How to Build a User Generated Content Website

You searched for a user generated content website and got Reddit. Or you got a widget vendor's pricing page. Neither one looked like what you pictured.

That is not your fault. The phrase describes two completely different things, and every page ranking for it quietly picks one.

I spent an afternoon trying to find websites that exist purely to host user generated content, and I mostly came up empty. What I found instead were ordinary business sites with one very good UGC section on them, which is what almost everyone actually means when they search for this.

That second version is the one you can build yourself. No developer required, and no moderation team.

Curator is installed on 100,000+ websites, so I have looked at a lot of these sections. Below I break down which version you need, show three real sites worth copying, then walk the seven steps. For more variety, browse our roundup of social media integration website examples.

What a user generated content website actually means

Start with the split, because it decides everything else.

The first version is a platform where users are the content. Reddit. TripAdvisor. A community forum. The site sits almost empty until people post. That is a product, with a moderation budget and an engineering team behind it.

The second version is a normal business website with sections that display content your customers made. Your site works fine without it. The UGC makes it convincing.

I generally recommend picking the meaning that matches your resources. If you have a developer and a moderation budget, build the platform. If you have a marketing person and a website, build the section, and you can have it live this week.

That second kind of user generated content site shows up in four familiar places:

• Customer photos on a product page, showing the item in real light

• A dedicated gallery page built around one campaign or claim

• An Instagram or TikTok feed on the homepage

• Google reviews pulled into a testimonials block

Every one of those counts. Browse more user generated content examples, or the ecommerce version if you sell products. For feed layouts specifically, we collected social media feeds on websites.

Three user generated content websites worth copying

Watch three things in each. Where the feed sits. What the heading asks the visitor to do. How the creator gets credited.

"Put UGC where a decision happens, not just at the bottom of the homepage where it works as decoration." — Mike Hill, CEO and Co-founder, Curator

Tarte Cosmetics: a dedicated gallery page with proper credit

Tarte's "tarte gives back" page is the deliberate version. It is a standalone page, not a homepage strip, built around one claim: supported 50+ female brands. Below it runs a scrolling row of photos from the small businesses Tarte has backed.

The attribution is what to copy. Each image carries the owner's name and city. Her Instagram handle sits beneath it as a clickable link. Crop that handle out and you lose the credit and the click.

Notice what it does. It evidences a claim nobody would believe as a sentence. A wall of love works the same way.

Dick's Sporting Goods: a homepage feed that asks for the sale

Dick's runs a video-first UGC row on its homepage. The heading reads "shop these styles," with a smaller line pointing to its Instagram account.

Read that heading again. It is a shopping instruction, not a follow request. One word choice turns a social section into a merchandising one.

The content is customers and creators filming themselves in the aisle and at home. Captions and hashtags stay intact, which is what makes it read as real. Rewrite a caption into brand voice and the section stops working.

Tackle World: the honest version most businesses will build

Tackle World runs a dense Instagram grid under "follow us on Instagram." Customer catch photos sit beside giveaway graphics, tournament standings, and a hiring notice.

This is what a single-account feed looks like in practice, and a fine place to start.

Now the honest critique. Promo tiles dilute the social proof, because a sale graphic is not a customer vouching for you. Want the trust benefit specifically? Pull from mentions or a branded hashtag instead of your whole account.

One outdoor gear retailer ran this exact setup. Their grid was seventy percent promo graphics, and the feed moved nothing. They split it in two, mentions on product pages and announcements in the footer. The product page version started earning clicks.

What UGC actually does once it is on your page

Every article on this topic promises the same five benefits. Here is what actually produces them.

• A stranger's photo carries information yours cannot. Your product shot shows the item. A customer photo shows it in a real kitchen, in real light. That gap is where trust comes from. More on the power of UGC.

• People stay longer when the page changes. An updating feed gives returning visitors something new. Static galleries stop earning attention fast. Avoid these common UGC campaign mistakes.

• Customers who get featured post again. Recognition is the loop. Instagram UGC runs it fastest.

• Real experience answers objections your copy cannot. A hesitant buyer wants proof from someone with nothing to gain. Moderate what you display, then plan the campaign that generates more.

The SEO claim depends on how your feed loads

Every tool in this category tells you UGC helps your SEO. That claim comes with a condition attached, and nobody mentions it.

When your widget loads inside an iframe, the content lives at the widget's URL rather than yours. Google Search Central states that its systems try to associate iframe content with the primary page. That association is not guaranteed, because both pages are normal HTML pages in their own right.

So the fresh content you added may be crediting someone else's domain. Curator renders feeds as JavaScript instead of iframes, which puts the posts in your own HTML. The full feature list has the specifics.

"Most teams treat the embed as the last five minutes of the project. It is the part that decides whether anyone ever sees the content you spent three months collecting." — Thomas Garrood, Co-founder, Engineering, Curator

How to build your user generated content website in 7 steps

You have seen three finished feeds. Building one takes twenty minutes on the free plan.

Step 1: Choose a free or affordable content aggregator

One criterion outranks the rest, and nobody lists it. Does the feed render in your HTML, or inside an iframe? You saw why that matters.

The rest:

• Ease of use – No coding required.

• Free plan option - Test the platform before committing to a paid plan.

• Customization options – Match your brand's style.

• Content moderation – Filter out irrelevant or inappropriate posts.

• Platform compatibility – Ensure it supports key sources like Instagram and Twitter.

We recommend Curator. The free forever plan runs your first feed. To compare, see our UGC platforms roundup.

Step 2: Create a new feed

Now that you've set up your Curator account, it's time to create a UGC feed to collect and display content on your website.

1. Log in to your Curator dashboard.

2. Click "Create a new feed" and give it a name (e.g., "Customer Reviews" or "Instagram Highlights").

3. Set the approval status based on how you want content to be published:

• Approved – All posts from the source you choose in Step 3 will be added to your site unless you delete them.

• Needs approval – No posts will show up on your site unless you manually approve them first.

We recommend setting the approval status to "Needs approval" for UGC content. That way you can rest assured that no content appears on your website that doesn't align with your brand.

Step 3: Select the source of the UGC

Now that your feed is set up, it's time to choose where your user-generated content will come from. Curator allows you to pull in content from various platforms, some of them including:

• Instagram

• Twitter/X

• Facebook

• YouTube

• TikTok

• Google Reviews

To add a source:

1. Click "Add source" in your feed settings.

2. Select the platform you want to pull content from.

3. Connect your account (if required) and define specific hashtags, mentions, or profiles to track.

Step 4: Approve the posts you actually want

Here is what goes wrong six months in. You set filters on day one, never revisit them, then drown in a queue.

1. Review incoming content – Go to your feed and check the posts being pulled in.

2. Approve or delete posts – If you set your approval status to Needs approval, manually approve posts that align with your brand and delete any that don't.

3. Filter by keywords or hashtags – Use filters to automatically include or exclude content based on specific words or phrases.

4. Pin or highlight top posts – Feature the best UGC at the top of your feed for maximum visibility.

I personally prefer running the automated filters as a first pass and then approving manually, because the filters catch the obvious problems and I catch the ones that are technically fine but just not right for the page.

Curator's moderation rules run on every plan. Our moderation guide covers the workflow.

Step 5: Customize the UGC feed

Now for the fun part.

It's time to make sure your UGC feed matches your website's design. You can start with one of the many templates and then style from there. With the many easy-to-use customization tabs you can fine-tune your feed's appearance—including colors, fonts, spacing, and many post display settings. These settings are just a few clicks away.

For those who need even more control, Curator also supports custom CSS, allowing you to fully tailor the feed's styling to match your website's branding.

Step 6: Add the HTML code to your website

The embed code is copy-paste, and works on WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and most builders.

1. In your dashboard, navigate to your feed and click "Publish Feed."

2. Copy the HTML embed code provided.

3. Paste the code into your website's HTML where you want the feed to appear—such as a homepage section, product page, or blog post.

Now decide where it goes. Product page for buying confidence. Dedicated page for a values claim. Homepage for activity.

Step 7: Keep your feed fresh after launch

Skip this and the feed drifts. Deleted posts leave gaps, and a section that wowed at launch starts looking abandoned.

Put a cadence on the calendar. Weekly for an active hashtag, monthly for one account. Follow UGC best practices.

User generated content website FAQs

Do I need a developer to build a user generated content website?

No. Adding a UGC section means pasting one embed code into your page's HTML. Most site builders let you do that from their editor. You need a developer only for the other kind of site, where users register and post directly to your platform.

How much does it cost to embed UGC on a website?

Curator's free forever plan covers your first feed, moderation and customization included. Paid plans add page views, extra sources, branding controls, and API access. Budget for your traffic level rather than the feature list. Page views are what small sites run out of first.

Do I need permission to display a customer's post on my site?

Ask first. A public post is not a licence to republish it commercially, and platform terms do not grant you that right. Reach out to the creator, get a clear yes, and credit them by name and handle the way Tarte does. Curator includes rights request and tracking tools. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Will a UGC feed slow down my website?

It depends on how the feed is built. Curator's embed is 13 lines of code and loads as JavaScript. It does not pull a whole second page into yours the way an iframe does. Keep the post count sensible on mobile, and run a speed test after you publish.

Ready to build yours?

You came here trying to work out whether you needed to build a platform. You almost certainly do not. You need a section, on the site you already have, showing content your customers are already making.

Start with one feed on one page. Pick the page where somebody decides whether to buy from you, and put the proof there. Tarte proved a claim with it. Dick's sold with it. Tackle World just showed the lights were on. All three work, and all three started with a single embed code.

Ready to create your UGC website? Try our free forever feed.