It should come as no surprise that Google loves content, especially hyper-fresh content. Over the past two years or so, Google has increasingly displayed this kind of content in its search results. Of course, it can be difficult to consistently publish a fresh stream of content that satisfies both users and search engines. One great solution is to curate real-time content as it pertains to your industry and the goods and services you offer.
How Real-Time Curation Works and Digital PR Benefits
Let’s say you are the Internet content strategist at a restaurant with mango items on the menu. In the last few days, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered that a sample of Pacific Organic Produce organic mangos was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Mangoes sold in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Jersey since mid-April may be contaminated.
As the restaurant’s online content strategist, you should curate from multiple, trusted sources about this important news item (as it unfolds) that your readers likely want to learn more about. Both Food Safety News and Tech Times, for instance, have written about the incident. It’s quite likely that both sources have some information overlap as well as some key differences. A talented and seasoned wordsmith can effectively combine the most important points from several credible sources to present an objective story to readers.
Did the restaurant use those mangoes in its dishes since mid-April? Perhaps the restaurant used different mangoes than the Pacific Organic Produce organic ones that were impacted. By presenting an objective presentation of the facts and this useful editorial commentary, the restaurant is ultimately helping and satisfying its audience.
The SEO Benefits of Real-Time Curation
As mentioned, Google does have an obsession with fresh content created around the trending topics of the day, as it’s likely that searchers are concerned about these matters.
What’s more is that a recent Bruce Clay case study on curation revealed that a content piece that presents objective information from expert sources —and includes outbound links to these source pages —along with editorialized commentary, can rank higher in search for relevant queries.
The inclusion of outbound links is very important, as authorities are generally understood to link to fellow authorities. This practice indicates that the content strategist or Webmaster understands what an authoritative source on the Web is and acknowledges this by linking out.
In addition to just that one piece of content performing well in search results, the entire site benefits with this type of content. The combination of authoritative language on timely topics, outbound links to highly reputable sites, and editorialized commentary on specific topics builds genuine thought leadership that translates to higher rankings, greater search visibility, and trust earned.
Google’s recent Hummingbird update enables Google to better process conversational search questions. Reading between the lines—it means that search marketers should also become more conversational in content pieces.
By becoming effective publishers and storytellers, brands can invigorate their digital PR and SEO campaigns.
Guest Post by Rish Tanna at Seasoned Wordsmith