Must Market

What Is Content Curation?
I don't agree with much of this article, but then I would never suggest "curation" purely as a form of content build. Yes some curation such as Top 10 lists come close to the kind of "no value add" content Matt Cutts warns about, but as long as your website isn't 90% that kind of content you can afford a list or two or five.

My key disagreement is over what constitutes "curation". Curation requires some filtering and positioning. Yes it is possible to stop there, but most curators place their curated content in some context. They write editorial to wedge their content into their mix.

This "rich snippet" approach to curation creates the logic behind the curation. This post on Scoop.it is a "rich snippet" where I'm adding my two cents worth.

Note too that I add editorial into a theme - content marketing and SEO - I comment and write about frequently. This means my "modeled" ecosystem shows consistent investment and confirmation from links, likes and shares.

I wrote about how feeds are in all of our content marketing future (http://scenttrail.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-feeds-are-in-your-future.html ) and think I missed the importance of social signals when I wrote that post. Feeds absent confirming social signals are just useless noise (as Cutts all but declares in the video on the linked post).

Function as "junior-Google" doesn't work UNLESS you have the editorial chops to support it as my friend Mark Traphagen (@MarkTraphagen) does on G+ and my friend Phil Buckley (@19818) does on SEO.

Mark can "curate" related G+ content without his authority taking a hit because his curation is a tiny fraction of his content. Even though Mark can afford some % of comment less curation I doubt he would. Mark likes to add rich snippets to place his curation into his overall context - as so should we all.

Bottom line is don't put content on your site that is duplicated. Use "no follow" tags or canonical URLs to show Google your intent are pure and you are only after the rankings your links, likes and loves generate.

SEO Is Dead, But....
 An interesting discussion about Social Media Marketing being the new SEO is blowing up on Curation Revolution (http://www.scoop.it/t/curation-revolution/p/3995061782/social-media-is-the-new-seo-and-here-s-why ). Let's assume search engine spiders will need signals for a long time and some of the signals you control used to be called SEO (lol). 

This article speaks to the power of content curation. Let's avoid the SEO trap and discuss why content curation helps engagement and so the new SEO:

* Curation creates authority.
* Authority websites save our TIME and so are loved.

* We support things we love with LIKES and LINKS.

* Heuristic measures improve when engagement goes up.

* Better Heuristic measures = more relevant and so Authoritative.

* Engaged customers lower costs and increase profits.

If you can't sell that list to your C level then updating resume is a good idea. My theory is the right proportion of creation to curation is 10% curation to 90% curation. 

I didn't just pull that ratio out of the air. I have digital properties I manage that have the reverse ratio and they are NOT SUSTAINABLE. If I get hit by a bus those properties wither and die. 

If you create an ecosystem that is 10% YOUR creation and 90% curation and User Generated Content (UGC) it is sustainable. The more diversified your website is in expertise and experts the more sustainable it becomes. 

Let me be clear, deep knowledge is required to even know WHAT to curate. I am not suggesting skimming along the surface of many things. I am suggesting once you build one platform with a 10% to 90% community building another one is half the work (no matter what the subject). 

If, like me, your ratio is 90% creation and 10% curation consider developing a strategic plan to flip that ratio. Your Internet marketing becomes stronger and more sustainable. 

Content Is The New SEO
Content is the new Search Engine Optimization because Google wants it to be so. This is an excellent post about WHY content is the new SEO and how to get started.

I do have a common nit to pick. "Create great content," is advice I read frequently. That is like saying, "Win The Lottery" as a way to make your numbers. You might win the lottery, but you might spring wings and suddenly be able to fly too.

Better to embrace content marketing as a CSF for your company and brand (CSF = Critical Success Factor). No matter what your digital presentation is the most important communication you create (period and full stop).

This means you need to get GOOD at digital communication. Here are a handful of hard won tips to create "great online content":

* Short sentences.
* Don't use connections like and, but, thus.

* Short paragraphs keeps readers engaged).

* Visual clues (linked post is bad about clues).

* Use H1s and other meta tags for technical SEO.

* Make CSS makes tags look good on the page.

* Use bullet points early.

* Use a bigger font (reading online sucks).

* Tease links don't drown them.

This last tip is a common error. Many new to Internet marketing want to provide everything AND the kitchen-sink all at once. Better to tease a click and then tease another click and then another. The more time and pages your customers view the better your SEO (what is left of it).

Ask yourself a simple question. Would you rather read one page with 1,000 words or 5 with 200? True you can make a website too clicky. You can make your reader work to hard. Finding the fine line between engagement and work is where metrics and testing should rule your actions.

Never a reason to GUESS with Internet marketing when you can construct a test. If you see abandonment after the 3rd click reduce your 5 click journey to three. If you see preference to read the long form content eliminate the clicks. No matter HOW you present content its substance needs to be great.

Whoops, there I go adding to the "You must create great content," crowd without telling you how to do that. I have posted on tips to create great content and as soon as I find it I will link it in (lol). M

I tested some year old research today. When I joined Atlantic BT a little over a year ago I was asked to do research on 5 different business verticals. Amazingly I found a common pattern. 

Amazingly because these verticals varied from government research to BI software. The common theme? Q&A content was over subscribed (lots of searches) and under published (few pages). Why?

I've been an Internet marketer for 13 years learning to drop WHY from my vocabulary. Speculation would say that we often overlook the simplest things assuming everyone knows something. Assuming is a good way to NOT make money online (lol). 

My challenge today was to look into a new vertical, food trucks, and see if the pattern held. It did, and this piece provides a step-by-step process to understand how to mine keywords for content marketing gold. If you can only start with ONE type of content, Q&A would be my suggestion (I also share my favorite Q&A tool AnswerHub.com from right here in Cary).