I receive 50% of my traffic from Pinterest. It is an incredible resource, and you need it for your business! Learn How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Blog.
I have been on Pinterest since it was in the Beta mode and I am kicking myself that I didn’t use it to it’s full potential until recently. Since July, I’ve doubled my Pinterest following and my page views for Strawberry Mommycakes has also doubled. It’s not a coincidence. Pinterest DRIVES targeted traffic to your blog. It’s a visual search engine and I can’t say enough good things about it.
Lately, a lot of people have been complaining about the new algorithms. You don’t see pins in chronological order anymore because the most popular pins are shown first. It’s called the “Smart Feed” and it’s ideal for users. It’s been tough on bloggers because some pins don’t get seen at all at first. However, I’ve had more “viral” pins lately, and I’m going to tell you how I get those pins to pick up speed.
STEP ONE: Build Your Pinterest Following
I know this sounds backwards, but the best way to build a following is to pin content from other creators. If you see a pin that is doing well and fits with your brand, PIN that sucker. Pinterest rewards you for having high-quality pins.
You’ll also need to pin content directly from other blogs, so you’re seen as a “curator” of Pinterest. The best way to do this is to join Facebook sharing groups in your niche and pin from those threads.
Follow “Power Pinners” to get the most popular pins. These are people that have a large following, viral pins and at least 20 boards. If you’re pinning what they’re pinning, Pinterest will categorize you with those pinners and suggest you to their users.
I also really like the new Pinterest pop-up plugin from MiloTree. I installed it a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been getting twice as many followers a day (on average about 80 new followers daily).
STEP TWO: Be Consistent
My friend Laura from Pink Cake Plate told me she got her 17K + followers by pinning consistently. She said every time she had any down time, she would pin. I gave it a try, and sure enough, I started seeing a larger following AND more traffic to my site.
So what does it mean to be active?
- Pin AT LEAST 10 pins a day to your personal boards. It takes seconds, so there’s no excuse. The more successful pinners are pinning 50+ a day, so get to it!
- TRY to pin at least one of your own pins once a day. This is why creating different boards can be helpful. Make sure you pin your post to every board that applies. I have over 400 posts on Strawberry Mommycakes, so I have a pin a day for over a year. For Printable Crush, however, I only have like 8 posts. That’s why it’s important to create content regularly. If you write once post a week, pin it to 7 different boards, you’ll be golden!
STEP THREE: Utilize Group Boards
For the record, group boards are not what they used to be. I’m getting a fraction of the pins that I used to. However, they’re still great…especially if you learn to work the system.
- Find people with a large following. When I say “find people” I mean network with them. Don’t stalk them and email them over and over again to invite you to their boards. My most successful group boards are from people I have personally worked with. TIP: Don’t just look at the amount of followers. Look at the boards and see if the pins are getting traction.
- Get on NICHE boards. Broad boards are not doing as well because Pinterest is a search engine. If you’re on niche boards (with great SEO), people will be able to find them more quickly. Remember that those group boards will show up on your Pinterest profile…you don’t want to be in too many group boards, so choose them carefully.
- Once you’re in some group boards, REPIN YOUR MOST POPULAR POSTS to those boards. I will go to Pinterest’s search bar, type in the title of some popular posts of mine and pin the one that has the most pins, likes and comments. It may not even be one that I pinned. Pinterest rewards posts that have high engagement, so this is a great way to make sure your pins are continually engaged and it puts that pin in front of brand new readers.
- Follow the rules. Most boards have their rules written into the description. If you don’t follow the rules, the owner of that board has the right to boot you out.
EXTRA TIPS for Pinterest to Promote Your Blog
- Clean up your profile by keeping your most relevant boards at the top and change your board cover to reflect your brand.
- Don’t delete pins. A lot of people are saying you need to delete pins, and I think it’s horrible advice. I have a pin from 2 YEARS ago that picked up for Thanksgiving and gave me my highest traffic month to that date. You just never know when a pin will catch on.
- Make your board titles and descriptions SEO friendly so people can easily find your boards!
And finally, you will need to be PATIENT. Pins can take days, weeks, months or in my rare instance YEARS to pick up steam. Once it does, you’ll be grateful you took the time to use Pinterest to Promote Your Blog!
If you need help starting a blog, check out this post:
If you are having problems coming up with blog posts, check out this Printable Blog Post Planner:
Cathy Tibbles says
These are great tips!! I’m sharing this – AND using it myself! Thanks for the thought put into this. From SBO group 😉
[email protected] says
Thanks so much Cathy! Let me know how it works for you!!
Laura Petersen says
I love all these ideas!! I’m glad you tested my experience and saw the results yourself!! Love Love Love Printable Crush!!
[email protected] says
You made my Pinterest account what it is today with that little piece of advice! Love Pink Cake Plate (and the lady behind it) 🙂
Jenny says
Thanks Erin- great insight!
Kelly Mason says
Erin,
Great advice! I appreciate your willingness to share your success with us. Pinterest can be difficult at times to figure out…you’re article cleared up a few misunderstandings on my part.
[email protected]
Kelly Mason says
*your article
Kelly Mason says
[email protected]…its late 🙂
Gayatri Mantra says
Thank you so much for sharing, I needed this!