How To Grow Your Pinterest Account And Get More Blog Traffic

I love Pinterest and could happily spend hours looking at amazing cakes or children's bedroom decor, but I don't really use it to promote my blog posts, I think I have only pinned a handful of my own blog posts. I am also guilty of going on once every so often pinning tons of pretty things then neglecting my account for days or weeks at a time. However even though I only have a fairly small following on there (in the 300s) I do actually get traffic from Pinterest every single day, thanks to a few Slimming World recipe posts.

So when I heard that Pinterest UK was holding a talk for bloggers in Newcastle at the biscuit factory, I knew I had to attend and find out how Pinterest actually works. I thought it would also be useful to see if I could use it to gain more traffic to my blog. The talk was held by Lizzie who works for Pinterest UK and this is what I learnt.

Firstly Pinterest is often referred to as a social network but it is in fact not classed as a social network at all but a visual discovery tool, which helps people find ideas that are tailored to their interests. A huge 80 % of users visit via mobile, so it is important that your blog is mobile optimised or you will end up with a high bounce rate if people visit via Pinterest. The average pin is pinned 11 times which can result in lots more traffic to your blog.

So first things first how does Pinterest work? 

• As it is a visual discovery tool it relies on your pin description and the name of your boards to help you find relevant pins. 
•  Most content is found via the search bar on the homepage.
• There is no 'good' time to pin like people are often led to believe, as most content is found via search.
• Commenting on other pins/ boards has no value at all and if you comment too much you could get blocked.
• Hashtags do not work, always use a thoughtful description and defiantly don't use emojis. 
• You can not ask people to repin one of your pins ie for a competition as this could get you blocked. 
• Follow count is a bad measure of success as repins are more valuable than followers.

How do you grow your account?

• Pin regular, daily if you can as this will get you noticed more.
• Show what inspires you via your boards. 
• Share lots of good content from others in your niche to help build up your brand, don't just pin your own content.
• Pin content from around the web that you see when searching the web, don't just pin things already on Pinterest.
• Make sure your boards have relevant names
• Add detailed descriptions to pins, don't just repin something, change the description to explain what you are pinning.
• Content is evergreen and things like weddings and home decor are huge.
• No such thing as too many pins or too many boards
• It also does not matter what your boards look like as hardly anyone but you will see them, as most people won't look at your boards they will just see shared pins.
• Only pin quality images of things you want to pin don't just pin everything in sight.
• Check the link of a pin before pinning it to check where it leads too.
• Make your boards engaging.
• Get rich pins as this helps your content get found and it also gives you some editorial control over your pins.
• Be careful when joining collective boards with people you do not know as you do not know what they will post. It is best to just join boards with people that you know and who have similar interests as yourself.

How to get more traffic.

• Make sure you sign up for a business account for your blog when you are offered a one from Pinterest, this makes your profile more professional and your pins easier to find.
• Make sure you verify your account as this will enable you to access analytics.
• Optimise your blog for Pinterest by making sure it is mobile ready, has pinnable images and a pin it badge.
• Make sure your pins redirect to the Pinterest UK site.
• Use a long portrait image as the first picture in your blog posts and make sure it looks pinnable, relevant and appealing. 
• Make sure your image's always links back to your blog, you can edit the source in settings.
• Make sure you include a good description in your pins.
• Use tasteful branding on your pins and make sure all your images start to look easily identifiable as yours.
• Make sure you do not over promote yourself in the description.
• Make it easy for others to pin or repin your content.
• List type posts always do well on Pinterest.
• Images with text overlays are the most repinned images, but try to avoid logos and borders on photos.
• Move your boards around regularly, making sure you move relevant boards to the top of your profile at least two months before an event. Such as making sure Christmas boards are at the top of your profile by October as google searches your boards up to two months in advance.
• Add some of your pins or boards to your blog posts as this can encourage more people to follow you if they like what they see.

So that is what I learnt, I also learnt lots of other things but as a Pinterest newbie, they flew straight over my head. But if like me you are just getting to grips with Pinterest then these are sure-fire ways to increase your following and start to get some extra traffic to your blog. But bear in mind that sometimes it takes a while to start getting traffic. 

Another useful thing I was told was to search pinterest.com/source/ and then add your URL after source as this will show you what others have pinned from your blog. Now I just need to find the time to verify my account and remember to start pinning lots of pretty things I find from around the web as well as adding some of my own blog posts. And if you fancy following me you can view my Pinterest boards. 

If you use Pinterest what do you find useful for growing your account and getting more traffic?