Pinterest is probably THE most important internet platform for any bloggers. Whether you’re an experienced profitable blogger or just getting started (how to start a profitable blog from scratch), opting to ignore Pinterest can significantly limit your blogging and earning potentials. That’s why understanding Pinterest and implementing these tips can seriously boost your Pinterest traffic, meaning more referrals, page views and ultimately more income.
Start a blog with Bluehost from just $3.95 a month
As a result, you should be prioritising Pinterest. Why? Because it has the potential to bring huge amounts of traffic to your website. And more traffic means earning more income as a blogger, which is what we’re all striving for right?
In fact, after implementing these simple tips, I saw an increase of over 70% on my blog’s traffic from Pinterest alone.
To start with, I will give a very brief introduction on what Pinterest is, how to use it and how to set it up. Then I can tell you 10 simply ways to boost your Pinterest traffic like a boss.
What Is Pinterest?
I’m sure most of you if you’re reading this will have heard about Pinterest before, but may not be fully clear on what exactly the purpose of this platform is. To put it simply, Pinterest is an online tool which allows you to easily search and find information from the internet through pictures (pins). When you create your profile, you create boards labelled into different categories like travel, fashion, art etc. From this you can save different pins into these boards for inspiration and later use.
But there is one very important detail, Pinterest is not a social media platform. Not in the sense that Facebook or Instagram and the likes are. You see it behaves much more like a search engine, and that is why it’s so freaking awesome. Because once you’ve placed great organic content on there, it just keeps on giving through traffic referrals. The more people see your pins, the more chances that your article will be clicked and read.
Setting Up Your Pinterest Profile
Firstly, if you already have a blog, use your blog name as your Pinterest name. This should be done for all your other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. If it isn’t available or your name is too long (like mine), consider altering the name slightly e.g. cutting a few words out.
Next, take a few minutes to either fill out or revisit your ‘about you’ section. This needs to tell people what you do and why they should follow your account. You only have a limited amount of characters so it needs to be concise. Also, it’s a good idea to include your personal name(s). People like to know who’s behind the Pinterest account, as it makes it more personal and credible.
Next consider improving or adding a new profile picture. This should ultimately have an eye-catching or impressive picture of you, the blogger(s). However, if you have a strong brand with an awesome logo you could use this too. It’s also a good idea to have the same photo/logo across all of your social media sites. It instantly makes you more recognisable to your readers.
Now, for the fun part. Pinterest boards! The title of your very first board should simply be the name of your blog. E.g. Luxurybackpacking Blog Posts or Best of Luxurybackpacking. This is where all your own pins from your articles are going to live. After this board is set up, you’re going to want to categorise, which is ultimately up to you.
Most people have these set up by country or world region if you’re a travel blogger, but you might also want to include specific topics like ‘travel blogging tips’ or ‘travel gear essentials’.
10 Ways To Boost Your Pinterest Traffic Like A Boss
1. Switch To A Business Account & Enable Rich Pins
Rich pins basically provide more information about a pin, leading ultimately to a higher click through rate.
If your Pinterest account isn’t already set up as a business account you’re going to want to go ahead and convert that. Also be sure to confirm your website and enable rich pins. This allows Pinterest to pull through important information from the articles on your website which in turn makes them more discoverable in searches on Pinterest.
Once your rich pins have been approved by Pinterest you should see under Pin Type the letter R on each pin. Below is the following of what it should look like on your Pinterest Analytics page.
2. Create Multiple Pinterest Pins For Each Blog Post
Why only create one pin, when you could double or even triple your referral traffic by creating multiple pins?
Most people only opt to creating one pin per post, as it’s time consuming. However, I can assure you it’s worth it and simple using Canva.
Not only will this get each blog post out in front of many more eyes, but you can also monitor each pin to see which pins and designs do better.
This is crucial to your success with Pinterest because you need to know which pins and designs your followers are enjoying the most.
3. Join Relevant & Awesome Group Boards
If you’re unsure what a group board is, it’s basically made up of multiple members e.g. other travel bloggers that all contribute to the board by sharing their pins to it. When you’re first starting out, you will want to join as many group boards as possible around topics that you have content on.
For example, when I publish a blog post like this one, I will pin it to my Luxurybackpacking Blog Posts Board first and then pin it to relevant Group Boards straight after.
Tip: Smaller group boards, will mean you shouldn’t pin the same pin too often otherwise it might be considered spam. If the group board has a large number of pins in it (around 30,000 or more), then don’t worry too much about when you may have last pinned that specific pin to it.
There’s no limit on how many you can join, just make sure you read the rules of each board and don’t request to join ones that aren’t relevant to your blog or audience. Each group board will have a different way of joining. For example, one may ask you to email them another may ask to directly message through Pinterest. Also make sure to read all the rules and requirements before asking to join the board, as you will have a higher chance of getting accepted.
Below is my own Group Board, which tell you how to be accepted.
4. Create A Group Board Of Your Own
Following on from joining different group boards, why not create your own? It’s a perfect way to increase your profile amongst your fellow bloggers and increasing your following by making it a requirement before joining. Since creating my own group board, which now has over 55,000 pins I’ve increased my following by around 65% in the last few months!
Below shows in just 1 month I increased my monthly viewers from 169,000 to 247,000.
5. Join Pinterest Share/RePin Threads
Repin threads are when you join FB groups, preferably in your niche then participate in daily/weekly threads. Essentially you participate by dropping a link to a pin that you want to boost in a thread. By the end of the given time frame, you need to repin everyone’s pins on to your various boards. So for example, one pin thread has 50 participants, by the end of that thread, you should have 49 repins from other people!
It can be pretty time-consuming, but it’s a good way of meeting the quota of sharing other peoples’ content than your own and it does drive results and can boost your Pinterest traffic! If your blog is travel related, here are a couple of travel-related repin thread groups that I recommend you join:
Note: You should only participate in these repin threads if you know you will be able to complete and follow the guidelines, or you may risk being banned from the FB group.
6. Pin Other People’s Pins Too
When it comes to Pinterest, Pinterest favours those who pin other content, as well as their own.
When you want to increase your followers and increase your blog traffic, it all comes down to how you rank in Pinterest. Similar to ranking in Google, there are certain things that will set you apart from the crowd.
Pinterest’s algorithm decides who is a ”worthy” pinner. You want Pinterest on your side, believe me. If you don’t play by the rules, Pinterest won’t put you in your follower’s feeds. I know it may seem like you’re bringing traffic to other blogs, but I assure you that this Pinterest tip works.
Basically, Pinterest does not like when you only pin your own content. And other people don’t really enjoy this either.
Tip: You should be repinning quality content (on an everyday basis) to help your ranking on Pinterest and for your audience. The reason? Because your account is attached to every pin you repin to your boards. If you pin quality pins that get repinned then Pinterest views your account as valuable. When you’re viewed as valuable then Pinterest will start showing your pins more in the searches and smart feeds of your audience. Plus you want to be known (and ultimately followed) for pinning quality and aesthetically pleasing pins. It’s a win, win!
7. Manually Pin Everday: Don’t Rely On Automated Platforms
Although automated paid services like Tailwind are great for driving traffic on autopilot, Pinterest knows when you are genuinely active. They won’t consider you a ”worthy pinner” who gets their pins seen often if you’re not physically active and engaging on the platform.
Also, when you’re using a scheduler to pin your pins, you’re likely only posting your own content to group boards. I have heard several bloggers admit that they have scheduled hundreds of pins to go out to group boards and forgot to pin to their own boards for a long period of time.
In order to see growth, you must pin to your own boards as well – not just group boards.
Tip: I personally do not use any paid automated service, as I believe you do not need to spend money on this to be successful at Pinterest. These may be a great option if you are very busy and simply do not have time to pin, but if you spare an extra 10 minutes a day to Pinterest this is I personally believe is more affective than apps like Tailwind.
8. Create Beautiful Eye-Catching Pins
Now let’s get to the fun stuff! By creating beautifully eye-catching pins it can seriously boost your Pinterest traffic like a boss.
After I write and finish up my blog post, the first thing for me is to create a pin that I can put at the bottom of each article. Given that Pinterest is a visual tool, you NEED to make sure your pins stand out.
Pins that are bright, have easy to read text, and are captivating tend to do really well on this platform. The recommended Pinterest size now is 735 x 1102.
Tip: Pinterest has recently changed its algorithm stating that pins need to be 2:3 ratio and nothing longer than 1260 height!
In order to create beautiful pins I use Canva. If you’re not the most creative person, Canva has pre-made templates that you can simply edit.
Here are a few things to consider when creating a Pinterest Pin:
- Use easy to read fonts! Although having pretty scripts are great, if no one can read them then they’re useless. W
- Use bright captivating images
- Make sure the Pinterest Pin is vertical. Never create a horizontal pin.
- That said, experiment with various Pinterest pin sizes.
- Remember: Your SEO title and Pinterest Pin title can be completely different. (ie. my SEO title could be “Nusa Penida Travel Guide” but my pin could say “The Best Travel Guide For Nusa Penida”
9. Delete All Personal Boards That Aren’t Relevant To Your Niche
If you’ve just set up your Pinterest account, you can ignore this as you shouldn’t have any previous boards on your profile.
However, if you’ve used your Pinterest for personal reasons previously, make sure to delete any boards that do not relate to your niche. For example, if I blog about travelling and lifestyle having a board about tattoos, dogs or gardening is not relevant and may harm your brand.
Your Pinterest boards are now for your followers, not for yourself. As difficult as that may be to swallow, it’s crucial to remember. The hard truth is that your followers are following you for a reason – they don’t care about your 22 hobbies.
10. Write Epic Pin Descriptions
Now before we move towards pin descriptions, you need to know makes a good one! For me, a good pin description have the following:
- a call to action
- it must be catchy and interesting
- hashtags (based on recent Pinterest changes)
- keywords
There are two ways of writing Pin Descriptions. One is using keyword stuffing and the other is by writing a natural looking description with the necessary keywords. I often try to use a bit of both, making sure I have all the elements I listed above.
Keyword Stuffing: This includes writing words and putting a | in between them e.g.: Nusa Penida | Bali | angels billabong | broken beach.
Natural Descriptions: This is when you write a description that includes these phrases without keyword stuffing. For example: Heading to the beautiful island of Nusa Penida off Bali? Check out all the sites including Angels Billabong, Broken Beach and much more!
Hybrid of Both: Nusa Penida Travel Guide | Heading to Bali soon? Check out my article full of awesome travel advice on Nusa Penida including sites like Angels Billabong and Broken Beach. Click here to read the article.
Looking for more articles on blogging? Check out a few of my best ones!
- How To Become A Successful Travel Blogger: Zero to Hero
- Building A Successful Instagram: All You Need To Know
- Get Paid To Travel The World As A Blogger
- How To Start A Travel Blog From Scratch
If you’re looking to start a travel blog with WordPress for cheap, we highly recommend using Bluehost for all your hosting needs. We personally use them and they’re quite frankly awesome! We wouldn’t host with anyone else.
Click here to gain an exclusive Bluehost offer for WordPress users.
Do you have Pinterest? Save it for later!
Hi, shall I repin the same pin in different board which created by myself?
Hi there,
Yes, you want to repin as many of your Pinterest pins to different boards as you can. Just make sure you’re not spamming the boards with the same pins and always follow the rules of each board 🙂
Thanks!