How To Explode Your Blog Traffic Using Pinterest

TweetPin1KShareShare1K SharesUPDATE 1/6/2020 – As of this date my current Pinterest views are at 3.3M…

UPDATE 1/6/2020As of this date my current Pinterest views are at 3.3M

Y'all, I think I may actually be getting the hang of this Pinterest thing. If you're struggling with Pinterest like I was and you want to increase your monthly viewers, keep reading to see the exact steps that I took to make that happen. Increase Blog Traffic, Pinterest Tips and Tricks, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Increase Pageviews

Y’all, I think I may actually be getting the hang of this Pinterest thing.

Maybe.

I say maybe because I REALLY struggled with Pinterest in the beginning, and after almost 3 weeks with hardly any engagement on the platform, I was beginning to become discouraged.

Sure, I was getting traffic from other sources, but I KNEW Pinterest was where my audience was.

One of the most important things I’ve learned about blogging is that you have to figure out who your target audience is, and how you can get your content in front of them.

Before I started my blog, I knew that I wanted to be able to eventually earn a full-time income but in order to do that, I have to have an audience – one that actually engages with my content.

If you’re a mommy blogger like me, Pinterest is absolutely essential to your blog’s success. Before I started my blog, I used Pinterest all the time, even back when Pinterest was invite-only (y’all remember that?).

However, Pinterest isn’t your typical social media site.

People don’t come to Pinterest to engage with each other like we do on Facebook and Instagram. Instead, Pinterest is a tool for visual discovery. Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann describes Pinterest as a “catalog of ideas”.

Once I really allowed that to sink in, I was able to rethink my strategy and my Pinterest account has been growing steadily ever since.

Let’s go back to the beginning…

Here are my stats from when I initially launched my blog on August 20th to October 20th. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe had around 72 followers at the time, so I knew my engagement was probably low.

But DANG!

Y’all, I was only getting 480 views and only SEVENTEEN people were engaging with my content. I know this was just the beginning but still!

If you don’t look at your Pinterest analytics often, you definitely should.

Fast-forward to a month later and my monthly viewers and engagement increased significantly BUT for me, this wasn’t enough. I knew that I had to continue to be intentional about growing my Pinterest and getting more people to engage with my pins.

Here are my stat’s from this past month and I still can’t believe the growth!

As of Oct 20th, I have over 106k monthly viewers and 2,648 of them are engaging with my pins.

Is there room more improvement?

Sure.

But I feel like I’m off to an awesome start.

If you’re struggling with Pinterest like I was and you want to increase your monthly viewers, keep reading to see the exact steps that I took to make that happen.

UPDATE 1/6/2020As of this date my current Pinterest views are at 3.3M

1. Create A Pinterest Business Account

First things first, you need to create a Pinterest Business Account. You can also convert your existing account to a business account like I did.

With a business account, you’re able to see your analytics, create rich pins, and even run paid promotions.

Sign up for a business account here.

2. Verify Your Site

This step is HUGE! When you verify your site, Pinterest adds your profile photo to each pin that you upload to their site.

By verifying your site, you’ll also get access to your website’s analytics and are able to see how many views the pins from your site get.

For the full rundown on how to verify your site, click here.

3. Enable Rich Pins

Rich pins are pins that show your website name and profile picture directly under the pin. Rich pins pull the metadata from your site giving potential readers a sneak peak into what the post will be about.

Another neat thing about Rich Pins is that whenever someone pins from your site, it automatically becomes a rich pin so that your pin info is always tied to your website.

The easiest Rich Pin Tutorial out there is definitely this one by Melyssa Griffin.

However, if you’re already pretty techy, here is the rich pins validator.

4. Create Pin-Worthy Images

If you take nothing else from this post, remember that if you want to increase the chances of your pins being seen, repinned, and more importantly, clicked on, STAY AWAY FROM HORIZONTAL PINS. 

A perfect Pinterest pin will be vertical and at least 600px x 900px. You could always make your pin longer to take up more Pinterest ‘real estate’ but try not to go overboard.

Images are also extremely important.

First, you want to steer clear of using random images that you find on Google. You could be using copyrighted content and get into HUGE trouble.

Instead, you want to utilize free(or paid) stock photos. Some of my favorite sites for free stock photos are Pexels and Upsplash.

Canva also offers free stock photos and a bunch of $1 pictures too!

5. Use Keywords

As I stated earlier, Pinterest is a visual search engine. Therefore, keywords are absolutely crucial if you want to increase the chances of your posts being discovered.

So if you aren’t already, be sure to add in those keywords EVERYWHERE.

Board Descriptions

Pin Descriptions

Board Titles

Profile Description

Business Name

E V E R Y W H E R E

Not sure where to begin? One of my favorite ways to discover new keywords is to utilize the Pinterest search and check out the keywords that automatically populate at the top.

As you can see here, when I type in ‘start a blog’ keywords like: ‘To Make Money’, ‘For Free’, and ‘For Beginners’ automatically populate.

These are the types of words and phrases that you want to utilize – especially in your Pin and Board Descriptions.

6. Join Group Boards

Group Boards are one of the best ways to get your content in front of people that you may not have reached otherwise.

That being said, you don’t want to join EVERY group board that you come across.

Be sure that the Group Boards you join are active and relevant to your niche.

Pin Groupie is the ULTIMATE directory of group boards categorized by niche.

If you’re a Mommy Blogger like me, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite Group Boards for Mommy Bloggers here.

7. Showcase Your Best Boards

One of my favorite Pinterest features is the ‘showcase’ feature. This feature allows you to choose up to five boards that rotate at the top of your Pinterest Profile.

To set up your showcase, go into your settings and right under your website, you’ll see the option to edit your showcase.

I only have three of my boards set up to showcase at the top of my Pinterest profile but you can definitely utilize all five slots.

I’d recommend at least making your board from your blog and a few of your favorite and most relevant niche boards a part of your showcase.

8. Make Your Site Pinterest Friendly

Although the goal is to get people to visit your site from your pins, there will be times when people are referred to your site from another source and want to pin an image but directly from your site.

Therefore, it’s important that you have Share Buttons on your site (like the ones below this post) and the ‘Pin It’ button installed on your blog so that people are able to share your awesome content!

I use Social Warfare for my share buttons and the AccessPress plugin for my ‘Pin It’ buttons.

9. Add A Pinterest Widget To Your Site

Another way to make your site Pinterest friendly is to add a Pinterest Widget to your site.

If you take a look at my sidebar, you’ll see that I added a cute little Pinterest widget.

It displays my most recent pins and has a ‘Follow on Pinterest’ button making it easy for my readers to follow me without even having to be on the actual Pinterest website.

I utilize AccessPress for this as well.

10. Use A Scheduler

Although I utilize manual pinning more than anything, Tailwind and BoardBooster are my BFF’s when it comes to scheduling pins on Pinterest.

There are tons of debates out there about which scheduler is best for Pinterest but I think it’s mostly personal preference.

One of my favorite things about tailwind are the tribes and how simple the platform is to use. However, I love the campaign and looping features that Board Booster has.

Luckily, you can try both Tailwind and Board Booster for FREE.

To try Tailwind FREE (up to 100 pins) click here

To try Board Booster FREE (up to 100 pins) click here

11. Adopt A Pinning Strategy

Now that you’ve got your Pinterest Business Account up and running and have been pinning AMAZING images, it’s time to talk strategy.

All of the above steps are pretty simple but if you don’t have a plan, it’s alll for nothing.

I’ve researched and read a bunch about the different types of Pinterest strategies out there and tried countless free email courses. I was so desperate that and I’ve even broke down and bought a course.

It wasn’t until I bought Carly’s Pinteresting Strategies Course that everything changed for me.

Carly’s strategy was like nothing I had ever come across. She broke it down in a way that I could really understand and once I implemented these strategies my monthly views skyrocketed!

You can check out Carly’s amazing Pinteresting Strategies Course here.

And there you have it!

Try out these tips and watch your Pinterest views and engagement skyrocket!

Any Pinterest tips or tricks that I missed?

Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Y'all, I think I may actually be getting the hang of this Pinterest thing. If you're struggling with Pinterest like I was and you want to increase your monthly viewers, keep reading to see the exact steps that I took to make that happen. Increase Blog Traffic, Pinterest Tips and Tricks, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Increase Pageviews

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17 Comments

  1. Tee | My Natural Lane says:

    Your posts are super helpful. Pinterest always seems so daunting but this list gives me courage to tackle it. Thanks!

    1. Pinterest really can seem daunting but with a little patience and consistency, it’s definitely possible to make it work for your blog. Thanks for reading!

  2. These are some great tips! I definitely need help with this platform. I will be looking into verifying my account. Thanks for sharing!

  3. I’m not a Pinterest type person, but I felt like I could apply tis to Instagram. I use Instagram a lot for my blog and Tumblr. Although my Tumblr is pretty random, and I tend to reblog others posts and not my own. Still trying to find where my little lifestyle blog fits in.

  4. Oh wow! I just learned a lot. I haven’t really done much with Pinterest with my blog, but now I might!

  5. Yassss friend!! I’m so proud of you and I’m so glad I can join you on this blogging journey. Next up, VIRAL PINS !!

  6. Ula Archer says:

    I’m starting with Pinterest. After reading this article I finally set my showcase! Not many people write about it. Thanks!

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