How to Use Pinterest for Blogging

Feeling stuck in a rut trying to get more visitors to your blog? You’ve probably heard of Pinterest, but maybe you’re unsure how to use it effectively to boost your blog’s traffic.

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one! Numerous bloggers like yourself understand that Pinterest can be a treasure trove for drawing in fresh readers, yet unraveling the secrets of using it for blogging might seem daunting.

In this article, we’ll clarify what Pinterest is all about (and what it’s not), guide you through creating an account, and help you set up your very first pin. Just make sure you have a published blog post ready to go. If you don’t, go to this article to learn how to create a blog post super fast using Tailwing Ghostwriter – for free.

Are you excited? Let’s jump in!

According to DataReportal, as of February 2023, Pinterest has 450 million monthly active users placing it 15th in the ranking of the world’s most active social media platforms and the number of active users statement was also stated on the Pinterest website.

But I have to challenge that…Pinterest is not a social media platform. It’s a visual search engine.

People go there to discover, share, and save ideas by creating virtual bulletin boards known as “boards.” They can save “pins,” which are essentially images or videos with a brief description and a link to the source website.

Pinterest is not only a place for DIY projects and recipe ideas; it’s also a powerful tool for bloggers to drive traffic to their websites.

How Pinterest Drives Traffic to Your Blog

A Pinterest pin serves as an inviting bridge between Pinterest users and a person’s blog post. When someone creates a visually appealing pin that highlights their blog post’s topic, they include a link to the post directly within the pin.

As users search or scroll through Pinterest, they might come across this enticing pin, and their curiosity will be piqued. When they click on the pin, they’ll be seamlessly transported to the person’s blog post, allowing them to read the content and engage with the blog. In this way, a well-crafted Pinterest pin acts as a friendly guide, leading users from the world of Pinterest straight to the blogger’s website.

Should You Use Pinterest for Blogging

Here are a few types of blog posts that might not perform as well on Pinterest:

• Controversial or sensitive subjects: Pinterest aims to maintain a positive and inspirational environment, so blog posts that deal with controversial, polarizing, or sensitive topics violate Pinterest community guidelines.
• Text-heavy posts without visual elements: As Pinterest is a visual platform, you can have the most beautiful pin graphic, but if it leads the reader to a blog posts that lack engaging images or graphics, it will be challenging to keep the reader on your website.
  
  Imagine searching for a recipe on making an ice cream cake and you come across a beautiful pin with a scrumptious image and a text overlay “Make this ice cream cake in under 15 minutes, we’ll show you how”. You click on the pin and get to a blog post that is simply text instructions without any images or videos. I don’t know about you, but I need pictures to show me how to make something like this.
• Time-sensitive or quickly outdated content: Once you publish a pin, it’s available immediately, but it takes Pinterest 4-7 days to index the pin. This means that Pinterest processes, categorize, and makes your pin discoverable in its search results. During this period, Pinterest analyzes the pin’s content, keywords, and other relevant information to understand where it fits best within the platform’s vast content library.
  
  Pinterest is known for its evergreen content, meaning content that remains relevant for a long time. Blog posts that are time-sensitive, like breaking news or an event that’s already taken place, may not have the same lasting impact on Pinterest.
• Overly promotional or sales-driven posts: Nobody likes to be sold to in a pushy way. Pinterest users are no different as they are often looking for helpful and inspiring content. Blog posts that are primarily focused on pushing a product or service, without providing any type of valuable information, might not be as well-received by the Pinterest community.
• The best way to see if what you blog about would work on Pinterest is to come at it from the angle of someone going to Pinterest looking for X – where X is your niche. What would people search for if they were looking for what you offer? If there is very little content, that might be an indicator that your niche isn’t popular on Pinterest.

Try putting yourself in the shoes of someone using Pinterest to search for content related to your niche. What search terms or keywords would people use when looking for information or inspiration that’s related to what your blog is about. Discovering that there isn’t an abundance of content in your niche on Pinterest could imply that the search term or keywords used are not as popular on the platform. However, rather than feeling disheartened, embrace this as a chance to get creative and experiment with your distinctive content. You may even find that you’re filling a gap in the market and catering to an untapped audience.

While Pinterest is a highly visual platform, you can still use it for blogging in niches such as finance or marketing by creating graphics or infographics that represent your content.

To use Pinterest for blogging, you must create a Pinterest Business account. A business account allows you to access Pinterest Analytics, promote pins, and claim your website, which enables you to track how many people are saving pins from your website.

There are multiple ways to get setup with a Pinterest Business Account and it depends on your current setup.

• you don’t have a Pinterest account
• you have a personal account, but not a separate business account
• you have a personal account and just want to convert it to a business account

either way, to make sure you’re getting the most up-to-date instructions, you can go direct to Pinterest and follow their instructions. The link will open in another browser window, so you don’t lose your place here.

Once you’ve created your Pinterest Business account, it’s time to optimize your profile to attract potential followers and increase engagement. Log into your Pinterest account and complete any necessary steps below.

Update Your Pinterest Profile Cover Image

1. Click your profile picture at the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Click the pencil icon at the bottom-right corner of your profile cover image.
3. Click Upload from your computer.
4. Choose your image and upload it.

Update Your Public Profile

1. Click Edit Profile
2. Name: Add your name and some keywords to make up your “statement”
3. About: Describe who you are, what you do and how you help your audience. You can include a description of your blog and what your followers can expect from your Pinterest account. Include keywords in your about section to help Pinterest understand what your account is about
4. Claim your website: If you didn’t do this when setting up your business account, do it now. This will link your website to your Pinterest account and enable Pinterest Analytics so you can measure performance of each pin.

Now that you have a Pinterest Business account and an optimized profile, it’s time to start creating boards that showcase your blog’s content. Boards are virtual bulletin boards where you can organize your pins by topic. These should be similar to your content buckets or content categories or topic clusters on your blog. If you’re not sure what these terms mean, they are linked to articles that help explain them.

Here are some tips for creating boards:

• Create boards that are relevant to your blog’s niche.
• Use keywords in your board titles and descriptions
• Organize your boards in a logical order
• Add a cover photo that accurately represents the content of the board

Example of a Chef Using Pinterest for Blogging: the boards created

If you’re a chef specializing in quick and easy meals for busy families, you can create Pinterest boards for different recipe categories such as:

• One-Pot Wonders: Share recipes that require minimal cleanup by utilizing just one pot or pan, making life easier for time-strapped families.
• 30-Minute Meals: A board dedicated to recipes that can be made up in 30 minutes or less, perfect for busy weeknights.
• Kid-Friendly Recipes: A board featuring tasty and nutritious meals that even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy.
• Healthy Family Meals: Showcase your talent for creating wholesome and satisfying meals that keep families feeling good and energized.
• Meal Prep Ideas: Share tips and recipes for efficient meal prepping, which can help busy families save time during the week.
• Budget-Friendly Recipes: Offer affordable meal options that don’t compromise on taste or nutrition, perfect for families on a budget.
• Vegetarian Delights: Create a board featuring quick and easy plant-based meals for families exploring vegetarian or meat-free meal options.
• Weekend Brunch Ideas: Inspire your audience with delicious and simple brunch ideas to make weekends at home feel special.

Pinterest offers two primary types of pins: standard Pins and Idea Pins. Let’s take a look at the key differences between the two:

1. Pinterest Pins: These are the classic pins you’re likely familiar with. A standard Pinterest Pin consists of a single image or video, accompanied by a title, description, and a link to the source website. When users click on a standard Pin, they’re taken directly to the linked webpage, such as a blog post or product page. Standard Pins are ideal for driving traffic to your website and showcasing your content.
2. Idea Pins: Previously known as Story Pins, Idea Pins are a more recent addition to Pinterest. They allow creators to share multiple images, videos, and even text in a slideshow-like format. Idea Pins are designed to be more immersive and engaging, enabling users to swipe through the content directly on Pinterest. They don’t include a direct link to an external website, making them better suited for sharing tips, tutorials, or stories right on the platform, but they are rolling this feature out in the later part of 2023. Idea Pins can help increase your engagement and build your presence on Pinterest, but they don’t directly drive traffic to your website.

Both types of pins can be valuable in your Pinterest strategy, depending on your goals. Standard Pins are great for driving traffic, while Idea Pins can help you create a more engaging and interactive experience for your audience.

Creating the Graphic

Creating eye-catching pins and idea pins is crucial to attract potential followers and drive traffic to your website.

• To design an eye-catching pin that showcases your blog post’s topic, Canva has some really nice Pinterest templates to save you time, even on their free plan.
• This pin should include an engaging image, a captivating title (text that overlays the image) and a call to action such as “read the article”.
• If you don’t have your own images, don’t worry. You can use stock images from the Canva library, Unsplash or Pexels.
• Once you’ve created your pin, save and download it as a high quality .jpg (or an .mp4 if it’s a video) to your computer.

You’ll need your graphic for the next step and it’s recommended in the future you research the keywords and write everyone out ahead of time to build yourself an efficient workflow. The steps below match the graphic to help you visualize the steps.

1. Log into your Pinterest account and in the top menu, click Create and chose Create Pin. Click the arrow to upload your Pinterest Pin.
2. Pin it to a relevant board: Now that your pin is ready, you’ll want to save it to a board that’s related to your blog post’s topic. This helps users who are browsing specific categories or interests on Pinterest to find your pin more easily. Think of boards as your content categories.
3. Add a title. This should be different but related to the text overlay of the pin graphic. You can use the blog post title.
4. Add a description: a clear and concise description gives potential readers a taste of what your post is about. At the end, make sure you include a call to action, plus 2-3 keywords.
   Optimize for search: Just like on Google, Pinterest users search for topics using keywords. To make your pin more discoverable, include relevant keywords in your pin’s title and description. This will increase the likelihood of your pin appearing in users’ search results.
5. Add Alt Text: describe the image as if you were talking to someone on the phone. This text will be read aloud by screen readers.
6. Add a link: When you create your pin, include the link to your blog post. This is a crucial step, as this link will take users from Pinterest straight to your blog when they click on the pin.
7. Publish Now or Later: when you’ve completed all of the above, you can publish the pin right away or schedule it up to 4 weeks into the future.
8. Click the Button and you’re done.

Consistency is crucial when using Pinterest for blogging and it’s recommended that you pin at least once a day. If you have a new blog, don’t worry, you’ll get there, create your pins when you can. If you feel overwhelmed with manually creating your pins on Pinterest, check tip #2 for what I do and it saves me hours per week, especially since I blog weekly and share pins to multiple boards.

Here are some tips to help you maintain a consistent Pinterest presence:

1. Pin regularly to keep your account active and engagement high
2. Use a scheduling tool like Tailwind to schedule your pins in advance
3. Analyze your Pinterest Analytics to see which pins and boards are performing well and adjust your strategy accordingly

To Wrap Things Up

Pinterest is a powerful visual search engine that bloggers and business owners like you can use to increase their website’s traffic and engagement. By creating a Pinterest Business account, optimizing your profile, creating boards and pins, and maintaining consistency, you can leverage the platform to grow your blog’s audience and ultimately achieve your blogging goals. Just remember that Pinterest is not a quick way to promote your blog. It takes time, sometimes weeks or months before your Pins get any traction.