So youโre increasing the amount youโre posting online. Thatโs great!ย But where do you find content for your posts?
Itโs going to grow your presence and the engagement youโre receiving. This is key to โhumanisingโ yourself online so people instantly get a feel for โyouโ. As they say: โPeople do business with peopleโ. Thatโs a lot easier when your connections are getting a glimpse into your thoughts, feelings and opinions on a daily basis through your posting.
But posting 5 days a week…every week…thatโs a lot of content. If youโre having a day where youโre feeling particularly uninspired, writerโs block will make it difficult to come up with something to say. This is where a wealth of online content comes in.
Need a little inspiration? The internet is bursting at the seams with content that can either light a spark as to what youโd like to discuss or even provide a frame of reference for a point youโd like to make. Sometimes, you may just want to post a little comic relief.
But – how do you sift through the crap?
Below Iโm going to curate a list of the websites I use to find content. I would like to note that you should always provide credit where you can, particularly if youโre using content from an individual or small creator (tagging them may even lead to more engagement for the both of you!).
Videos
Reddit is described as a โsocial news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion websiteโ. Itโs basically made up of lots of โsubredditsโ dedicated to particular hobbies or interests. That crap I mentioned earlier? Thereโs a lot of it here. Thatโs why itโs best to find subreddits that work the best for what youโre interested in. Otherwise, you could be scrolling for hours looking for the perfect video for your post. (Be wary, this site does feature NSFW content but there are settings to ensure this is hidden if youโre browsing in the office).
- Digg
Digg is a great site that functions as the โbest bitsโ from the internet that week. Whilst it features different types of multimedia, it has a great Videos page that features the videos currently going viral. Certified engagement grabbing material! The only downside is that there really is a mix of all types of subject matter on here so it can be difficult to pin something down if you know exactly what themes youโre looking for.
- YouTube & Twitter
Some obvious names here – but reliable classics! With a great search capacity and an ability to refine results, you can really find specific content here. If you find a channel or account that continually posts great content itโs easy to Follow or Subscribe so you always have a handy place to look when youโre feeling stuck.
Images
- Pexels & Unsplash
Pexels and Unsplash are two websites that host 100,000s of copyright-free images for you to use. Got a theme for your post? Type in some keywords and you scroll away. As an amateur photographer, I try to go for the images I think are the most aesthetically pleasing. But, if you like a straightforward, stock image style then they cater to that too. Give it a try!
Whilst you may know of personal content thatโs posted on Instagram, there are also accounts on there that post viral images intended to be shared, artists who post their latest creations and even celebs posting funny images for their followers to see. It all depends on what tone youโre going for. Again, this app offers a great search function on its Explore page (also a content goldmine) through the use of relevant #hashtags. Be sure to credit the user who took or created the original image.
- Organic Content
Saw something funny on the way to work? Snapped a selfie over the weekend? Thereโs nothing wrong with posting pictures youโve taken yourself. It makes you more personable and gives your connections more of an insight into you. Your plants…your cat…thatโs what youโll find on my LinkedIn anyway. Even scrolling back through your camera roll might spark an idea or a memory that youโd like to share.
Articles
Looking for news articles to share is pretty self-explanatory. Everybody understands the concept of using a reliable source. You may want to avoid bias, you may not. This is entirely your choice so long as youโre prepared for the engagement youโll receive (positive or negative). Big institutions like Forbes or Business Insider are great for a variety of relevant, content. Personally, I will even share stories from websites like National Geographic for really interesting, worldly related content. Plus, they post really cute animal pictures.
There are, of course, far more sources out there to track down content for your posts than Iโve mentioned here. Itโs all about having an explore around the internet until you find sites that host the right kind of content for you. Having things prepared in the form of a content war chest that you can rely on will really come in handy on those days when you just canโt think of anything to post.
Happy Treasure Hunting!