Content curation shouldn’t take all day
We know that content curation is a buzzword nowadays and it can be hard to pinpoint its exact meaning. To get down to brass tacks, it is essentially when an individual consistently finds, produces, and shares high quality digital content with their target audience.
Anyone who has tried to create an online content footprint knows that creating content on a consistent basis can be time consuming and even expensive. After all, marketing costs and promotions are nothing to sneeze at. The good news is that curation essentially allows you to recycle relevant content. You can save time by accrewing content from relevant and authoritative sources and sharing it directly with your audience.
Curating vs. Copying
Now, the caveat is that many may confuse curation with copying. Yes, copying direct content will mean getting penalized by Google, but it is important to understand that curation does not equal copying. When you curate you are not claiming the content as your own. It is simply sharing something that has been thoughtfully selected for your audience to enjoy.
Curating content has bonuses beyond saving time and money. Using it can help boost your SEO metrics. According to Cognitive SEO, “Curating content delivers quality traffic, generates lots of backlinks, enhances your online presence and, therefore, boosts your SEO.” On average, curated content can help generate about 13k views a post.
Content curation meets automation
It might seem overwhelming to think about all of the content you need to source and manually post. The good news is that successful curation starts with automation. This is where content creation tools come into play. In a nutshell, they are applications that help you find and share relevant and credible content.
There are loads of free content curation tools that put the power in the hands of the creator. Statistically speaking, it is best to have a balanced ratio of curated to created content with the general rule of thumb being
60:40. In order to achieve this, it is important to be informed and pick an automated content curation program that is right for you.
Once you’ve decided what’s best, it’s easy to monetize your content. Curation will help streamline the process to make turning a profit easier.
The 17 best options
Picking the system that is best for you begins with knowing what you need and what a content curation tool can provide. With tons of choices, it is important to remember that not all are created equal. It is crucial to know what differentiates each service and platform.
Below are the 17 most relevant and useful content curation tools currently available to creators. Whether you are a marketer looking to increase your content investment or you are a creator looking to help keep track of your socials, one of these is likely a great fit for you.
- Pinterest
- Flipboard
- Invisibly
- Shareit
- Storyful
- Pocket
- Flockler
- Quu
- Buzzsumo
- List.ly
- CognitiveSEO
- SocialPilot
- Postplanner
- ContentStudio
- DrumUp
- elink
- ContentGems
1.Pinterest
Price: Free.
Use: Visual content.
We all know this one, but building out Pinterest boards is an easy and free way to curate content. Pinterest is great for collecting visuals and displaying them in an easily accessible and compelling way. Plus, it can be a lot of fun too.
2.Flipboard
Price: Free.
Use: Newsreader and digital magazine tool.
Flipboard allows users to essentially create a digital magazine or flipbook. When using the platform it is relatively simple to get updates on the news, read stories from around the world. Plus you can browse articles, videos, and photos your friends are sharing.
3.Invisibly
Price: Free and you get paid.
Use: Content curation.
At Invisibly, it is easier than ever to curate content. We use a smart, people-first algorithm that you are in control of. You design your own algorithm with simple daily interactions, such as liking or disliking content. This way, everything you see on your feed is designed just for you. For every like and dislike you receive a point. You can earn up to 20 points a day by curating your feed. Every 100 points you receive equates to $1 and you can cash out as soon as you 500 points. If you see something that catches your eye, it is easy to bookmark and return to it later. It is a great way to earn extra cash and curate professional content all in one place.
4.Sharelt
Price: Free.
Use: Peer to peer file sharing, content streaming and gaming platform.
ShareIt essentially functions as an influencer discovery tool that is useful for bloggers and social media teams. It works by typing out a keyword and then ShareIt will generate a relevant list of content pieces and social handles for use. The content can be in the form of blogs, videos, photos, and more. You can share content directly to your socials as well.
5.Storyful
Price: Varies based on content.
Use: News and content.
Storyful is a tool for news platforms to find meaningful content on the web. It collects content like social news gathering, verification and UGC content services.
6.Pocket
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Content storage.
Pocket stores a substantial amount of content for later use. The platform allows for storage and organization of online content, keeping it banked for the future. It is great for beginners and startups who are looking for convenience and easily navigable software.
7.Flockler
Price: Free trial is offered, plans start at $55 monthly.
Use: Combine your socials into one channel.
Flockler is a platform that combines all of your content, even down to what your fans say about you. It creates a social hub and brings social content to your existing platforms for ease of distribution and analysis services.
8.Quuu
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Find human-reviewed content
Quuu is unique since the curation software suggests content that is reviewed by humans and not algorithms. This is a great tool to source all types of content from videos, blogs, podcasts and more. With over 500 categories, anyone can find what they are looking for.
9.Buzzsumo
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Search for articles and social posts.
Buzzsumo is a popular content curation tool that allows you to search for articles and social posts that best fit your audience. All you need to do is enter a keyword or a domain name to generate a list of popular content on that subject. It’s simple, easy and effective.
10.List.ly
Price: Free.
Use: Generate lists of content to streamline posts
List.ly allows you to compile lists of content on their site that you can schedule to post to WordPress or your socials. Using a chrome extension and bookmarklet can help you add content to lists from anywhere on the internet.
11.CognitiveSEO
Price: Four free searches, then $129 monthly.
Use: Search for curated content based on keywords
CognitiveSEO has a unique Content Optimizer that puts Google’s ranking factor at your fingertips. The program is based on three main things: keyword research, competitor analysis, and optimization. CognitiveSEO delivers high quality curated content while also providing recommendations to personalize it for your audience.
12.SocialPilot
Price: Plans start at $100 monthly.
Use: Social media marketing and content curation.
SocialPilot is an incredibly well-built curation tool that saves you time and money on social media marketing. Once your content is curated through SocialPilot, the system will implement marketing strategies to increase traffic to posts.
13.PostPlanner
Price: Plans start at $5 monthly.
Use: Social media curation and scheduling.
Postplanner is an easy to use tool that helps you organize your posts and find content based on user keywords. As an added bonus, it provides story ideas and helps users find blogs and articles that fit their brand. With its easy to use platform and attainable price point, it is a great option for beginners.
14.Contentstudio
Price: Plans start at $49 monthly.
Use: Find personalized content and share directly to social media.
ContentStudio allows you to find and share top performing content directly to your social media accounts. You can also schedule and directly share to your social media accounts. Even better, you can track your content’s performance by tracking KPI.
15.DrumUp
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Content marketing and curation program.
DrumUp is a time saver through and through. In the end, it helps reduce your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn management time. Basically, it functions as a social media manager and content marketing app. It gathers content from the web in real time personalized for your audience.
16.elink
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Find and bundle web content.
Through elink you can easily compile web content and present it to your audience. It is easy to create visually stunning newsletters, social walls and more. Not only can you curate content, you can also create and personalize it as well.
17.ContentGems
Price: Free with basic plan.
Use: Content discovery platform
ContentGems is a successful content search engine. The platform mines the web for relevant content based on keywords, social signals, media type, and other filter settings you input. Once you find something you like, you can compile it and link to third party programs like Buffer and HootSuite to schedule your content and post directly to your socials.
See the payoff
Content curation can be a daunting task. However, being equipped with the right tools and know-how can take you and your brand far. Having a strategy in place will set you up for success and make it even easier to begin monetizing your content and that’s not the only way to earn cash. With Invisibly, curating is easy. We separate items by categories to customize your feed. You can easily save anything that catches your eye and come back to it later. When you share your likes and dislikes, you get paid. Sign up now to start earning. Here, we put the power of data back in your hands.