Better Websites: 10 Article Research Sources
Generally speaking, writing an article is more valuable to your readers on a long-term basis than writing a simple blog post. While some old-school web usability experts say that a business weblog is reduced in quality by having anything other than articles, many of us professional bloggers disagree. There is much value in topic summaries, as there are busy readers who enjoy the fact that you’ve “filtered” many discussions and provided the gist.
If you do summarize well and can add some sort of unique perspective or additional information - or tie together two or three discussions about a currently hot issue, you will have satisfied readers.
That said, even if you have produced an editorial calendar for the feature articles for your weblog, you still want to find timely references. Here’s a shortlist of resources I like to use to either generate blog post ideas or as reference sources for larger articles.
DailyHub.
DailyHub has not officially launched at the time of this writing, and is still lacking many “social network” features. However, it is an article voting site similar to Digg, but focused on business topics. Note: because DailyHub is being upgraded, you may not be able to access it from time to time.
Del.icio.us.
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site where you can store URLs you enjoyed or want to explore further. You don’t so much vote as “save” a bookmark, and you can befriend other members and they you.
Digg.
Digg is a great source of hot topics, though the old-guard members have a very specific interest - mostly Apple Computer products, gaming, and Linux. That doesn’t mean this social media does not have breadth. Just be prepared for heated arguments, on occasion, in the comments section of some threads.
Google News + Alerts.
Google News draws content from a selection of websites and weblogs Google has picked out. If you look carefully at the left hand navigation menu, you can see a link for News Alerts, or RSS/Atom for the web feed URL. First search for the topics that you are interested in, using standard search term notation. Then choose your delivery (Alerts or feed). News Alerts are delivered by email, feeds are subscribed to in your favorite feed reader.
Megite.
Megite is fantastic for showing current discussion threads. Using a select list of weblogs, much like Google News does for websites, Megite displays a story headline, as well as links to articles elsewhere that either link to the main story or are related topically. If you’re stuck for what to write, Megite can often help you break your block.
Reddit.
No disrespect intended, but Reddit is like a simplified Digg. And that’s a good thing, especially if you don’t want to wade through all the categories in Digg. Or don’t feel like reading the venomous comments that sometimes appear there.
Sphinn.
Sphinn is brand new, as of this writing, and is modelled on social media voting sites like Digg. The difference is that Sphinn was launched by an SEO/SEM (Search Engine Optimization/ Search Engine Marketing) firm, and keeps its topic set to that broad category, as well as some related topics. If you want to learn about online promotion and building a web presence - or have articles of that nature - this is the place to go.
Stumbleupon.
Stumbleupon, recently purchased by eBay, is fairly unique in social media (to the best of my knowledge). Install a “stumble” button into your browser, and when you land on a page you really like and want to share, click the “I Like it!” button. Stumbleupon is said to also be a great way to drive traffic to your website. Check out this beginner’s guide [via Sphinn].
Techmeme.
If there’s a significant difference between Megite and Techmeme, I haven’t spotted it. Techmeme is architected much the same in terms of main story link and related stories. On the off-chance that there’s a different story at Techmeme than Megite, it’s worth a look.
Yahoo! News.
Yahoo! News is based on the same principle as Google News. The major difference is that Yahoo! doesn’t have an equivalent to Google Alerts by email. You can, however, subscribe to search results.
The list is by no means exhaustive and is only a starting point. Whether you use these sources for your blog posts or longer articles, remember to always give credit - in the form of a hyperlink - to an article that you quote or borrow heavily from.
