Putting the IDEA of Curation to REST!
It has come to my attention that there are several people considering the idea of curation as a sound business model. Again, some crafty marketing and another “bogus” Clickbank product is trying to push the idea of taking other people’s content, mashing it up, and then putting it up on your own page.It is just that easy to create content right? Well...NO. That is why I am writing this post, to help you understand what curation is, why it can kill your campaigns in their tracks, and perhaps some instances where curation can be of benefit to a company, business, or Internet entrepreneur.
What is curation?
Before I explain why you should not “curate” content, I want to explain (for those that do not know) exactly what curation is.
Curation is a mash-up of content. This could be content in all forms (video, text, images, documents) and it could be from an unlimited number of sources. It is similar to a pinboard on Pinterest in that you are taking a bunch of content that is not yours and trying to beautify it.
As the “curator: you are utilizing content from several different sources and creating a unified page or post that hosts the collaboration of data.
Although this may be a fun activity and the actual content may be helpful to the visitor, it is not helpful to YOU as a business operation. Essentially as a website owner. If you want to become a curator you are doing very little content creation, meaning you are no longer creating unique content. You are copying content!
THIS GOES AGAINST EVERY FREAKIN’ PRINCIPLE OF GOOGLE’S RANKINGS!
Duplicate content has gotten people ousted from Google for years. Google is seeking original content, content that is 90% (at least) original. If you are delivering a page that is a mash-up of “other” people’s content, guess what?
Google is not going to sway on this. The whole reason that Google launches Panda and Penguin attacks on their search rankings is to prevent stuff like this from being ranked. Sure some curated content will slip through, but ultimately becoming a “curator” of content that you do not own is a flawed business model from the start.
If you are trying to create something that will earn you money online (and do not have extensive resources), you should be running as far away as you can from the idea of curation.
When is curation good?
Curation can be good, just not for people trying to start a business online.
It it’s natural form and from the “digital curation” definition:
“Digital curation is generally referred to the process of establishing and developing long term repositories of digital assets for current and future reference[2] by researchers, scientists, historians, and scholars.”
Collaboration between different entities, including those of likes of scientists and historians can prove content curation as a very powerful tool. Imagine being able to have a website dedicated to all of the resources on a certain type of “plant research”. This is a curation that would prove to be beneficial for “research” purposes...but not financial services (although it could lead to institutional savings).
Curation of your own content within YOUR domain can also be good. Say you have a huge website with a lot of content, if you can take this content and present it in a better way that is easier to understand for the reader, then content curation can be a good thing.
And finally I will provide you with a curation application that I use every day. It is an online magazine that curates content from many web entities online to present you with an up to date mash-up of what is going on across many different topics online (you choose what your magazine looks like).
It is called Zite. They have had $20 million in their second round of funding and have not made a penny yet. If you want to make a run at creating a curation product, this is the sort of funding and competition you are up against.
Influence and Your Content
It is OK to get influence from other sources when creating your content. We all do it. You read an article which gives you an idea on something to write about, or you read a comment within a thread that gives you an idea for a lander.
Some of us even research data points and ideas from other sources and quote them within our content. There is nothing wrong with this. You are using influence from other content sources to make your content better.
Content should be unique (at least to the 90th percentile) and you should focus on creating your own engaging content, using your own ideas. Nothing has changed, nothing is different.
Too good to be true...
This is another instance of “if it is too good to be true” it probably is. This is no different than any other idea that has come along over the years, if you were able to simply click a few buttons, copy a bit of content, and add it to your site, everyone would be a HUGE success online.
If you ever have any questions about methodologies like this, please stop by WA and ask a few questions. We will do our best to point you in the right direction. Our ongoing goal is to make sure you have the right information that will benefit YOU as a business!
Recent Comments
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Thanks again for the heads up Kyle & Carson ,it sure is nice working & learning from real people. Who know what their doing, even though I don't personally know you guys I've been around long enough to know the "Real McCoy" when I see it . Thanks again :^)
No problem Ryan, you know us in the virtual world which is probably the most common connection people have these days!
I agree... build a business with this model... and at some point in time you, will find yourself in the predicament many substantial businesses found themselves in recently... for gaming the (google) system. To have a business built on a solid foundation is one of the most fundamental building blocks to creating a sustainable successful business model.
I think the real problem is that you will not be able to "build a business" using this business model. I have yet to see someone effectively pull this off through using the "copy content" technique that most are advocating these days. There are many fundamental flaws in this model, the main one being that it does not work.
Thanks for the heads up , are there any other marketplace sites like CB that you would recommend we use or that has a better rep ?
It depends what you are promoting...it is a good idea whatever you are promoting to focus on the actual products, no them, understand them, review them, read about them...and then promote them. Ideally you would have working knowledge of every product you promote, but this is definitely not always feasible or cost efficient.
A quick search in Google will give you a list of affiliate programs:
affiliate program + niche_name
Wow!! I honestly didn't realize that clickbank would put out products that we're questionable or bogus. I wouldn't want that kind of a rep for my co. , you know to be known as a sellout . I am sure some of CB's products are good ? right ? As for the curation , that's just plain old common sense . Don't be trying to take the east way out , do your own work and satisfied in your own labors :^)
You would be surprised. Clickbank is probably the single largest network for incubating "scam" products online. Although there are definitely some merchants on there creating awesome products, there are many that are not. They tend to hide their quality behind their "easy handout of refunds" which typically come at a rate of no less than 10% within the CB network, even for quality products.
While ClickBank does harbor absolute crap, there are legitimate products there. I have a product listed there, that has had 1 total refund. It was from an affiliate that only sent me one hop, so I'm assuming he used his own hoplink, bought the product, then refunded, all to get my guide for free.
Just make sure you do your research and only recommend products you've actually bought and tried.
Hey Ryan! Quite the contrary, Clickbank is where all the guru's promote their products and where most of the JUNK online is allowed to be sold. The "Internet marketing" and "make money" industry is where all these crap products are. There are some great products at clickbank but they are not in the online business niche.
Stay far away from clickbank products in this niche. Kyle and I have a lot of inside info from people who promote this kind of thing and a lot of these product launches get 50%, 60%, and 70% refund rates. Actually, the clickbank accounts for many of the owners of the self acclaimed "MIRACLE" products go into the negative once the refunds are taken.
Other niches aren't as bad, but Clickbank has earned millions over the years allowing people to scam others. They take their cut, they meet with these scammers, and they continue to allow them to be promoted. Everything out there at clickbank in the online business niche tries to sell people on the NO WORK = SUCCESS mentality.
The only people who earn from this kind of thing are the scammers themselves. However times have changed in the past couple years and most of the people you might think are reputable and who have highly successful businesses are failing miserably. This just feeds into the cycle of promoting junk to earn a modest living. It's sad.
The plus side to this conversion is that you are reading it here at WA where you are getting a real education in online business!
Any time we see ridiculous claims from new products and services out there in the "GURU" world it's easy to put them in the "JUNK" pile after applying a few common sense things.
1 - If it tells you that you can essentially click a button and make money, it's junk
2 - If it tells you that copying content is OK, it's junk
3 - If it claims that it will drive lots of traffic to your website by doing very little, it's junk
Kyle and I are passionate about this kind of thing because over the years we've been battling this kind of product and the type of people who create them. We offer WA members a platform to build a REAL business and we will continue to do our best to educate you so that you are not sucked into all the scams out there.
Curation as a business model...give me a break. This is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've seen as the idea alone goes directly against the VERY core of what Search Engines hate. The top Curation tools/services in the world (Zite for example) cannot profit even when they have tens millions in investment. Think a Clickbank product will turn Curation into a business that makes you money?
Likes on comments would be a great addition. Something we will consider for sure. Thanks for virtually "liking" my comment :)
Agree and disagree, in warrior forum some guy/s "break the bank" with content
curation "products". Can`t laugh more :) Those who bought it most definitely will
be disappointed, and badly. But check this keyword;lodge logig 7.5 quart dutch oven your choice of color its my blog #1 page on google, 3. position.
AND content is 95 % COPIED! Honestly...what the h...is going on after googles animal farm attack?
Paci
Google has nothing else to put in place of your content there, that is why you are ranked. There isn't another term under that exact term in Google. This actually does not surprise me...but yeah, if anyone decides to compete with you by creating unique content, say goodbye to your rankings.
Seems to me that curation as a primary content model is doomed to failure since it gets people to leave your site, as opposed to crosslinking within your own site and stuff. Isn't it just a step or two above auto-blogging?
Heck, Directory Generator and Traffic Equalizer curated. They scrapped links to content what was definitely on-topic. Isn't much of curation just doing that manually?
Maybe it's a way to get some initial traction while you get started, but beyond that?
Absolutely, the content that is curated draws your visitors (if you actually get any) from your site to the content source. A step or two above auto-blogging?..I think it is on the same level in terms of how ridiculous the concept is from a business standpoint.
Autoblogging would fall under the "bad idea" category or anything that is "auto" for that matter when it related to content.
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Hey, not wanting to rain on your parade and upset all your loyal peeps but I totally disagree with ya there geezer. Curation has been around since the dawn of the internet and it ain't dropping off the radar anytime soon.
My take on curation is a whole lot different than yours, I see it as a way to pull in relevant content that your readers want to read. Yes they is always the argument that big G doesn't like it, but I'd argue that a well set up regular curated post is a winner.
An example: I manage a website for an offline client and when I altered their blog theme and set-up I added a "curated post" as a test post to ensure everything was working. She liked it...
To cut a long story short. Analytic shows that the curated posts which I now deliver for her every Friday get the most traffic during the week.
Her readers expect and visit her site for the curated industry news...
One hat NEVER fits all peeps
Tony " Bad Boy" Balthazar
Curation has been around as long as we exist. I am not discrediting the value to a reader or an organization when information from a wide variety of sources has been curated, however as a business model curation is not a sound approach. If you have an example of a lucrative example of a site that is curating content then that would be great for the readers here Tony. It would be best if you were in the actual curation business for your own work so you could provide us with your own personal sample.
Also if you aren't and it is so effective, why don't your existing sites work off of the curation model.
If you want curation to work as a model for attracting avid readers of your curated content, it can.... but you need a following already. How is curation going to attract traffic and an initial following?
As a reader, I do like companies that get big investment to provide great curation services, however starting a business through the process of creation is a lost cause in my personal opinion.
I look foward to hearing from you. :)
I think you are right, if you already have a set of loyal readers. People are looking to use curated content to rank on Google the same way they were using spun articles. There are some ways to use curated content effectively to rank, but you still have to have unique content to go along with it.
As a Stand alone business model I'd have to agree and say yep it's a dead horse, however I can see that it adds value "once" the traffic/following is there.
The site I manage is a trading site and 'gathering' other websites take on recent trading moves and information benefits her readers. I'll ask her if it's cool to use her site as an example..
However I always up for a challenge... I'm thinking that I will build a 'purely curated site' and we can all be the judge of whether it works or not .... Guess where my money is ;)
I'd even bet a day's online earnings with ya that I could make a success of it !!
Tony " Gauntlet" Balthazar
I think from scratch you would have a difficult time making a "curated" site a go...and a succeessful one. I would like to up the ante and bet you that YOU could make a site far more profitable far quicker with a site that has no curated content on it.
I can see a minimal purpose for curating content in it's natural form within sites that are for educational purposes and collaboration purposes solely, however from a business perspective it is no better than riding the duplicate content train right off the tracks.
Curated (copied) content is no different that creating a content farm, it is just utilizing a wider range of contetn on your site.
No doubt about it ... from scratch with original content I'd certainly turn a profit quicker... Also I certainly agree that Edu or even a actual government office can benefit from someone collating info that "parents or students" want to find in a rush. I'm sure there are example of how curation can work very well as a one stop recourse.
I reckon that 20% original is good enough for a curated site and I will post it here when it's ready ;)
Tony "WP Junkie" B
Cool sounds good Tony!