It’s no secret that Pinterest is amazing for bloggers.

Since starting my own blogging journey, I have managed to drive nearly 3 million page views to my blog from Pinterest alone.

At one point there were 108 people on my blog at the same time, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw this so I naturally had to take a screenshot. 

The truth is, I wouldn’t be where I am today with my blog had it not been for the power of Pinterest.

It’s ah-maze-ing!

So, today I want to share with you exactly how I’ve grown my blog so quickly – to over 200 000 monthly page views and 1 million in total my first year blogging. 

This blog post is not a brag-show, it exists purely to let you know what is possible when leveraging the power of Pinterest. 

If I can drive free organic traffic from Pinterest to my blog, so can you. 

 

As you may know, Pinterest updates its algorithm and best practices a LOT, so this information is up to date and relevant for pinning practices in 2021.*

 

 

Related Reads:

• How To Write A Blog Post For Beginners
• Why Blogging + Introversion Is A Match Made In Heaven
• How To Start A Blog: A Complete Tutorial

 

 

For all my visual learners, here’s the YouTube video for ya.

  
 

Go after one source of traffic

The very first tip I have for you is to focus on one traffic source at a time. 

Don’t go after all the things.

The Youtube, Google, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Go after one source of traffic first.

Learn to master it before you move on to another traffic source.

Do not spread yourself too thin.

If you focus on all the things, you will be mediocre at all of them.

Instead, become the expert at one.

As a new blogger, Pinterest will be your best bet. 

 

 

Busy bee? Pin this blog post for later. 

 

 

What is Pinterest?

Now I know you haven’t been living under a rock, so you’re probably familiar with Pinterest already.

You’ve been there.

You’ve looked for inspiration, maybe even clicked on a few blog posts and whatnot.

Pinterest is seriously a magical marketing machine for bloggers looking to grow their traffic organically and for FREE. 

Do you know why this is?

Pinterest is a search engine – it’s a visual discovery tool. 

Most people will classify Pinterest as a social media platform, but it’s actually mostly used as a search engine.

A visual search engine and a less complex search engine than Google – meaning you have a shot of ranking in search results, which is what we want (yay!).

People are on the platform looking to improve their lives in some way, looking for motivation and inspiration.

Enter… your content.

 

 

Pinterest is not like Instagram or YouTube

Pinterest is not like Instagram or YouTube where it’s easy to stay on the platform and binge-watch content.

Pinterest is designed in a way so the user is taken directly to your blog and your content if your pins resonate with them and spark curiosity.

This is why it’s GREAT for traffic.

The goal is to get eyeballs to your site – it’s to get that click away from Pinterest and to your blog.

 

 

 

Why Pinterest is AMAZING for new bloggers

As a new blogger, you’ll have a good chance of ranking and experiencing your first big surge in traffic due to a pin going viral.

This happens when other users with a bigger following than you share your pin to their board or when Pinterest shows your pin in the search or in the home feed of its users.

Y-a-y!

I currently get over 3 million views to my pins a month.

 

 

It’s all evergreen baby!

Pins have a long lifespan on Pinterest.

Meaning, you are able to continue to generate blog traffic months and years after you published the original pin (and blog post).

For instance, I still get thousands of views to my blog post “9 Things To Do On A Sunday For An Amazing Week” because it is shown in search results when people search for “Sunday routines”, “things to do on a Sunday”, and has been shared thousands of times on the platform. 

It’s not like with Instagram where you publish a post and it disappears in the feed.

On Pinterest, your content will continue to exist and drive traffic to your blog as long as people are searching for your content. 

 

 

Getting started with Pinterest

To get all the eyeballs to your blog using the power of Pinterest you first obviously need to sign up for a business account for your blog.

If you already have a Pinterest account you can convert your personal to business. 

Click here to get started with Pinterest and follow the prompts >>

 

 

Let the board creation begin

Once you have signed up and set up your account, let the board creation begin.

I suggest you create 20-30 boards that are relevant to your niche and your blog’s topic.

If you’re in the personal development niche you might have boards titled:

• Personal development
• Productivity tips
• Morning routines
• Habits
• Mindset hacks
• And so on.

Your Pinterest boards are where all your amazing pins will live. 

The boards are the house and your pins are the people. 

That’s how it works! ☺️

 

 

Learn Pinterest SEO

The best way to leverage the Pinterest platform and start driving FREE blog traffic is for you to learn Pinterest SEO.

I warmly recommend that you don’t rely as much on group boards and followers to grow your Pinterest account and blog traffic. 

Followers on Pinterest are a vanity metric, and it just doesn’t matter.

It’s better to focus on SEO and let it be your long-term plan for driving blog traffic. 

Remember…

Pinterest is YOUR marketing tool to promote YOUR blog. 

To leverage Pinterest SEO, you’ll want to optimize your content and pins so that they can be found in search.

Your goal should be for your pins to populate in the feed when someone searches for something in your niche.

The goal isn’t to get followers, the goal is to get people to your blog.

The way you do this is by using keyword research when you look for content ideas and targetting specific keywords when writing your blog post and creating your pins.

You also want to optimize (include your keywords):

1. Your profile (profile name, description)
2. Pins (text overlay, description, pin title)
3. Boards (board titles and descriptions)

Optimizing your pins and your Pinterest profile will help you to be found in search results. 

 

For example:

Someone searches for “productivity tips” and your pins populate the feed.

This is what we want to have happened. 

Pinterest SEO is the best and the most winning strategy.

A long-term strategy and how you will get consistent and organic FREE traffic to your blog. 

Using Pinterest SEO is also how you let Pinterest and its users know what your blog is about so they can send the right people to your website. 

 

 

Strong pin design

A strong pin design is key.

The goal is to get the Pinterest user to click on your pin so it gotta be stunning and clickable!

I cannot stress this enough.

Your pin design is super important.

It’s your chance to make a good first impression and your ONE shot to get Pinterest scrollers to click on your pin and continue the journey to your blog post. 

Test out different designs because you never know what will resonate best with your audience. 

I create all my pins using Canva.com

They have some pretty cool templates you can use as well and make your own with your colors and branding. 

Here are some tips when creating your pins:

• Use high-quality images (something like Unsplash)
• Use readable fonts: Don’t for the squiggly fonts, no matter how pretty it looks, it needs to stand out and be readable to the Pinterest scrollers. 
• Use text-overlay on your pins: Make it clear what the reader can expect to learn once they hop on over to your blog post. Include result-based text on the pin as well as in the description.
• Use different fonts – bold, italize, and underline text for emphasis.
• Consider adding your logo, URL, and brand to your pins.

 

 

Create as many pins as you can

So, the big question is…

How many pins do I create per blog post?

Honestly, as many as you can.

I typically create 10+ pins per blog post.

I continuously try out different pin designs to see what gets the most clicks.

 

 

Fresh pins vs. duplicate pins

Recently, Pinterest has come out and said that they are shining a light on fresh pins as supposed to duplicate pins.

This means you are much more likely to get traction on the platform by publishing fresh pins only.

What does this mean?

A fresh pin: Pin with a brand new image. Changing the pin title, URL, description, and text overlay does not make a pin fresh  – only the image will.

A duplicate pin: Re-sharing the same identical pin (Note: with the same image) more than once to either a group board or one of your own boards.

Duplicate pins will not have the same reach as fresh pins say Pinterest. Potentially get penalized and banned from the platform if you only share duplicate pins. Plus, less reach and not prioritized in search results + home feed of users on Pinterest. There is less emphasize on duplicate pins.

As a rule of thumb, always change the image of a pin when creating new ones for the same blog post. 

This is why I say there is no set number of pins you should be creating per blog post.

Create as many as you possibly can, and avoid sharing duplicate pins. 

 

 

Stay relevant

Another factor that Pinterest is now favoring is relevancy.

You’ll want to pin to boards that are relevant to the specific pin you are pinning.

And make sure you’re linking out to content that’s being promised on your pin. 

For example:

If your pin says “How To Be More Productive When Working From Home,” you definitely don’t want to link out to a blog post that’s about something entirely unrelated to the topic. 

Stay relevant with all your pinning. 

The more your pins and the keywords being searched for on Pinterest match, and people are engaging well with your content, the more Pinterest will rank your content in search results and in people’s home feed. 

 

Here’s a tip! 

Save a fresh pin to the most relevant board ONCE.

 If you have several boards within that same category, create a new unique pin (with a new image) and save it to a different board.

 

 

Make it clickable!

Create clickable headlines and descriptions for your pins, but avoid clickbait.

Nobody likes a clickbaiter…

Include the keyword you’re targeting in your pin title but also in the headline of your blog post.

For example:

Keyword: Productivity tips

Headline: “12 Productivity Tips To Improve Your Life”

Also…

Add numbers (listicle posts) and use power words to spark emotion for the reader.

Amazing headline = more clicks

The same goes for your blog post title, not only your pins’ individual headlines.

 

 

How many pins do I pin a day?

There isn’t a magic number of pins you should pin a day. 

I suggest you use a scheduler like Tailwind.

Tailwind is a Pinterest marketing tool and an approved partner of Pinterest.

Tailwind also has a super helpful analytics section which will come in handy because you’ll want to keep an eye on what kind of pins are generating the most clicks to your website.

I suggest using the smart scheduler within Tailwind to find the best times for you to pin.

Tailwind will let you know when you can expect to see the highest engagement for your pins which is pretty cool (based on past evidence).

Even though Tailwind is amazing, you should still pin manually to let Pinterest know that you are active on the platform.

 

 

The magic formula for tons of blog traffic from Pinterest

If you focus on the below, you’re going to do great, dreamer!

Beautiful pins + new images + relevant to keywords being searched for + high engagement = blog traffic!

 

 

Before you go

The bottom line is you need to understand what blogging really is about, and it ain’t about you.

It’s about your audience, about solving their problems and making their lives better.

You need to write blog posts and create content that your audience wants and needs.

Write valuable content with a purpose and that solves a problem your reader has. 

That’s the secret, guys. It’s out. And it starts on Pinterest because that’s where you1’re going to find your audience.

Have more questions?

Leave a comment in the comments below and I’ll answer them.