Did you know that one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to improve your blog traffic is by using Pinterest? Not only can it help you generate new traffic, but it can also help increase brand awareness. However, while there are many ways to use Pinterest for your blog, there are also a few simple tips to follow if you want to get the most out of your time on this social media platform. For instance, take advantage of these eight suggestions on how to boost your blog’s visibility on Pinterest. You can also use services from Subscriberz to grow your audience fast. Make sure that everything about your blog matches up with its corresponding website. This will make it easy for users and search engines alike.
Pinterest for Bloggers: 8 Simple Pinterest Tips for Improving Blog Traffic
Why Pinterest is So Important
why is pinterest important
If you have been blogging for any amount of time, you already know that Pinterest for bloggers is a key player in the game of blogging.
Why is this so? Well, because Pinterest for bloggers is, for beginning and even intermediate bloggers, your key source of traffic. (Once you get “big,” your sources of traffic will adjust to more organic sources such as Google or Bing – but in the beginning, Pinterest drives the majority of your traffic through Pins.)
Because of this, you want to make sure you are doing Pinterest the right way – and know it like the back of your hand.
I have 8 tips on making Pinterest for bloggers work for you – so that you are driving traffic and making money on your blog. Let’s get to them.
1. Take Ell Duclos’ Pinterest with Ell Course
Pinterest with Ell Duclos
The first, most important, and honestly only tip you need to read is number 1 – taking Ell Duclos’ Pinterest Course, Pinterest with Ell.
I took this course way too late in the game (wish I had taken it sooner) – but even then, my analytics have skyrocketed because of this course.
Ell goes over every single thing you need to know about how to make Pinterest for bloggers work in your favor – from how to set up your Pinterest business account to how to make Pins that go viral to how to manually Pin versus scheduled Pinning.
Seriously, if you do nothing else, please take her course. It’s a good price, too – it doesn’t break the bank like other courses you’ll see in the blogging world.
Plus, by taking her course, you get access to her other courses about blogging traffic, Instagram, and more – and there’s also an affiliate program that you can be a part of, once you’ve taken the course!
2. Set Up Your Pinterest Profile the Right Way
how to set up your pinterest profile
Pinterest with Ell is going to teach you exactly how to set up your Pinterest profile the right way, but if you’re one of those people that thinks “I can just learn this on my own and forgo buying the course,” I’ll clue you into just a few pieces about set up that you need to know.
For starters, make sure you have a Pinterest business account (so you can be recognized as official, make rich Pins, and more).
Secondly, you want to make sure that you have boards that only apply to your blog’s niche & content. Make any of your other boards secret so that they don’t negatively affect your analytics.
Next, make really nice cover images for your boards, for a more seamless, professional look.
Finally, make sure that you are using SEO best practices in your Pinterest board descriptions! Very important.
free planner for women
3. Get to Know the Pinterest Algorithm
pinterest algorithm
Pinterest with Ell is updated all the time and Ell makes sure to include any major Pinterest algorithm changes in it.
However, if you do not want to take her course, you’ll have to do some research to find out the current Pinterest algorithm to determine how much you need to Pin, how often, and to how many boards.
For instance, right now, in July of 2020, you should be creating as many new pins as possible every day and pinning them to no more than 5 boards. This changes frequently (last major update was 2 months ago), so going with a course like Pinterest with Ell is ideal so that you are always staying up-to-date with the latest.
Other ways you can stay in the know about the Pinterest algorithm and any other major changes regarding Pinterest is by joining my Facebook Group for bloggers and by keeping up with Tailwind via their blog. They often post articles about Pinterest best practices (and if you subscribe to their blog they will update you regularly with these things).
4. Create Really Good Pins
create good pins for pinterest
Pinterest with Ell, again, will go over exactly what to include on your Pin images to make them more likely to go viral – but if you are still wanting to bypass this option, I’ll tell you a few tricks.
For starters, you want to make sure that you are using a font that is easy to read from a distance (cursive fonts, unless they are only used sparingly like Playlist Script, are not recommended for your entire title and words on your Pin – they are too hard to read). So, choose bold, large fonts instead.
Use bright colors. Always, anytime I have used more neutral colors, my Pins plummet in terms of popularity. People like bright, colorful things – it’s no different on Pinterest.
Use keywords – always. Your keywords are going to signal to your reader and potential customer exactly what is in your Pin – and will clue Pinterest in to include your Pin in those searches. I’ll talk more about using keywords in tip 5.
Search other Pins to get an idea of styles – but don’t copy others’ work.
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5. Utilize Keyword Tools for Your Pin Descriptions
keywords in pinterest pins
One of the best things I ever did was purchase a monthly subscription to Ahrefs – a powerful yet easy-to-learn SEO toolset. I use them almost daily in determining keywords and phrases to put into my blog posts, Pinterest Pins, and more. Their “keywords explorer” tool is what I use to determine which keywords I’m going to include in my Pin descriptions.
You can also use Ubersuggest (which is free) to find keywords for your Pin descriptions.
What I recommend for the set up of your Pin descriptions using keywords is exactly this:
Title of Pin (SEO best practices) | Description of Pin in inviting, welcoming, easy to understand language with keywords intermixed. | additional keywords and key phrases found on Ahrefs or Ubersuggest, separated by commas | #hashtags (about 1-3 relevant hashtags)
So far, this seems to be the way to go in terms of Pin descriptions. I also recently received an email from Pinterest telling me that this is in fact a great strategy for Pin descriptions – so there you have it, straight from the source!
6. Use Tailwind but Also Manually Pin
tailwind for pinterest
Pinterest with Ell goes over this in detail, but BLUF (bottom line up front, Navy term) is that you want to use a good mix of Tailwind & Manual Pinning.
Now, recent algorithm changes with Pinterest for bloggers have pointed to them favoring new Pins over scheduled Pins, but as of today, July 7th, 2020, you should still use Tailwind to schedule Pins to the remaining 4 boards that you want them to be on – just know that the very first Pin that you manually Pin will be first in terms of popularity, according to Pinterest.
Play around with manual Pinning – I have done this a lot lately and have found that my best Pins are Pins that I manually Pin at night between 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Play around and see what performs best for you (use Google Analytics Real-Time to see which Pins are getting the most traffic when you first Pin them.)
Also, make sure you are joining some Tailwind Tribes that suit your niche. I have a Tribe for All Things Toddlers & Preschoolers – you can join mine if you would like. Search Tribes for ones in your niche and stick to about 5-7 Tribes and utilize them to your advantage. Again, Ell goes over all of this in her course.
7. Make Sure Your Boards are Well-Rounded and Appealing
appealing pinterest pins
Something I’ve recently learned – and in keeping with the best practices for Pinterest for bloggers – make sure your boards are well-rounded and appealing.
What I mean by this is make sure you don’t have solely your Pins on your boards – you want a good mixture of Pins from various people on each board – you are aiming for a certain aesthetic with each board.
For example, if you have a board for jewelry and the only Pins you have on the board are of jewelry you sell, the board is going to look like a sales catalog & will not be very appealing to consumers. However, conversely, if you include multiple jewelry companies and Pins within this board, it will be far more well-rounded and aesthetically pleasing and will create the “look” you’re aiming for.
This should be your goal with every board on Pinterest for bloggers.
The only exception is this – have one board that is solely for your Pins. It could be named what your blog name is or anything similar – but only Pin your Pins to this board. Other than this board, though, your boards should be a good mix of yours and other people’s Pins.
I also talked this one over with Pinterest in that same email I mentioned earlier and they said that this is a “fantastic strategy” to implement and should “always be considered” when “creating boards that are appealing to viewers.”
8. Don’t Be Spammy
spam on pinterest
Pinterest with Ell talks about this topic in-depth, but for those of you deciding to not utilize this great resource, I’ll give you a quick rundown (though not as detailed as she will tell you).
Being spammy on Pinterest for bloggers looks like this: you make one Pin and Pin it to 20 boards, even if they are not exactly relevant to your Pin’s content. You then Pin the same Pin to another 10 boards through Tailwind. You then do the same thing a month from that date. And you continue to do this over and over – don’t do this. Trust me!
If you are being spammy on Pinterest, even just a little, they will suspend your account without warning – but perhaps even worse, your analytics will plummet and so will your blog traffic.
Make sure you are researching how to use Pinterest so that you avoid being spammy and being kicked off.
Takeaways
Pinterest with Ell is seriously the best way to learn how to use Pinterest for bloggers to your advantage – but hopefully, these other 8 tips will get you on the right path in the meantime (before you decide to purchase Ell’s course, that is!)
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