How To Curate Content and Build Authority With Scoop.it

I first encountered Scoop.it months ago when I clicked on a Tweet from my friend Anise Smith. At that time, I'd never heard of Scoop.it and I was so amazed with the design and the interactive features of the service, that I contacted her right away for an invite. Immediately I became addicted to Scoop.it and started telling my friends about it and sending them invites. DiTesco from iBlogZone was equally impressed with Scoop.it and even months later continued to thank me for introducing him to this gem of a curation tool.

The reason bloggers and marketers like Anise, DiTesco and me enjoy using Scoop.it is that it allows us to keep a visual collection of those stories that hold our interest. You might compare it to Pinterest in some ways but for me, it's so much more. You get to shine the spotlight on your favorite images but more importantly – you can gather snippets of information in an organized collection based on your topic of interests. Curating a topic helps build your authority and helps keep you focused. There are some added benefits that you'll learn more about in this post (and in the video).

Scoop.it – No Longer in Beta

Scoop.it completed that last round of private beta testing late last year and became open to the public so you no longer need an invite. You can head over to the site and set up your account right now if you want. The free account allows you to curate five topics and you can post your scoops to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Tumblr and WordPress. Scoop.it let's you show off your best content or content you've curated from the web. Before I go any further, let me show you what you can do with Scoop.it. Please watch:

Scoop.it Tutorial – Curate Content, Build Backlinks and Track Engagement

In the video you'll see the 5 topics I'm curating with Scoop.it now are:

• Basic Blog Tips – Helping You Build a Better Blog
• YouTube Tips and Tutorials – Anything to help you succeed on YouTube (by far my most popular topic)
• Podcasts – Tips for creating effective podcasts and podcasting services and equipment
• STEM Advocate – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
• Blogging Contests – the hottest blogging contests around

After you scoop an article you'll find additional options for sharing to Google+, Pinterest and StumbleUpon on your topics page. I think your friends and followers will be just as impressed as I was the first I laid eyes on a scoop from Anise. There is a handy Extension for Google Chrome that I use to quickly grab snippets from stories I want to curate on my topic pages and you can download Scoop.it! for Chrome here. The community aspect of Scoop.it adds another dimension to the platform and you'll quickly learn how easy it is to follow your friends topic boards and suggest stories for them to curate.

Advanced features

Scoop.it offers pro and business plans and in the video I demonstrate how to set up Google Analytics for those of you who may want to upgrade to those options. Special pricing and terms are available for educators and students who really seem to embrace the platform and enjoy using it much as I do.

Scoop.it is one of my favorite curation tools and I use it basically everyday. What about you, do you think you'll give Scoop.it a try?

UPDATE: I was featured in the “Scoopit Spotlight”. Read the feature and how I leverage the Scoop.it platform and community in How Ms. Ileane Spreads Interesting Ideas to Strengthen and Embrace Her Community.

Watch a followup video I did in response to a question about how to “Put Scoop.it on Your WordPress Blog, Blogger or Website.”