How to Increase Blog Traffic with Content Curation

By: | August 30, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Content Curation helps bloggers remember topics and increase traffic.You shouldn’t have to remember this.

You have so much to remember as a blogger.

You come up with an idea, research, write, edit, promote, respond to commenters.

You should even remember to put in the “Read More” tag for double page views.

However, the one aspect of blogging you shouldn’t have to remember is your topic.

Will this post tell you how to devise blog topics?

No.

Will this post tell you how to remember blog topics once you’ve thought of them?

No, you have an editorial calendar for that.

This post will tell you how to never run out of blog topics and dramatically increase your blog traffic all at the same time.

 

Where to Curate Your Blog Topics

A museum curator collects and preserves artifacts.

You collect and preserve blog topic ideas until you are ready to use them.

What if you collected and preserved your potential ideas in a place that could dramatically increase your blog traffic?

Think of it as putting money in a bank.  You could keep your money anywhere, just like you could keep your blog ideas anywhere.

You could keep your blog ideas in your smartphone using your Evernote app, on a paper editorial calendar, or on CoSchedule’s editorial calendar.

But, if you could your ideas in content curation sites, your ideas could generate traffic for you, just like keeping money in a bank generates interest for you.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon has the potential to generate massive traffic to your blog.  I know.  When I used StumbleUpon consistently as a content curation site, it generated massive traffic to my blog.

The premise of StumbleUpon is simple.  You research, or stumble, other’s articles–thumbs up if you like the articles, thumbs down if you don’t.  If you are not sure how you feel about the article, just stumble on to new articles, and don’t click anything.

If you click “thumbs up,” the article goes to your “likes”.  You are given the option of putting the articles you liked on a list.

In order to use StumbleUpon for content curation and traffic generation, make a list called “Future Blog Posts”.

Put your ideas for future blog posts, the articles you liked, on your “Future Blog Post” list.  Be sure to fill in the tags, so when people search topics, they find your Future Blog Post list with your potential article ideas on it.

Stumblers researching for topics you write about could follow you.  Then, when you add your own articles to StumbleUpon, interest in your writing will have already been generated.

I have heard varying ratios for how many articles you need to stumble for every one of your own articles you put on StumbleUpon.  The greatest I heard was that you should stumble 30 other articles for every 1 of your own articles on the site.

Bloggers worry that these ideas take extra time.  Clicking thumbs up or thumbs down goes fast.

After about two weeks of this consistent stumbling as I looked for new blog post ideas, I found massive referral traffic coming to my site from StumbleUpon.

Flipboard

The point of Flipboard is to make a magazine.

The default magazine titles are Picks for articles you want to read now and Read Later for intriguing articles you want to read later.

However, you don’t have to just keep the default magazine titles.  Having a magazine designed for future blog post ideas will curate the ideas for you when you’re ready to use them, and get others interested in you and your blog in the meantime.

  • Go to Flipboard.com
  • Click your picture in the upper right-hand corner.
  • Click “New Magazine.”

Flipboard Screenshot Curation

  • Title it “Future Blog Topics.”
  • Search for articles using the search bar.  Flipboard will actually suggest articles that match your interests and post these under “Cover Stories.”
  • When you find an article containing ideas you might want to consider using in future blog posts, click the plus (+) sign to flip the article into your Future Blog Topics ideas magazine.

People can follow your magazine and follow you.

Flipboard generates blog traffic.

This is exactly what happened for blogger Olivia O’Connor.  She put my article into her magazine Blog Like You Mean It.  As a result, I met a like-minded blogger.  I started following her and her magazine.

When I click on the articles she curated I put in my “Read Later” magazine, she will get blog traffic. This could happen for you for every Flipboard user that becomes apprised of you and your blog in this way.

Pinterest

The premise of Pinterest is to pin graphics of intriguing ideas to virtual bulletin boards.  There are many ways to use a Pinterest board to curate blog post ideas.

What boards do you have?  According to Living with Batman, your Pinterest boards should include boards with pins from your blog, your most popular tags, topics relevant to your blogging niche, group boards, and boards relating to your personal interests.

However, I’d like to suggest an additional board, one for future blog posts.

  • Go to Pinterest.com.
  • Create a new board, and title it Future Blog Posts for [the name of your blog]
  • Describe the board by describing your blog’s niche.  Explain these are the kind of pins Pinterest users (pinners) will find on the board.
  • Find a group board in your niche by going to Pingroupie.com.
  • Scan the board for topics you might eventually want to incorporate into your own blog posts.
  • Click “Pin it,” and pin the graphic from the post to your “Future Blog Post” board.
  • Tag the pin one of the “popular” Pinterest topics.  A dropdown menu next to the search bar will enable you to find the “popular” pin tags.  Tagging from the “popular” category will maximize the amount of traffic you receive.

Bloggers can use Pinterest to curate blog ideas and gain traffic for their blog.

When you pin someone’s graphic, they will get notified and will learn about you.

Also, you are likely to get new Pinterest followers since people like to follow active pinners.  You will look like an active pinner since you will have an additional board and therefore more pins.

The advantage of this is to generate interest in your blog as well as your future posts.  Think of it like a preview of a movie.  A movie trailer is designed to generate interest in the movie.  You are trying to generate interest in your blog by showing a snippet of an idea for a future post.

The job of a successful blogger is to advertise the post after it has been published.  Some of the most successful bloggers generate interest in their ideas before their posts are published.  For example, bloggers Danny Ray and Suzi 81 advertise their Meet and Greets before they occur in order to generate excitement.

Pinning ideas from other blogs generates interest in you.  People find out about you and follow your boards

In conclusion, what matters isn’t how you get page views, it’s how many page views you get. These content curation ideas will generate interest in you and your blog as well as store blogging ideas for later use.

Bloggers express concerns that they just don’t have time to do it all.  You have to record your blogging ideas, so you don’t forget them anyway.  You might as well record them in places that will not only preserve them for you but get you traffic at the same time.

Readers, before you go curate your ideas, please share this post, so other bloggers can read about these time-saving tips.  They really do save time.  They enable you to be organized and save ideas at the same time as getting traffic for your blog.

Readers, there has been great interest in Flipboard since my article was published.  It’s such a new medium, many have heard of it but have yet to try it.

Have you tried Flipboard, StumbleUpon, or Pinterest for content curation?  Have you found your referral traffic from these sites increased?  Are there any additional sites like Reddit you would recommend for content curation?  I look forward to your views.

Source:

Pinterest for Content Bloggers: Setting Up Your Boards

 

 

  1. Kiim l

    Such great ideas, as always!!! I’m off to make my new Pinterest board of Future Blog Topics:)

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Kim,
      Thanks for writing and letting me know. I never responded to your Email, but here is my answer: I totally understand. Thanks for the courtesy of letting me know.
      Have fun going to make your Pinterest board. =)
      Janice

  2. Carol

    Once again Janice some really good, easy to follow advice thank so much for sharing 🙂

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Shelley,
        This is fun. I feel like people are voting. You voted for Flipboard. Someone else voted for Pinterest. =)
        That’s what is nice about more than one tip, there’s hopefully something for everybody.
        Thanks for writing.
        Janice

  3. John Doe

    Once again, another home run. The hits just keep on coming. You are the “increase followers” GURU. Everyone has a nickname. Yours should be “The Blogging Guru”.

  4. Melinda

    Once again, you’ve provided excellent ideas, Janice!
    I just keep my ideas in my head, and hope they don’t leak out! Bad me!
    Melinda

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Melinda,
      LOL!
      I figured you would be babysitting today. Thanks for writing.
      Your BFF,
      Janice

      • Melinda

        Janice, you know me so well! I kept her Fri. nite, but had to send her home yesterday, because she didn’t sleep well, that meant I didn’t! Still trying to recover from my fall, in the yard Thur night. I’m ok, but had to go ER and get xrayed to death! Very sore!! Nothing broken, thank God. But I HAD to have some uninterrupted sleep time! Like 20 hours worth!!
        Melinda, your BFF

  5. Pamela Shank

    Thank you for the wonderful ideas. I will start working on them one at a time!!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Pamela,
      Thank you so much for visiting my site, reading what I wrote, and commenting. Nice to meet you.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Abbie.
      Nice to see you again. Thank you so much for the nice words about my efforts. I’m glad you liked my article about the three tools for Content Curation.
      Janice

  6. Janelle

    I never would have thought to do this! I’ve tried StumbleUpon but gave up because I saw no benefits for my blog. I will definitely look into trying this method and I love the idea of a new Pinterest board!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Janelle,
      Thank you for your visit to my site this morning. At StumbleUpon, look me up, and we can trade links and like each other’s links. I’ve done it with others, and got massive traffic as a result. I’m glad to hear you are ready and willing to try it again. I’m glad you like my idea for the Pinterest board too.
      Thank you for reading what I wrote and commenting.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Janelle,
      I wanted you to know I did visit your site, but I couldn’t figure out where or how to comment. I did see the info on the race, etc. Thanks again for today’s visit. I wanted you to know I visited you too.
      Janice

  7. Michelle

    Thank you, I did sign up for StumbleUpon but havent really used it …. I need to look around, at first glance {to me anyway} it was difficult to understand. I mean, I get the concept …. but … guess it’s just one of those things I have to DO. I didn’t understand Pinterest at first either, & now …. well enough said 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Michelle,
      Thank you so much for reading what I wrote and commenting. I have many articles about StumbleUpon which explain the basics. Thank you for your interest in my article, StumbleUpon and Pinterest. I find StumbleUpon has bigger potential for mass traffic but Pinterest is more consistent traffic. Thanks again for the visit and the comments.
      Janice

  8. Molly Stevens

    Great ideas on how to organize topics for future blog posts. I keep blog ideas in Evernote, but always have articles in various places. Sometimes I’ve emailed them to myself, sometimes I put them on my computer desktop. I’m going to try Flipboard – I used to use it to read articles but am going to try creating my own magazine.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Molly!
      Nice to see you again! Of the three ideas mentioned in the post, Flipboard is definitely garnering the most interest. Very easy to make your own magazine, just click the plus sign! Thanks for coming by and for writing.
      Janice

  9. Corinne Rodrigues

    Great share, Janice. I must try out Flipboard. Haven’t heard of it before! Bookmarking your post.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Corinne,
      I was just there reading other blogging articles. It’s great. People seem to be engaged by the magazine format.
      It’s so nice to see you here. Thank you again for all the support you give me on Twitter.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Pia,
      Thank you so much for your compliments on my article. I am not sure I understood your question, so I went into Flipboard and looked you up to see if you have used it.
      There is a Pia on Flipboard who is a food blogger who also writes about wine. I hope that helps. Janice

  10. Paula R

    Great information! I use Pinterest, have heard of StumbleUpon (but haven’t used it), and hadn’t even heard of Flipboard. #MidLifeLuv

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Paula,
      Thank you for clicking my link over at Elena’s group. I consider Elena a friend of mine. When I use StumbleUpon religiously, I get great traffic from there. Flipboard is sporadic, but when it happens, the traffic is great. Nice to meet you. Thanks for the compliments on my article and for writing me.
      Janice

  11. Chris

    Awesome info Janice – The idea of being able to both store ideas and generate traffic is great. Here’s a couple excellent follow-up articles on how to set-up Flipboard to send traffic directly to your website/blog: http://bit.ly/1JHV8pM

    Cheers!

    • Janice Wald

      Dear Chris,
      Thank you so much for visiting my site, reading my article, and suggesting a follow up article. I checked out and bookmarked the article, so thank you. My two articles about Flipboard have been met with resounding interest. I need another to discuss how to get traffic from there. So far I’ve just explained how to use the site and mentioned it has potential for great traffic. Seriously, thank you for everything.
      Janice

  12. Susan Langer

    Thanks for the Pinterest tips. I never thought of making a board for future posts. 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Susan,
      Thank you so much. There is even a way to make the board for the future posts a secret board if you don’t want to give your readers a “spoiler alert”. I consider you such a Pinterest expert, the compliments mean a great deal.
      I have a question. I am very interested in reading your Pinterest and other social media tips. I am confused by your four blogs and your partnership with Reneau. If I wanted to subscribe, is there a blog that has the social media in it? Which one? Thanks,
      Janice

  13. Tami

    I have flipboard on my phone but found it annoying. This new information has me curious enough to give it another try.

    Hope to see you again this week at Literacy Musing Mondays.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Tami,
      So, you are a friend of Mary Hill’s? So am I! My pleasure to support her linky party. She is supportive of me both on my blog and on Pinterest.
      Janice

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