Curate means to select, organize, and present something thoughtfully, often with a clear purpose or theme. So, curated content is content that has been carefully chosen. Then, the selected parts are arranged and shared from various sources to provide value to a specific audience. Instead of creating everything from scratch, you collect high-quality articles, videos, images, or posts from other creators. Then you present them in a way that’s relevant and helpful to your followers.
For businesses, especially those offering content writing services, curation is a smart way to keep audiences engaged while saving time on constant original production. It blends discovery with strategy.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through a live example of content curation. We’ll transform this very blog, “What is Curated Content?” into a curated piece itself.
Steps Involved in Content Curation
Step 1: Find valuable sources
Step 2: Select the most relevant points
Step 3: Organize for your audience
Step 4: Add your own perspective
Step 5: Credit the original sources
Now, let’s move on with the actual steps.
Step 1: Find valuable sources
Step one is about choosing content that is both credible and relevant. Look for trusted industry websites, popular blogs, and experts who share accurate information. Set up alerts or subscribe to newsletters to find new content regularly. When you find articles or posts, check their quality. See who the author is, look at the facts or examples, and compare with other reliable sources. Good curation means carefully filtering so you only share content that helps your audience and builds your trustworthiness.
Here’s what we found for this blog,
Top Five Blog Pieces on Curated Content
- https://mailchimp.com/resources/what-is-curated-content/
- https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/content-curation/
- https://nytlicensing.com/latest/methods/what-content-curation/
- https://quillbot.com/blog/content-writing/what-is-curated-content/
- https://coschedule.com/marketing-terms-definitions/curated-content
Step 2: Select the Most Relevant Points
Once you’ve gathered potential sources for curated content, the next step is to filter out anything that doesn’t align with your audience’s needs or your brand’s purpose. This is where quality control matters—curation isn’t about sharing everything you find, but selecting the most relevant, credible, and engaging pieces that add value to your audience.
Most Relevant Points from Top 5 Industry Blogs
I. Definition & Purpose
Curated content means selecting external material—such as articles, blogs, videos, or social posts that are relevant, high-quality, and useful for your target audience. It’s not random sharing rather it’s intentional selection that supports your brand message and builds authority.
II. Benefits
- Saves time and resources compared to creating everything from scratch.
- Keep your content calendar active and consistent.
- Positions you as a thought leader by showcasing your awareness of industry trends.
- Builds trust and credibility through sharing reputable sources.
- Fosters relationships when you tag or credit original creators.
III. Process for Selection
- Discover: Use tools like RSS feeds, social listening platforms, and content alerts to find relevant pieces.
- Evaluate: Check the source’s credibility, the accuracy of data, and alignment with your brand tone.
- Select: Choose content that’s timely, useful, and engaging for your audience.
- Add Value: Include your insights, commentary, or summaries to provide context.
- Schedule: Use a content calendar to balance curated and original material.
IV. Best Practices
- Maintain a mix: roughly 65% original, 25% curated, and 10% syndicated content.
- Limit curated posts to avoid overshadowing your original work (e.g., 1 curated post out of every 5).
- Always credit the original source and link back to them.
- Use scheduling tools to maintain consistency.
- Track performance to see what resonates most with your audience.
Step 3: Organize for Your Audience
Your audience is the specific group of people you want to reach, engage, and influence with your content. They’re the ones whose needs, preferences, and challenges should guide how you choose, format, and present curated material. Knowing your audience means understanding:
- Who they are (demographics like age, profession, location).
- What they care about (interests, goals, and industry trends).
- How they consume content (preferred channels and formats).
Step 4: Add your own perspective
Adding your own perspective turns curated content from simple sharing into real value. For example, explaining why a piece matters for small business owners, linking it to real client experiences, and offering quick, actionable steps. It’s about giving context, showing relevance, and keeping the tone authentic so the audience sees it as a trusted solution, not just another post.
Step 5: Credit the original sources
Always give credit when sharing curated content. It builds trust, respects creators, and opens networking opportunities. Here are quotes from the five sources we reviewed that you can reference directly:
- Mailchimp – “Curated content is content from other brands or people that you share on your own channels, like social media or email.” (Mailchimp, What Is Curated Content?)
- Sprout Social – “Content curation is the act of searching for and sharing outstanding content with your audience.” (Sprout Social, Glossary – Content Curation)
- Quillbot – “Curated content is content created by others that you select and share because it’s relevant and valuable to your audience.” (Quillbot, What Is Curated Content?)
- NYT Licensing – “Content curation is the process of finding, organizing and sharing the best and most relevant content on a specific topic or for a specific audience.” (NYT Licensing, What Is Content Curation?)
- CoSchedule – “Curated content is content from the web that you choose to share with your audience because it’s relevant to them.” (CoSchedule, Marketing Terms – Curated Content).
The Benefits of Curated Content
Curating content offers several important advantages for your brand:
- It saves time and resources compared to creating everything from scratch.
- It helps keep your content calendar active and consistent, avoiding gaps that might lose audience interest.
- It positions you as a thought leader by showcasing your awareness of industry trends.
- It builds trust and credibility through sharing reputable sources.
- It fosters relationships when you tag or credit original creators, opening networking opportunities.
Sprout Social highlights that content curation is “the act of searching for and sharing outstanding content with your audience,” emphasizing how curation connects you with valuable information while strengthening your brand’s reputation.
How to Select the Best Content to Curate
Choosing the right content to share is one of the most important parts of curating. It’s not just about picking anything you find—it’s about finding content that truly benefits your audience and fits your brand. Here’s a simple way to do it:
1. Discover
Start by looking for content in places where your audience spends time. This could be blogs, news sites, social media channels, or newsletters related to your industry. Use tools like RSS feeds to get updates from favorite websites, social listening tools to track trending topics, or set up alerts for keywords that matter to your business. This way, you always have a pool of fresh content to choose from.
2. Evaluate
Once you find a piece of content, check if it’s trustworthy. Look at who created it—is it an expert or a reliable source? Does the information have clear facts, data, or examples to back it up? Also, ask yourself if the style and tone match your brand. For example, if you speak in a friendly and simple way, a very technical or salesy article might not be a good fit.
3. Select
Pick content that is timely and useful. Timely means it talks about current trends, news, or issues your audience cares about right now. Useful means it teaches something, solves a problem, or inspires your audience to take action. Avoid content that is too general or not relevant to your niche. The goal is to share only the best content that adds value.
4. Add Value
Don’t just share the link or repost the content. Add your own thoughts to explain why you think it matters. This could be a short summary, your opinion, or a suggestion on how your audience can use the information. Adding context shows that you’ve done the work to pick something helpful, not just passing along random information.
5. Schedule
Plan when and where you will share the curated content. Use a content calendar to mix curated posts with your original content. This helps keep your posting consistent and balanced. Posting at the right time on the right platform ensures your audience will actually see and engage with the content.
Best Practices for Effective Content Curation
To maintain a healthy content strategy, aim for a balanced mix: roughly 65% original content, 25% curated, and 10% syndicated, as recommended by Sprout Social. Limiting curated posts to avoid overshadowing your original work is crucial—for example, sharing one curated post out of every five.
Always credit the original source and link back to their content. This not only respects the creator but also boosts your credibility. Using scheduling tools helps maintain regular posting, and tracking performance lets you learn which curated pieces resonate most with your audience. As CoSchedule succinctly puts it, curated content is “content from the web that you choose to share with your audience because it’s relevant to them.”
How Does Curated Content Work for Search Engines?
Curated content helps SEO by gathering information from trusted sources, adding context, and presenting it in a useful way. Some more benefits are given below,
Content Discovery
Curated content begins with identifying high-quality information from trusted sources, such as blogs, research papers, news sites, and social media posts. Search engines crawl these original sources, so your job is to filter the best and most relevant pieces for your audience.
Content Discovery
Curated content starts with finding high-quality information from trusted sources like blogs, research papers, news sites, and social media posts. Search engines crawl these original sources, so your job is to filter the best and most relevant pieces for your audience.
Context & Added Value
Simply collecting links isn’t enough. Search engines favor content that adds unique insights or organizes information in a way that helps readers. For example, instead of just listing “Top 10 AI Trends,” you can explain why each trend matters for small businesses.
Relevance & Keywords
Curation works best when it stays focused on a clear topic. By using the right keywords, headings, and internal links, you build topical authority. The closer your content matches what people search for, the better it performs in rankings.
Credibility Through Linking
Always link back to your sources. This shows transparency and signals to search engines that you rely on credible references. Outbound links to authoritative sites strengthen the trustworthiness of your own content.
Freshness
Updating your curated content regularly shows both readers and search engines that your site is active. Fresh, consistently updated pages signal authority and reliability, helping you stay relevant in search results.
Final Verdict
Content curation is most used by marketers, publishers, bloggers, and brands that want to keep their audience engaged without always creating content from scratch. It’s especially valuable for businesses in fast-moving industries—like tech, digital marketing, health, or finance—where trends change quickly and people expect updated insights. Startups, social media managers, and thought leaders also rely on curated content. It builds authority, shares fresh perspectives, and stays visible without the heavy cost of constant original production.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of content curation?
Sharing a list of the best marketing blogs and adding your own comments about why they are useful.
Is curated content something you created?
No. Curated content is collected from other sources, not originally made by you.
What is another term for curated?
Organized, selected, or gathered.
Can you make money curating content?
Yes. Many people earn through curated newsletters, blogs, and social media channels.
Does curated mean designed?
Not exactly. Curated means carefully chosen and organized, while designed means created or built.
What is the difference between created and curated?
Created content is your original work. Curated content is when you collect others’ work and share it in your own way.