posts and other outlets to reach out to them no matter which level they’re on.

In a survey recently conducted by Adobe and eConsultancy, just over half of respondents only allocate around 5% or less of their marketing budget to conversion optimization.  Around 86% of companies surveyed spend 15% or less on all optimization-related activities, (including technology, services, agency fees and so on).

So what are they spending the rest of their money on?

The survey doesn’t say, but it has been my experience that many customers are still engaging in what can be hugely expensive, outdated pay-per-click ‘price wars’ with their competitors in the hopes of gleaning some sliver of traffic for their best keywords.

Sure, this works out great for companies like Google, which makes over $100 million per day with Adwords  – and no one’s going to argue that it doesn’t have the reach and immediate traffic results.  If done correctly and with enough time, it’s possible to use the tools in place to measure and tweak budget, position and other controls to really refine and target campaigns.

But pay-per-click is not the same ballgame as conversion optimization. They’re not even in the same stadium!   Sure, methods like these can be good for driving traffic – but as my clients often discover before they come to me – the next step is a shaky one.

Now what?

The problem usually lies in spending heaps of money to get traffic, but having no clear way of directing it. It’s like being an air traffic controller with a sky full of planes.

PPC landing pages, if not properly optimized, are notorious for their high bounce rates.

In response to this, many companies’ knee-jerk reaction is to throw more money at the problem and try to cast a wider net – in the hopes that more people coming to the page will even out the poor conversion rate.

It doesn’t work that way.

Here’s What to Do Instead:

Conversion optimization is one of the few types of marketing where you can spend a little, and get a lot.  One small change might equal out to an extra $10,000 per month, or an extra million dollars a year.

Can you get that kind of result with other types of advertising?  Sure, maybe eventually – but not without spending a huge chunk of money.  What’s more, you won’t get the kind of precision with other methods as you do with a good split test – a key factor in improving conversion rates.

Done right, good analytics and proper conversion optimization can tell you:

• How visitors came to your website
• What they were looking for
• Whether or not your offer was enticing enough to get them to click
• How long they stayed on the page
• Which options they prefer
• Which content (headline, layout, call-to-action) gets them to act
• And much more.

Can you get that kind of information from PPC? What about from social media or email marketing?  The great thing about conversion optimization is that it reaches into all other types of marketing to make it even better.

Optimizing conversions in email marketing teaches you which offers resonate more with your customers.  Improving conversion rates on social media advertising gives you a better idea of how to reach your demographic with relevant information.

With that being said, aren’t those kinds of results worth more than just 5% of your marketing budget?

The DepositPhotos Paypal header graphic contains trust and security seals, plus user ratings to help build buyer confidence and reduce shopping cart abandonment rates

PayPal Graphics – Header Design Template

Graphically-challenged?  No problem.  I’ve created a basic Photoshop PSD template that follows the same idea as the one that inspired me above.

Obviously you shouldn’t use any seals or designs of organizations you don’t belong to, but this will serve as a great starting point for your own Paypal header graphic.  Just replace my logo with yours and you’ll be on the right track.

Setting Up a PayPal Header

Setting up your Paypal header is easy, and is just a matter of logging into your account, then:

1. Move your mouse over the Profile sub-tab under the My Account tab
2. Choose My Selling Tools
3. Under the Selling Online section, click on the Update link for Custom Payment Pages
4. You’ll likely see PayPal as the primary payment page. Click Add

You can add your logo, change the color of the background and border of the page, but the thing we’re most concerned about is the Paypal Header.  This is the area at the top and measures 720×90 pixels (the same width as the template I’ve added above)

Once you’re done, save your new page and click Make Primary – that’s all!

Now you have a quick, easy way to help create greater trust and bridge the gap between your shopping cart and your Paypal checkout page. Enjoy!

Everybody wins.

The company builds the very things all companies crave:  trust, loyalty, authority and brand awareness.  Their costs, once the up-front work has been done, are next to nothing as long as they attract and retain subscribers (which we’ll discuss momentarily!)  They get cash up-front and a fairly predictable cash flow from month to month.

The customer gets the desired product or service, but also the bonus benefit that they’re saving money over time by paying month-to-month (or pre-paying for a year).  As a paid subscriber, it’s also likely they enjoy perks like priority customer service, member-only bonuses and exclusive discounts.

Getting Started

So once the initial launch fanfare has died down, how do you get more subscribers to join, and get paying members to stay?  Provided you’ve got the best possible product or service and are using the right marketing channels to reach out to your ideal customers – what’s next?

Present Subscription Options

Give customers both monthly and annual subscription choices, or break down a large payment amount into smaller installment payments where content is delivered over a set time period (in the case of digital-only content, this prevents someone from joining, downloading everything and then canceling).

Bundle and Save

What are some other value-added products or services that subscribers could bundle with their package and save on, versus buying each one individually? Phone, Internet and Cable companies have taken this method full steam ahead, and are always adding on new features like HD, premium channels, higher speed and so forth.

Even better, some companies are taking the “bundle and save” subscription method to a whole new level by letting people create their own bundle package with the features or items they use the most.

In-App Purchases

While relatively new to marketers outside the online gaming community, in-app purchases allow people a greater level of customization from within the smart phone app.  Once relegated to purchases of items in virtual worlds like Farmville and World of Warcraft, in-app purchases are catching on.  JotNot, a popular app that lets you use your phone’s camera as a portable scanner, comes with the option to let you fax your scanned documents for 99 cents.  Small, incremental purchases like these, across thousands of users, can add up quickly.

Moving from Free to Paid

What if you have an online subscription that offers a free or trial level, and you want to persuade more of these customers to take the plunge toward the paid version?  It should be easy, right?  Just show them everything they get, and they’ll find your offer so irresistible, they can’t help but take action – right?

Not exactly.

Spotlight the Pro Version

The first step is to lure people in by showcasing the pro or paid version upfront – preferably in a pricing table with emphasis added on features.  The idea is to subconsciously showcase the pro version as so compelling – so beyond what the free version offers, that not upgrading immediately would put the customer at a disadvantage.

This pricing table comes from AppFirst.com – Notice how the pro version is significantly larger, offset, and appears “first in line”.

Remember – your pricing table is not the place to dump all your features, but rather a simple, scan-able comparison list.

Tantalize Free Users with Premium Features

One of the best ways to convert free users to paid subscribers is by giving them a taste of what’s in store for them, something Linda Bustos of GetElastic calls “baking carrots into the cake”.  Spotify does this by letting people enjoy premium access to their service for 30 days.

You should test when you ask for credit card information, though, as asking upfront can make people believe there’s an immediate charge involved versus reminding them when their premium trial is up so that they can continue enjoying the improved level of service.

Reward Returning Users

Paid users like to be acknowledged from time to time too, especially if an inordinate amount of attention goes to new customers.  Don’t forget to acknowledge the customers who have stood by you all this time by giving them a little something extra for their dedication.  Community-based “check in” sites like Foursquare or digital outsourcing communities like Freelancer continually keep subscribers involved by rewarding them with badges for various actions, or giving them credits which they can redeem for different perks on site.

Try some of these options on your own membership program and you’ll be reaping the rewards in no time!

An alternative to Feedburner can help you manage blog and newsletter subscriptions more efficiently

Since Feedburner has been bought up by Google, many bloggers and coders wonder if it’s even worth the effort to try and create an alternative.  Fortunately, that hasn’t kept them from trying to create some unique plugins and services that do what Feedburner can’t (or isn’t any good at). If you’re tired of Feedburner’s limitations and would like to look into other solutions, check out these Feedburner alternatives.

FeedBlitz – The closest thing you’ll find to a true Feedburner alternative, FeedBlitz brings together RSS feeds and email marketing into one fast-loading, lean system.  Setting up your feed and email is a simple, step by step process.  Feedblitz also works seamlessly with WordPress, Blogger, Twitter, Facebook and many more popular networks.  There’s a 30-day free trial.  After that, the pricing depends on how many subscribers you have.

Blogtrottr- This free RSS to email delivery lets you subscribe to an unlimited number of feeds and updates you when your feed choices are updated. It works as a unique alternative to Feedburner in that your customers can subscribe to your Blogtrottr RSS feed and get updates in their email.  Currently you cannot import existing subscribers with it, which is a significant drawback for serious content publishers.

RapidFeeds – Includes lots of in-demand features, including branded RSS feeds, auto-Twitter update, RSS feed scheduling and subscriber statistics.  Also integrates nicely with podcasts. Price varies on the number of feeds you want to manage and the features you want.  Enterprise-level feed management is $13.95 per month

Nouri.sh – Nourish is an RSS to email service and a reliable Feedburner alternative for those sites whose visitors don’t really grasp (or don’t use) RSS much.  The free version lets you send up to 1,000 emails per month. Also includes customizable newsletter templates.

Related: RSS to Email for Your Existing Autoresponder or Newsletter Service

Need an alternative to Feedburner, but you’re already subscribed to AWeber or Mailchimp?  Fortunately, those services have ways to help you convert a blog RSS feed to email. Just click on their respective links above to learn how.

Why Didn’t You Include (Insert Name of RSS Feed Service Here)?

Occasionally I’ll get questions about why I didn’t include certain RSS to email services in this list.  I’m a big believer in quality over quantity, and would rather give you links to services that:

• Consistently perform well even when managing tens of thousands of feeds
• Have a user-friendly interface that’s easy to use
• Provide detailed stats and analytics so you can better understand your subscribers’ behavior.

If it doesn’t meet those criteria, it isn’t listed here. Simple as that!

Got a great RSS to email service I missed? Tell me about it below in the comments.

The final hurdle when it comes to content marketing is not so much the marketing itself, but being able to produce a wide range of content for different devices as well as for visitors at different stages in the buying process.  It can seem overwhelming at first with all the new tools to learn (podcasts, video production and document formatting to name a few!) but here’s the important thing…

Don’t concentrate on making it perfect, concentrate on getting it out there.

There are plenty of excellent and low-cost software tools that will walk you through the process – you just have to come up with the ideas.  Here are some of my favorites for both high-end, and low-end content creation –

Video Content Marketing Tools

If you’re creating demonstration or how-to videos, whether on your screen or in a studio workspace, there are different software programs for different needs.

High-End Video Screencasting Tools

If you’re recording video on your computer screen (screencasting), one of the best software programs on the market is Camtasia. It’s available for both Mac and PC users and comes with a 30 day trial. Still, the $299 price tag can be a barrier for many do-it-yourselfers and startups.

Free Screencasting Software

Fortunately, the same company behind Camtasia makes a more compact “lite” version of its screen recorder called Jing.  While you can’t record as long of a presentation (5 minutes at the most), it’s free and you can share your video link instantly over the web or social networks.

Studio Video Recording Software

If you’d like to try your hand at creating your own miniature studio workspace, you’ll want to check out a series of how-to DVDs by Bill Myers.  They often have sales where you can pick and choose the DVDs you want. Some titles include:

•    Tools of How-To Video Production

•  Marketing How-To DVDs

•  Camtasia to DVD

• Producing How-To DVDs

Podcast Content Marketing Tools

If you’d like to create your own content marketing strategy with audio, one of the best ways is to create a podcast. Podcasts were originally available only through Apple’s iTunes and iPod devices (hence the name), but are now listened to across the web.

High-End Podcasting Software

One of the leading podcast software programs is Propaganda  ($49.95). It doesn’t exactly have a user-friendly interface, but if you’re at all familiar with the basics of creating a podcast, it does everything you need, including:

• Recording and Editing a Podcast
• Importing Audio and Interviews (such as over Skype)
• Publishing to websites, blogs and iTunes
• Organizing your audio files

A helpful welcome tutorial walks you through all the steps of creating your first podcast.  Support is available through the program itself, as well as a help desk, tutorials and a knowledge base.

Free Podcasting Software

BlogTalkRadio is a free and easy way to get your content “on the air” without any technical experience. A paid version is also available for as low as $39/month or $399/year. It also supports social networking, lets you import interviews, conduct live chats or privately screen users for a Q & A session.

Document Formatting Tools

eBooks have recently experienced a massive (re)surge in popularity thanks to e-reading tablets like Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s e-Reader and the Nook by Barnes & Noble.

Thankfully, creating an ebook is as simple as writing your manuscript in Microsoft Word.  But formatting it to work with Kindle and Nook (which read a special type of format called “EPUB”) can be overwhelming if you’re not a document editing pro.  Thankfully, there are ePub templates where you can simply copy and paste your text from Word into these pre-made Word templates and upload your finished work to Amazon and BN.com.

Converting an Existing Book into ePub Format

If you have an existing paperback or hardback book, workbook, or your book has large images that may not fit on an e-reader, you’ll want to get in touch with a professional Book Scanning company.  They can scan your book without damaging the binding, and convert it to a Kindle-friendly format for publishing on Amazon.

Launching Your Content Marketing Strategy

Now that you have an overview of some of the top-rated tools and services available, there’s nothing stopping you from getting your content out to hungry buyers.  If you’ve already conducted a podcast, created a video or launched your ebook on Kindle, I’d love to hear your experience about it.  Please share your story and comments below!

The third largest content marketing challenge that marketers have to deal with is the lack of vision from the higher-ups in the company.  It’s not as large of a percentage as those struggling to engage prospects, or even being able to produce enough content (or have enough of a budget to hire someone else to do it for you).

But it’s still a common problem that can leave you feeling deflated and uninspired.

Let’s face it, content marketing truly has a ripple effect on every other part of your business. I’m not just talking about a bigger return on investment, but things you’d never think would play a role in improving your business, such as:

• Better collaboration between departments and colleagues – Content marketing seeps into facets of business beyond marketing. It can expand to include HR, customer service, sales and more.

• Improved trust and authority – When you create content so intrinsically valuable that customers would even gladly pay for it if given the chance, you’re helping build trust and authority automatically rather than relying on third party services (like Yelp reviews or Verisign trust seals) to do it for you.

• Create more personal connections – You want your customers to feel like you created content “just for them”. Doing this can also help you get into that coveted “inner circle” where trusted content is shared and recommended among friends.

• Improved search engine rankings – Google’s “Search Plus Your World”, an off-shoot of Google+, is now including personalized results in its pages. The more “Circles” you find yourself in, the more your name, company and even your content will appear at or near the top on those customized results pages.

Real, Actionable Information

To sell content marketing effectively to upper management, you have to think in their terms. That means breaking down the data you glean from metrics like Google Analytics, and translating it into real, actionable information.  Not everything can be measured in terms of pure dollar value, so set Conversion Goals and be able to show your boss the gist of the results at-a-glance.

That’s not to say, however, that you should just plop a stack of analytics reports on their desk and call it a day.   Not everyone can be as fluent in web analytics as you   – so it’s worth breaking down the numbers into mentally-digestible graphs and translating things like “bounce rate” and “referral”.  For all they know, “organic results” could be what they’re gardening – not what’s driving traffic to their website.

Cause and Effect

More importantly, can you correlate rises (and falls) to certain actions taken on your website or as a result of your social networking?   You’ll want to be able to show how seemingly different points are related, and what it means for the overall goal you’re aiming for.

• How many qualified leads did you generate as a result of your latest Facebook campaign?
• Did tweeting a link to your latest free download translate into more orders for your paid service?
• Was your corporate blog content able to shortcut the decision-making process so that you were able to make more sales even faster than before?

Tracking Changes Effectively

One of the best ways to measure your content marketing results is to be able to track the changes in a way that provides meaningful information to both you and your senior management.

At its simplest, this can be a basic spreadsheet that shows what you tested, the date range, the anticipated results and the actual results.  This way too, you can create a graph that shows the success (or lack of it) so that adjustments can be made for future tests.

Don’t forget that for many test results to really make an impact with your superiors, you’ll want to keep records and screenshots of the before and after versions.  This way you can clearly show how certain changes increased conversion rates or boosted subscriber numbers.

There’s a reason why some of today’s best-loved and most well-known companies spend up to a third of their budget on content marketing:  it works.  And if you’re still having trouble converting your marketing ideas into practical plans – why not hire a conversion rate expert to help you get more of the results you really want for your business?

Challenge #2 and #3 – Having Enough Time/Money to Produce Content

Numbers 2 and 3 go hand-in-hand, because it seems like you have to have too much of one and not enough of the other to get things done.  A lot of people outsource content marketing thinking they’ll get lucky and hit that viral sweet-spot that finally makes all their efforts pay off.

But I’ll be honest with you and say that no one knows your industry as well as you do.  And no one knows your prospects and customers like you do. And here’s the kicker – taking the time to produce quality, relevant content will pay you back: in terms of better conversion rates, higher customer retention, improved communications with your prospects and much more.

Look at the questions you wrote down from Challenge #1 – what kind of complete, actionable content could you create that addresses those issues? If you’re not sure what questions your best customers are asking – ask them!  Go on Twitter or Facebook and post “What’s the #1 question you have about (your product or service) right now?”

If you don’t get much in the way of answers (not everyone has a massive Twitter following or tons of Facebook fans), check out your competition.  What are their most popular blog posts, or which posts are getting the most comments?  Those are the kinds of things people want to know about.

Save Time and Money by (Re)Using What You Have

All this talk of content marketing makes many people panic because they think they instantly have to come up with fresh, new, vibrant ideas that spread like wildfire the moment they’re out of the gate.

And while that would be great if it really happened, you don’t have to freeze up when it comes to making good use of your existing content.

Some examples:

• Include reviews from third-party sites like Yelp, Google Maps, Yahoo and Bing Local on your website, your giveaways (ebooks, whitepapers), and in your direct mail pieces. Incorporating ratings and reviews helps inspire customer confidence.

• Look outside your department, and even your company, to get new ideas for potential topics.  Ask your product suppliers, affiliates, and customers what their biggest questions are about getting the most out of what you sell.

• Show your product or service at work!  Create a Pinterest board with examples of customers using and enjoying your product or service.

• Freshen up old blog posts that are buried in the archives by updating them and reformatting them into a webinar or a how-to video.

• Give your company a personality.  Show us the day-to-day inner workings or a lighthearted look at corporate culture. People build relationships with people, not faceless brands.

Action Steps to Content Marketing Time and Budget

• Take the time to learn what kind of questions your ideal customers are asking. These are the people you want to work with – they just don’t know you exist (yet!) Or if they do know, they’re not paying attention and your content marketing is going to change that.  Post questions on social networks, but be prepared for some unexpected answers!

• If you’d rather hire someone to be in control of your content marketing (hint, hint), then make certain they know all about the persona(s) you’re trying to reach – what pushes their hot buttons, what their concerns are, and what questions they’re asking about your product or service. Great content marketers can put themselves into the prospects’ shoes and write from their perspective.

• Be prepared to spend more to get more. The best content marketers with the most effective results set aside nearly 1/3^rd of their budget on content marketing.  And it’s worth it, too — companies of all sizes are focusing on improving their content marketing strategies more than any other marketing tactic, including social media and search engine optimization combined!

You know you should be involved in marketing content that’s designed to increase conversions, but you’re stuck.  Maybe senior management doesn’t buy into the whole “content as a marketing tool” idea, or perhaps you’re just having trouble coming up with original ideas or finding the time to leverage your best articles and blog posts.

But knowing what percentage of marketers struggle with content marketing is like finding a group of “kindred spirits” who are fighting the same marketing battles you are.  Good to know, but what are you actually doing about it?

Let’s face it, beyond knowing the numbers, you also need a comprehensive road map that helps provide direction and solutions to each of these issues.  In this four-part series, I’m going to give you immediate, actionable steps at tackling your most pressing content marketing issues head-on – starting with…

Challenge #1: Creating Original Content

This is by far the biggest challenge. And it’s not just a lack of originality that’s causing marketers to panic. More to the point, it’s being able to create the kind of content that people want – and delivering it to them the way they want it.  Forget top-down, “take it or leave it” one-way broadcasting.  Consumers are in control, now more than ever.

One of the best ways to create content that engages customers is to develop personas for every major type of customer you have. This isn’t to say you should pigeon-hole people into a mold, but rather take the time to get to know your best customers, online shoppers, and even random browsers who aren’t ready to buy yet – as they all paint a larger picture of where your brand fits in to their lifestyle.

The biggest pitfall in designing personas is creating figures based on what you think the customer wants, and not what they truly want.  On the surface, someone might say “I want to buy an MP3 player”, but when you delve a little deeper, you’ll find that one of their core motivations is “I want a portable music player that I can clip to my pocket while running”.

Action Steps to Create Original Content

• Ask yourself, what content can I create that this persona would be most likely to share? Write a list of questions each persona may have about your product or service, no matter how simple.

• After you create your question list, think of how your ideal customer would best like to receive your content. Not everyone wants more stuff piling up in their inbox that they’ll never get to read.  If you do make your content deliverable by email, consider turning it into a podcast or slideshow too.

• Don’t forget to make your content appropriate for your prospect’s level of “tech-comfort”.  Few people outside the IT industry know what white-papers are, and the younger generation would rather watch streaming video that read an ebook.

With so many feeds, blogs, posts and updates to keep track of on the web, content curation was inevitable. Put simply, content curation means actively discovering and sharing the best news, tools and reviews in your industry.  Much like the way a museum curator helps maintain and manage a permanent collection while deciding what to exhibit and when, content curators look for the best ways to showcase relevant information in their niche.

While it’s currently more of a buzzword in content marketing circles, content curation is an invaluable skill for sifting through information overload and presenting the best pieces in a way that’s organized and helpful to others.  It’s also a great way to build up your authority, make new connections in your network, and expand your social reach.

Benefits of Content Curation

There are several benefits to being recognized as a content curator in your subject area.  If you’re the first to write about a developing story in your niche or share a different angle on a trend, you’ll get the lion’s share of links, social media shares and mentions.  Essentially, you’re taking the time to do what few other people can or will do – highlighting content that is worth reading and sharing.

And it doesn’t just have to be blog posts.  You can draw from all kinds of digital sources – slideshows, videos, whitepapers, and interviews can all be curated.  You’ve seen content curation in action if you’ve ever read a “Best of…” post, or spent any length of time on sites like Mashable or Alltop.

This then makes your site the go-to source for relevant information on your topic of choice.  No site, not even Mashable or Alltop can curate all newsworthy links and stories all the time. People want and need experts to sift through the chatter – that’s where you come in.

An example of a Scoop.it digital magazine for content curation

Content Curation Tools

Thankfully, you don’t have to spend every waking moment slogging through link after link to find share-worthy stuff.  There are several excellent content curation tools that can make your job easier.  Here are a few of the more popular sites (and they’re all free)

Pinterest – Mostly used for social media humor, recipes, quotes and outfits, this digital pinboard is one of the most popular ways to collect and share content.  Includes a “Pin It” bookmarklet that you can install in your browser, letting you instantly save content to your pinboard.  Be careful, Pinterest can be addictive!

Pearltrees – If you prefer a “tree” based method of organizing things, Pearltrees is the content curation tool for you.  Individual web pages and other content can be saved as “pearls” and then organized into trees.  You can also invite other users to add to your tree, or you can add to theirs.

Scoop.it – Not only does Scoop.it let you curate content, it also lets you display it in an easily readable online magazine format. Here’s an excellent article from Search Engine Journal on getting the most out of Scoop.it which includes how to choose a topic of interest and the proper etiquette for using articles and writing teasers.

BlogBridge – Rather than being an online bookmarklet, BlogBridge is specifically designed to handle RSS feeds – you know, all those blogs you subscribe to but never get to read? (Except for mine, of course!) It’s a software program, so it runs on your Mac or PC as a desktop feed aggregator.

YourVersion – My personal favorite.  YourVersion lets you type in a few keywords relevant to your interests, and it auto-magically delivers relevant content (without the spam or fake blogs).  You can vote stories up or down, or completely close out ones you don’t like.  I’d be curious to know whether or not YourVersion learns based on your votes and what you close.

In fact, just in the span of writing this blog post, I discovered pieces on content marketing to the millennial generation, Coca-Cola’s “Content 2020” marketing plan, Google’s Zero Moment of Truth  and a heap of other interesting things.  I can easily see myself using YourVersion and Scoop.it together as an absolute content curation BEAST (maniacal laugh in the background).

YourVersion lets you quickly find quality content without the spam and fake blogs

Getting the Most Out of Content Curation

The point behind curating content is to put an expert – a personality, if you will – behind the pieces being showcased.  This is not something you can (or should) automate. This is not something you can “set and forget”. Yes, you will have to invest some time to get your collections off to a running start.  But you’re only investing a fraction of the time involved when you use one or more of the aforementioned content curation tools to help you find things worth sharing.

It’s also important that you not post an entire article, but rather a snippet, and credit the original author.  When showcasing content, focus on quality rather than quantity.  And if you’re really proud of something you’ve written or created – toss in it there too!  There’s no reason you can’t toot your own horn if you’ve got something share-worthy.  And believe me, this post is going straight into my Scoop.it collection.

Content Curation and SEO

Does researching, writing, editing and sharing all this content affect your site’s ranking?  Not directly.  But if done well, it does highlight you as someone who’s “in the know” on current events, different perspectives and new ideas in your industry.  Don’t just throw up a bunch of links – add your insights and opinions to them.  Your backlinks will increase as more and more people see you as a trusted source for information.  When you focus on quality instead of quantity, you’ll reach more of your ideal customers – and that’s the kind of win-win that everyone can appreciate.

Action Steps for Content Curation

• Sign up for one of the content curation tools most relevant to your organizational style – for example, Pinterest for a more visually-oriented method, or Pearltrees for a hierarchical tree-based showcase.
• Use a relevant content aggregator like YourVersion or an RSS feed management software like BlogBridge to find snippets of news, photos, videos and other trends worth sharing.
• Create an account name for your business and highlight your shares on Twitter, Facebook and your own blog.  Be sure to credit the original article and link to the source.