If you ever wanted some of the easiest & most appealing blog post ideas to create, this is it.
Creating a winning curated blog post strategy for your business can drive more traffic, especially from Pinterest.
It can gain you more eyeballs on your content and please the search engines all at the same time.
Curated posts are some of my favourite types of easy blog post ideas for driving more engagement.
Engagement is the holy grail on social media.
In fact when I first came across curated post content and list posts I thought it was “cheating” because they seemed so easy right?
I’m guessing it’s a perfectionist entrepreneur “thing”,
We seem to want to create everything ourselves, from scratch, AND on brand.
And even though it takes 10x longer, we’ll go ahead and add it to the To-Do-List.
Which typically looks more like the length of a knitted scarf than a succinct hit-list of must-do’s.
But as I tested this type of post and saw how popular they were, I quickly changed my mind and regularly use them.
Plus they are fun and interesting to do.
Even if you have a product or service based business, such as installing windows & conservatories,
fitting carpets,
blinds & curtains,
bathrooms & kitchens etc,
Creating a curated blog post can quickly become one of your most popular and interesting blogs.
Especially to your prospective clients and customers.
People love ideas, tips and visual content.
They can relate to images whatever industry or niche you are in.
With a Facebook page to keep feeding with interesting and original content,
You might just want to take a break for the next 5 minutes
And take some notes on exactly how you can create a winning curated blog post for your business.
Read on to find out how to create them, step-by-step.
Step 1 : Think About Some Of Your Customer’s Most Frequently Asked Questions
Creating content around long-tail keyword phrases is one of the must-do’s for any blogger for business.
Producing content that is already being searched for is an essential starting point for any piece of content you produce.
One of my favourite tools for this is SEO book.
But as this blog post is all about creating a winning curated blog post strategy for your business, it requires a slightly different way of thinking about your content than just SEO.
If you have spent quite some time in front of your customers by now you should have noticed several questions come up over and over again.
It’s these questions that should be the inspiration.
Because they are interesting to your customers.
Here is an example I created for Contemporary Log Living as a sprinkling of inspiration:-
- In this example I curated some ideas from Pinterest & Google, added some tips and created a post that has gone viral on Pinterest and drives lots of traffic to the website every month.
Step 2 : Create Your Curated Content From Your Customers Perspective
The key to creating winning curated posts like these is to think about them from your customers perspective.
- What helps them get an “aha!” moment?
- What would make them be able to see what you are describing in a more visual way?
- How could you demonstrate some previous projects that would help position you as an expert in your niche?
- What ideas could you share with prospective customers that would inspire them?
- Do you have a case study or testimonial that you could break down into bite-sized chunks that demonstrates a transformation?
Coming up with the angle for your curated blog post is the strategy behind the curated post, and it’s vital that it comes from your customers perspective.
A blog post written for something your ideal customers have in mind will give you an edge over your competitors.
In this example I added a video, showed some curated examples of what a dressing room might look like and added some tips. Once again it is a great example of how curated content can help you create some of your best blog post ideas AND drive traffic from Pinterest.
Step 3 : Find Or Create Your Content Images
Implementing this strategy into your blogging plan is something you will want to do on a regular basis.
It will also depend on the number of blogs you create in a month.
A good ratio to work to is 1 in 4.
This works especially well if you create a new blog post every week.
If you only create new blog posts every other week, then I would recommend doing every third or fourth one as a curated post in some way.
If you are a food blogger then you may well be creating curated blog posts more frequently. Because recipes are perfect for this strategy.
Create a Pinterest Board for any content that you find
And start collecting images for your blog post ideas from places such as :-
- Google images.
- Royalty free images.
- Images you find on Pinterest.
- Images you’ve downloaded and used in the past.
- Online magazines in your niche.
- Popular & Authority blogs in your niche.
Remember to PIN them all to your Pinterest board, because you are going to need them when you piece the blog post together.
In this example I added collected some of the best images I could find for people to draw imagination from if they were thinking about converting a garage space into a new room. It is one of the top pages for Google traffic to the website every month.
Step 4 : Choose The Number Of Images (Steps / Keys / Ideas) You Are Going To Use
You may have noticed that List Posts grab readers attention.
So much so that even top magazines use them each and every month for the very same reason.
Examples of list posts you might use could include:-
How To Use “_____”
How To Make The Perfect “_______”
How To Start “_____”
How To Generate More “_____”
(#) Proven Ways To “_____”
(#) Steps To “_____”
(#) Reasons Your “_____” Isn’t Working
A Beginners Guide To “_____”
The Ultimate Guide To “_____”
Brainstorm some headlines for blog posts like this.
And store them in Evernote, (for the paperless, digital option).
Or open up a Word or Google Doc and just fill a sheet with everything that comes into your head.
The key thing here is to develop at least 12 ideas.
Which will give you 6-12 months of content for your blog straight away.
Once you have a list of at least a dozen ideas you need to find images from your saved working Pinterest board.
You will need to link to them as the original source in your blog post.
Step 5 :Creating The Blog Post Itself
Preparation is everything when it comes to creating a winning curated post for your business.
it’s like baking a virtual “cake,”
you need to gather all the ingredients together first,
in the right quantity.
Then follow the recipe to the letter.
And what will emerge will look beautiful and good enough to share & repin on Pinterest if you are lucky!
One of the keys to creating a winning curated blog post is the ability to “say what you see”.
Because you will be writing captions to go with your images.
Online magazines often shorten everything down to a slider with just images.
But I wouldn’t recommend doing that as a small business owner.
Nor would I recommend you have a ton of adverts, banners, pop-ups and videos to distract people from your content.
Adding some thoughtful comments and captions to your post makes your readers see how the image applies to them.
The first and most important ingredient is the IMAGE.
For this example I’m going to pretend I’m creating a curated blog post called:-
5 Fast & Healthy Lunches For Busy Work From Entrepreneurs
“So by this point I’ve researched, found and pinned my content.
Next I’m going to screen capture the images I’m going to use in the curated blog post.
Some of the PINTEREST images will be too small.
So you may need to capture from the original source of the image instead.
Whichever you do you MUST credit the original source in your post.”
You can also use royalty free images or free image sites as your curated content if you prefer.
Upload the image is the normal way and then add a line immediately underneath the image saying “original source.”
(remember to add your SEO description to your image)
LINK to the original source & give credit to the person who created it.
It should look like this:-
Step 6 : Adding Text To Enhance The Post
If you have ever seen the TV show Catchphrase you’ll really get to grips with the next part of creating your winning curated blog post strategy.
Because the easiest way to enhance your wonderful creation is add a few lines of descriptive text to each image.
Say what you see.
For inspiration check out the original source of the image.
See if there are some phrases you could re-work from there.
Or take a look at online magazines like House Beautiful to see how they piece together a short paragraph around each featured image.
It takes a little bit of practice.
But you’ll soon find it easier to put a few short descriptive sentences together about the image.
For example:
“Add a few stylish desk top accessories to create perfect finishes touches to a pulled together super organised home office.
With no boss breathing down your neck, or battleship grey walls to keep your creativeness on hold, feel free to design a work space that will inspire you to build your brand right from the comfort of your own home.”
Step 7 : Add A 10% Item That Nobody Else Would Think Of
The main reason one blog post, article, video or social media post gets more likes, shares and repins than another is based entirely on the content.
It has to add a little something extra.
That one tip nobody else wrote about.
That one marketing strategy that nobody explained before.
That special giveaway or printable to download later etc.
When I created the cosy guest room post for Contemporary Log Living I added a 10% item.
It’s the framed Wi-fi password for guests at the bottom of the post.
I believe it’s responsible for the vast majority of the Pinterest traffic it brings month after month.
So when you create a curated blog post always make up the posts in this way:-
70% is rock solid content that would be expected
20% to be slightly different or thought provoking in some way
10% to be a light bulb moment, or takeaway from the blog post that’s guaranteed to be something unexpected.
Summary:-
- Curated blog posts are designed for interest to your readers and ideal customers, they are super easy to create.
- Gather together all the “ingredients” first to make piecing together your curated blog post as easy as possible.
- Always credit the original source under each image you use.
- Embellish your post with a paragraph or two of descriptive text – “say what you see”.
- Add a 10% item that most bloggers wouldn’t think to do, it’s the online version of going the extra mile
So there you have it, a winning strategy for blog post ideas that when you do them right, will drive traffic to your website!
Be kind, stay positive & believe in yourself!
