We now have 1.7 million monthly views on Pinterest but before that, we had 100... yes, ONE HUNDRED! Follow these tips to make sure that your content stands out and increase your Pinterest growth. Growing to 1 million in 3 months was hard work. We learned a lot along the way and are excited to share some of what we know! We included links to our Pinterest in this post as examples for how you can execute our tips.
People are on Pinterest looking for ideas to find and save for later. Basically, the platform is a search and discovery engine, very similar to Google and YouTube. We’ve been running the blog, What Taylor Likes, for 4 years now without pinning to Pinterest. This was a HUGE mistake.
We have learned that Pinterest is a great source for increasing blog traffic. As our Pinterest views went up so did our pageviews for the blog. Wondering how? Well...
When you pin images to Pinterest it can lead people to your website. This is great because it is a way for your audience to discover ways to relate to your brand.
You can see our Pinterest growth in our “highlights” on Instagram. Shoutout to The Basic Blogger Bitch for inspiring us to invest in Pinterest. You can read her Pinterest post here.
Note: We are assuming that you have a business account, claimed your website, enabled rich pins and updated your bio. In this post we will mainly discuss the strategy that helped us grow from 100 to 1 million monthly viewers on Pinterest in 3 months. If you have any questions on the initial setup of a business account on Pinterest, leave them in the comments section below.
Tip #1 Have a main strategy
Create fresh pins
Pinterest's algorithm is prioritizing fresh content because Pinners respond to fresh content the most. Creating more fresh Pins means more exposure for you to your ideal audience.
What is fresh content? You create fresh content by pining a new image. They are images or videos which have never appeared on Pinterest. Please note that you cannot Pin the same image with a new URL or a new description. You MUST create a new image.
Examples: You can create several images that link to the same blog post. Fresh Pins can come from creating new images for links you’ve previously shared to Pinterest.
Prioritize high-quality content
Content that is relevant and high-quality is important on Pinterest. We focus our energy on creating great content that’s tailored to our audience. You can keep the Pins you create relevant by making sure your images, description, and links appeal to your audience.
Tailwind
Tailwind is a scheduling tool or platform and it has helped to grow our blog and Pinterest account beyond belief. Tailwind helps us Pin at the best times for engagement and we can schedule out Pins weeks in advance. We have a code for a free month of Tailwind, if you are interested.
Be consistent
Create a schedule and add new Pins over time. This helps you reach a wider audience. You can schedule Pins out using Tailwind. Most successful profiles Pin around 15-25 Pins per day. We Pin 15-20 times per day.
The Pinterest tips above allowed us to reach 100K monthly viewers
Tip #2 Know what to pin
Make your boards
What Taylor Likes is about vegan food, travel and fashion so we Pin images surrounding those topics on our boards. In the beginning, we created 10-15 boards and filled in the name and description fields for each board. You want the names of your boards to be keyword friendly (see "Tip #3" for more information on keywords).
Use insights
What Taylor Likes publishes new seasonal content based on audience insights on a regular basis. Make sure to keep an eye on your insights page so you always have the latest information on what your audience wants to see from you. Use Pinterest Analytics or Tailwind Analytics to learn about your Pinterest audience.
Seasonal trends
When it comes to holiday or seasonal events, What Taylor Likes and our audience uses Pinterest to plan ahead of time. So you want to start pinning seasonal content about 30-45 days in advance. Activity will keep picking up as you get closer to the date.
Linking Pins
When someone clicks on your Pin, they want a direct link to that recipe, blog post and etc. You can link Pins to your site, blog or any other website as long as it is a natural progression from the Pin. Pins that feature a product should link to a page where people can buy that product.
Your pins and other people's pins
People ask, "Do I Pin my Pins or other people's Pins?" Your Pinterest boards are there to highlight your brand. 70-80% of the content on the boards should be your own. However, you can Pin someone else's Pins if you think it is relevant to your boards. For example, I have a Ski Season board because we are going on a blog ski trip. We will not be able to Pin ski content until after the trip so we Pin other peoples Pins in the meantime.
The Pinterest tips above allowed us to reach 500K monthly viewers
Tips #3 Fill in the details
Keywords
Pinterest is a search and discovery network. Pinners are searching for ideas, recipes and more. In order to find your content, they need to search for certain terms through keywords. You want to keyword your Pinterest to ensure the right people find your content. For example, you should add keywords to your profile, boards, and pins.
Hashtags
Add a few relevant (broad and specific) hashtags to your Pin descriptions. Focus on quality over quantity. Unlike hashtags elsewhere, Pinterest hashtags are not meant to be cute. For example, if you Pin a red dress, one of your hashtags should be #reddress not #allidoiswearred.
Pin descriptions
Descriptions add context and impact where your content shows up across Pinterest, and who sees it. Descriptions can fit up to 500 characters. In the first 50-60 characters of the description state the most important information first. This helps Pinterest understand more about your content so they can show it to the right users.
Update boards
Your boards should convey your brand's interests and expertise. In our boards, we have a lot of keywords in board titles that will match up with search terms. Be sure your boards have descriptions with keywords as well. The descriptions of your Pinterest boards are important to improving your Pinterest SEO.
The Pinterest tips above allowed us to reach 1 million monthly viewers
FAQ:
Here are some questions from our readers:
"How many pins do you make per blog post?" - @flowandfavor
2 specific images optimized for Pinterest, however, we Pin all images in our blog posts to our Pinterest page.
"What tools do you use to achieve growth?" - @finding_francesca
Tailwind - We have a code for a free month of Tailwind. Getting the Plus plan was a game changer for us. Highly recommend that you sign up after the free month.
Canva – Use this to create images for Pinterest and your blog. Free and easy to use and perfect for beginners.
"Do you link each pic to your IG page?" - @purposeinthepink
Each Pin has a different goal, so wer link each image depending on the platform we am trying to drive traffic to.
That's all the tips we have for developing a Pinterest strategy right away! This has helped us grow from 100 to 1 million monthly viewers on Pinterest in 3 months. LITERALLY.
If you have any questions, let us know in the comments. We plan on publishing more Pinterest content that go into more detail on certain topics.
Until Next Time,
Tay
“Your life is happening now. Make it amazing!”