Welcome to the dynamic world of Pinterest, a goldmine for bloggers looking to amplify their reach and influence. That is why learning how to use Pinterest for blogging can be a game-changer in driving traffic.
Pinterest isn’t just a collection of inspiring images; it’s a powerful tool for social media savvy bloggers and marketers to drive blog traffic. In this ultimate guide, I am going to explain the what, why and how you can use Pinterest to promote blog posts.
Why Should You Use Pinterest for Blogging?
Pinterest’s Unique Appeal: Unlike other social platforms, Pinterest acts as a search engine, where users actively seek ideas, inspiration, and solutions. Using the right Pinterest keywords on this search engine can help you grow blog traffic exponentially via Pinterest SEO.
Drive Traffic: With the right Pinterest marketing strategy, you can funnel a significant number of blog traffic and loyal Pinterest followers.
Long-term Engagement: Pins have a longer lifespan compared to tweets or Facebook posts, offering ongoing exposure.
Creating Your Pinterest Business Account
To harness the full potential of Pinterest, start with a Pinterest business account, also called the Pinterest profile. It’s free and offers valuable features like analytics and the ability to use Rich Pins.
Steps to Set Up:
Visit Pinterest: Go to Pinterest for Business and click ‘Join as a Business’.
Fill in Details: Provide your email, password, and business name. Choose a business type that best represents you.
Share details on your business in the next step. It is boring, but not tedious.
Finally enter details of your business, such as name, Country and website.
Complete Your Profile: Add a profile picture, bio, and the link to your blog.
Crafting Your Pinterest Strategy
A strategic approach to Pinterest can significantly enhance your blog’s visibility. Here’s how to create a strategy that works:
How to use Pinterest for Blogging:
Understand Your Audience: Know what your audience is searching for on Pinterest. Use keywords that they might use.
Consistent Branding: Ensure your pins and boards reflect your blog’s branding for instant recognition.
Regular Pinning: Consistency is key to your Pinterest strategy. Regularly pinning keeps your blog content in front of your audience. You can schedule pins in advance to maintain consistency.
Optimizing Your Blog Posts for Pinterest
Making your blog posts Pinterest-friendly is crucial. It’s not just about the content but how you present it on Pinterest.
Blogging Tips for Optimization:
- Use Vertical Images: Pinterest favors vertical images. Use high-quality, visually appealing pin images that stand out. Write catchy pin titles to increase click through rate.
- Rich Pins: These provide more context as they show extra information directly on the pin. They’re great for any blog post such as articles, recipes, and products.
- SEO Tips for Pinterest: Just like your blog post, your pins on your Pinterest account should be optimized for search. Use relevant keywords in your pin descriptions and Pinterest boards’ titles.
Creating Compelling Pins
Your pins are your hook; they need to capture attention and encourage clicks. If you haven’t already then enable rich pins on your Pinterest account.
Designing Effective Pins:
Eye-Catching Imagery: Use bright, clear images with readable text overlays when you create pins. Consider idea pins to share step-by-step guides, record multiple videos, attach multiple images etc.
Engaging Titles and Descriptions: Craft titles and descriptions that entice users to click through to your blog.
Branding: Include your logo or blog name subtly on your pins for brand recognition. Pinterest templates can help you with branding.
Maximizing Exposure through Group Boards and Collaborations
Pinterest boards are collaborative boards where multiple users can pin content. They can be a powerful blogging tool in your Pinterest marketing quiver to reach a broader audience.
Leveraging Pinterest Group Boards:
Find Relevant Boards: Look for boards related to your blog’s niche with a substantial following.
Request to Join: Follow board owners and send a polite request to join group boards, explaining how your content aligns with the board’s theme.
Contribute Quality Content: Once added, pin your best content that resonates with the board’s audience.
How To Use Pinterest For Blogging: Setting Realistic Goals
Pinterest can be a significant traffic driver, but it’s essential to set realistic expectations and understand it’s a gradual process.
Traffic Expectations:
Initial Growth: It might take a few weeks or months to see a substantial increase in traffic.
Consistency is Key: Regularly updating your boards with fresh pins can accelerate growth.
Quality Over Quantity: Focus on pinning high-quality content that engages and adds value to your audience.
Analyzing and Adapting with Pinterest Analytics
Pinterest Analytics is a powerful tool to understand what’s working and what’s not. It helps in refining your strategy for better results.
Note: Analytics is only available to business accounts; if you have a personal account then switch it to a business account.
Using Analytics:
Track Pin Performance: See which pins are most popular and replicate their success.
Understand Your Audience: Analytics provide insights into your audience’s preferences and behaviors.
Adapt Your Strategy: Use this data to tweak your pinning habits, board organization, and content strategy.
Key metrics and how to track them:
- Impressions: the number of times your pins were displayed to users on Pinterest.
- Saves: the number of times users saved your pins to their own boards.
- Clicks: the number of clicks your pins received.
- Engagement rate: the percentage of users who engaged with your pins (e.g., by saving or clicking them) out of the total number of impressions.
- You can track these metrics using your analytics dashboard.
Stay Consistent on Pinterest using RecurPost
One of the biggest challenges of using Pinterest as a blogging platform is staying consistent. To make sure that you’re regularly pinning new content, you can use a tool like RecurPost to automate your Pinterest posts and keep a consistent schedule.
RecurPost is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule your pins and create recurring schedules, so you don’t have to worry about manually pinning your content every day.
Here are the steps to using RecurPost to stay consistent on Pinterest:
- Sign up for RecurPost and connect your Pinterest account to the platform.
- Create a content library in RecurPost, where you can add all of your blog posts and other content that you want to share on Pinterest. Simply input your website URL and we will pull all of your blogs automatically.
- For this library, add time slots to suggest on what days and how many posts do you want to share on your boards.
- You can use RecurPost’s AI-writer to write catchy captions for your Pins.
Legal and Ethical Considerations: Using Pinterest Images
It’s crucial to respect copyright laws and creative rights when using images from Pinterest for your blog.
Guidelines for Use:
Original Content: Whenever possible, use your own images or ones you have rights to use.
Credit the Source: If you use someone else’s image, always credit the original source.
Avoid Copyright Issues: Understand Pinterest’s terms of use and adhere to copyright laws.
Monetizing Your Pinterest Traffic
Pinterest can be more than just a traffic driver; it can also be a revenue source.
Monetizing Strategies:
Affiliate Marketing: Use Pinterest to promote affiliate products relevant to your niche.
Promote Your Products or Services: If you have your own products, Pinterest can be a great platform to showcase them.
Sponsored Pins: Partner with brands for sponsored content, ensuring it aligns with your audience’s interests.
Conclusion: Embracing the Pinterest Journey
Pinterest offers a unique and effective way to enhance your blog’s visibility and growth. By following these Pinterest tips, you can tap into a vast audience, drive meaningful traffic, and potentially monetize your blog effectively. Remember, the Pinterest journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay consistent, creative, and adaptive, and watch your blog flourish.
FAQ Section: Answering Your Pinterest Queries
To wrap up this comprehensive guide, let’s address some frequently asked questions about using Pinterest for blogging. This section aims to clarify common doubts and provide quick, actionable advice.
It’s best to use your own images or those you have rights to. If you must use someone else’s image, ensure to credit the source and adhere to Pinterest’s terms of use.
It can vary, but typically, it takes a few weeks to a few months to see a noticeable increase in traffic from Pinterest. If you can crack the right boards, this can be faster.
Both are important. Pinterest can drive immediate traffic, while SEO is a long-term strategy. Balancing both is ideal.
Most blogging platforms offer simple integrations or plugins to add Pinterest buttons. Check your platform’s support resources for specific instructions.
Consistency is key. Aim to pin daily if possible, focusing on quality over quantity.
That is like asking how long is a piece of string. However, I know some bloggers who get north of half a million visitors from Pinterest every month. You just need to know how to use Pinterest for your use case.
Pinterest pins can help you gain more traffic to your blog. You can use Pinterest search bar to get Pinterest blog ideas as well. All it takes is a free Pinterest account and some visual elements so it is a no-brainer.
Wrapping Up
We hope this guide empowers you to effectively utilize Pinterest as a powerful tool for your blogging journey. Remember, success on Pinterest, like any social media platform, requires creativity, consistency, and a willingness to adapt to new trends and insights. Happy Pinning!
Dr. Dinesh Agarwal is a research scientist turned entrepreneur. He is fascinated with the social media world and has been working in the industry since 2013, where he built his first social media management tool that got acquired a few years later. He likes sharing his experience on podcasts, conferences and via his articles.