16 Steps to Completely Optimize Pinterest To Drive Traffic to Your Blog

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Alright guys, we’ve all heard the rage of using Pinterest for your blog, you may have even heard it from me and for good reason! Well, today we are going to dive in and learn 16 tried and true steps to completely optimize Pinterest for your blog and business! But first…

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Why Pinterest?

Pinterest is my #1 source of traffic on my blog which brings me tens of thousands of pageviews every month!

When it comes to blogging, there is nothing out there like Pinterest! In regular social media, after sharing a blog post or content and it will have gone through the rounds and be gone in a matter of days. Pinterest pins however, last a long time!

 Pinterest pins are linked directly to your site.

So after you pin something to Pinterest, that pin can continue to bring you traffic for weeks, months, and even YEARS! That is why Pinterest is great for your blog, dare I say, the holy grail for traffic to your site!

Pinterest is the new Google! 

 In our visually driven society, Pinterest is becoming more and more of a search engine for anything people need. When people are looking for home inspiration, they go to Pinterest. When they are searching for a quick and cheap dinner recipe, they head to Pinterest. If looking for a way to amp up their business’s social media, they head to Pinterest!

Other people do your promoting for you! 

That’s the point of Pinterest, finding and sharing ideas and inspiration! Your ideas and posts can reach thousands with minimal effort on your part, pin it and done!

It’s not about your following!

Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest isn’t about the followers! You can still make big waves and big success on Pinterest even with a tiny following.

For example, This pin of mine went viral! It has over 250,000 re-pins and I have a very small following! 

As you can see Pinterest is revolutionary for the entrepreneur and blogger like you! So if you aren’t yet using Pinterest for your blog, it’s time to start and I’ll show you how to optimize Pinterest to enhance and drive traffic to your blog!

16 Steps to Completely Optimize Pinterest For Your Blog

1. Switch to a Pinterest Business Account

The first step to optimizing Pinterest for your blog is to create a business account, and here’s why! First of all, it’s 100% free and second, it comes with exclusive features like rich pins (which we will get to next), promoted pins, and Pinterest Analytics. Each one of these features can help you grow your blog much more that a personal Pinterest account.

For example, I use my Pinterest analytics to see what pins do the best and plan blog content accordingly! When I first launched my blog I wrote a post “What I Use to Balayage My Own Hair” and pinned it to Pinterest. Through Pinterest analytics, I was able to see that this pin was my top rated pin, for repins, likes, and clicks back to my site.

Becuase of that pin’s success I decided to write another hair tutorial “Double Dutch Braid Buns” which went viral in a matter of weeks and now has over 250k repins and growing which brings me thousands of readers a month to my blog! You can check out that pin here!

Business Account Set Up

To create a business account click here!

Or, if you already have a personal account for your blog, you can convert it to a business account here!

2. Enable Rich Pins

Another perk, and in my opinion, the best feature of a Pinterest business account is rich pins!

Have you noticed on Pinterest that not all pins look the same? Some have a bold title and nice descriptions and icons. These pins are rich pins which are formatted right from the site’s meta tags in the HTML.

These rich pins capture the attention of pinners, tells them exactly what the pin is about, and increases the overall click-through rate for your pins!

Enabling rich pins for your site also validates your site and makes you look more professional which in turn brings more readers to your site. Enabling rich pins also helps you rank higher on Pinterest! That means your pins come up higher on a search then pins that aren’t rich pins.

Besides increasing your pin’s click-through rate and making you look more professional why should you enable rich pins? Because they automatically update when you update your post! Change a title name? No problem your pins will update!

Set up

Check out this simple tutorial from Alyssa Barnes who will teach you exactly how to set up rich pins for your site!  Go set them up now, I’ll wait for you right here!

3. Verify Your Site

Step 3 is to verify your site with Pinterest. Verifying your site on Pinterest will give you a nifty URL right in your bio giving pinners the ability to click through right to your blog through your Pinterest profile, show others your site is legit, and add analytics about pins from your site!

Use these simple instructions to verify your site!

4. Update That Profile Picture and Name

Now that your business account is set up, rich pins enabled, and site verified, it’s time to optimize your profile starting right from your name and picture! Rosemarie Groner from the busy

If you don’t upload a profile picture to Pinterest you get a big red push pin which makes us all feel like you’re a hacker or some scammer right? Having a profile picture is essential for creating a good first impression and trust with your followers.

Choose a photo that clearly shows your face! Don’t use your logo, use your face! It personalizes your blog and shows you are a person, living and breathing who wants to help your readers not just a site or brand looking for more readers. Clearly showing your face shows confidence and also helps people to feel like you have nothing to hide.

Think about your branding! Choose a photo that is an expression of what your blog is and how it feels.

 

 

 

Your Profile Name

Use your personal name and your blog name (or keywords) on Pinterest! That way you get a more personal feel on your account, and just like the profile picture, it shows pinners you are a real person while still connecting yourself with your brand and blog.

You can do your name plus your blog name or opt for your name plus keywords like entrepreneur, or blogger. Maybe your profile name looks something like mine or like this: Jane Doe | Blogger + Entrepreneur. These words can help people find you in a search easier!

As bloggers, we are trying to build relationships with our readers and help them! Show that in your profile through your name and picture!

5.Use Keywords in Your Bio

Using keywords related to your niche increase your SEO which helps pinners find you on Pinterest! If you have a home decor blog, then you should include the keyword “home decor” into your bio, along with other keywords that are related to your niche. That way when someone searches “home decor” on Pinterest, they are more likely to stumble upon your site!

You can only use 160 characters so be creative and strategic in how you word your bio. You want to express what your blog is while including those keywords!

6. Create Relevant Boards and Arrange Them Strategically

Next is to create your boards arrange them strategically! First of all, you NEED a “best of” board to showcase your own posts. This board should be the very first board in your profile followed by boards that are relevant to your niche.

If you are a personal finance and budget blogger, you may create boards such as cheap dinners, how to budget, making money online, or money saving boards. Look at the categories on your blog for reference!

Once you have all your boards made you want to arrange them in strategic order. Starting with your blog’s board and followed by order of most relevant. I have my “Life on Waller”  board followed by what categories on my blog are most popular and keep similar boards next to each other.

 

7. Create a Visual Theme

When people click on your Pinterest profile, you don’t want them immediately clicking out because of the hectic and cluttered look of your boards and pins. To prevent this, create a visual theme to reflect you and your brand. This, like your profile picture, can help your pinners get a glimpse of the look and feel of your blog.

For my Pinterest profile, all of my board covers are light and mostly white with hints of pinks and blues which matches my profile pic and the branding of my blog.

 

You can also opt to make your own board covers much like Urban Outfitters does.

8. SEO Optimized Board Titles and Descriptions

Just like we did in our bio, we need to use keywords in our board titles and description so we can be easily found in a search! Instead of naming your recipes board “food n stuff” name it “Dinner recipes”, because I highly doubt many people search “food n stuff” when trying to find something delicious to make for dinner.

Along with your titles make sure to add keywords to your board descriptions, and yes every single board needs a good description! Remember the more people that can find you, the more potential readers to your site!

9. Pin Other People’s Pins

This was a question I had when I first make my Pinterest for my blog. Do I only pin my content, do I pin other people’s stuff? The best answer I got to this was from Rosemarie Groner from The Busy Budgeter (she’s the bomb and actually the reason I started a blog). In a podcast she did with Side Hustle Nation she explained how, on Pinterest, you want to be a resource for your followers. Somewhere they go when they are looking for this or that.

In my situation, being a DIY blog, I want to be a place where people come to my Pinterest account when they are looking for inspiration for any DIY project to save money! When they want something but don’t want to spend the money, they head over to my profile to find out how with a DIY, tip, or tutorial.

That means I need to be constantly pinning pins in my niche, mine, and others because let’s face it, no one has all the answers. In other words Yes, pin both your content and repin other people’s pins!

Use the 80/20 rule for pinning to Pinterest.  Pin 80% other’s pins and 20% your pins

10. Keep It Business

Now we know that we should be pinning around 80% other people’s pins and 20% our own content, but remember to keep your focus on your blog/business.

Don’t repin pins that aren’t relevant to your blog’s purpose and what you want to be for your followers! If there is a pin you are interested, in but isn’t right for your followers, use a secret board to pin it for yourself so your followers don’t get confused with your personal life being meshed into your blog. Another option is to just have two accounts, one for your blog, one for you!

11. Pin Consistency

While we are pinning, and keeping right along with the look and feel of your Pinterest account, drive followers to your profile and ultimately your blog by keeping that look you established with the visual theme on your board covers with the pins you pin.

My visual theme on my Pinterest directly reflects the branding of my blog which is also a natural scheme and feel I am drawn to. I try to pin images that fit within that visual theme, to keep that feel going in my followers feed.

Kelly Mindell from Studio DIY does this flawlessly by pinning images that compliment their bright and colorful theme.

12. Pin Often + Schedule your pins

This is how I get 50 new followers a week and why 90% of my traffic comes from Pinterest!

You need to pin often to your Pinterest profile to stay relevant with your followers and adding value to their feed, not just a “come check me out” plea when you have a new post to promote.

But that isn’t the only reason you should be pinning often!

Pinterest ranks it pinners and those who pin more often, their pins show up higher on searches. That means pinning upwards of 100 pins a day, but at least 30-50 a day will significantly increase your pin’s rankings on searches. Meaning more eyes, likes, and repins which drives readers to your site!

Pinning frequently massively increases your reach but can be incredibly time-consuming to do manually. That is why I schedule my pins! 

To be able to keep up with this massive amount of pins, I use Board Booster to schedule and pin my pins for me. Board Booster uses a system where you set up coordinating secret boards to the public boards you already have. From there, instead of pinning straight to your public boards you pin to the coordinating secret board. Board Booster then takes those pins and repins them to your public boards at optimal times throughout the day.

You can try Board Booster free for your first 100 pins, after that they have very affordable plans as low as $5 a month for 500 pins /month.

Since scheduling my pins, I have gained over 400 followers and tens of thousands of pageviews in only 2  1/2 months! 

If you want to get major growth for your Pinterest and blog, you need to be scheduling your pins! Check out Board Booster here!

13.Use Pin Worthy Images

Every single post you publish should be shared on Pinterest, but that doesn’t mean you should pin just any image from your post. Create “pin-worthy” images for every post you publish.

You know the look, those long eye-catching pins you just have to click, that is what you want your post’s pins to be! You want to grab attention and get pinners wanting to click through to your site!

Images that do best on Pinterest are:

• Long and vertical
• Warm colored
• Doesn’t show a face

So before you click publish make sure you have made a pin-worthy image for your post! It doesn’t have to be your feature image, in fact I usually put mine at the end or middle of my post with an invitation to share like this!

14. Use Keywords in Pin Descriptions

No, we are not done with SEO! Just like our name, bio, board titles and descriptions, add keywords to each individual pin from your site so it can be easily found and rank higher in a search!

Remember the Pinterest is free promoting for you when others pin your pins, but you need to make your pins easy to find first!

15. Revamp Old Pins

One of the last steps you can do to completely optimize  Pinterest for your blog is to use the tips shared previously and redo Pinterest images for old posts. You can always revamp and add pins for older posts.

Look at your analytics and find out what pins are doing best for you and try to replicate that for pins that aren’t doing as well.

16. Join Group Boards

Last but DEFINITELY not least is joining group boards. This is the #1 way to get your pins out into the world when you don’t already have a large following.

On group boards, you can pin your pins to boards that already have an established following and get eyes on your pins. Try to contribute to boards that are similar to your niche and what your pins are about. Use Pingroupie to find good group boards and ask for an invite!

Tips for getting an invite:

• Read the board rules first! (Usually in the board description)
• Be Polite
• Agree to follow said rules
• Send a personal email rather than a pin comment
• Be genuine
• Just Ask! (You’ve got nothing to lose!)

These 16 steps are guaranteed to increase your blog traffic and help you build an audience! How has your Pinterest game lately? What is your #1 source of traffic? Drop me a line down in the comments!

Ps. Don’t forget to join my community and get your free monthly blog planner to help you plan and stay organized and focused.