We’re going to keep this super simple because Pinterest is probably one of the most basic and beneficial ways to drive traffic in terms of social media sites in 2019. Sure, there are little ‘insider tips’ you could spend hours and days reading up on, and by all means if that’s what you wish to do then have at it but you’re going to find out really fast that the ton of extra work will only result in minimum benefit, it’s best to stick with what’s proven to work and let the rest go.
Why Pinterest is Good?
Simple… Pinterest has the potential to drive traffic to your websites for months and in some cases even years after utilizing it properly. Yeah, you read that right… YEARS!!!
The great thing about it is just how easy it is to use the features of the website without diving too deep into details. Don’t think too far beyond just these things:
- Stunning images
- Brisk & clever descriptions
- Your website (of course)
- A tool to write pretty letters with (will show you a free one soon)
It’s really simple to take free images which relate to your niche, use a free tool that has awesome fonts for free and mix it all together resulting in free traffic for you… provided you do the few things we’re about to cover right now.
Make a Free Pinterest Business Account
Yeah, it’s free so don’t worry about it. Doing this will give you access to additional tools you just won’t get with the default account such as better analytics. You can CLICK RIGHT HERE to go straight to their sign up page. If you’ve already got an Pinterest account then it is possible to convert it to a business account but you might want to just start from scratch with a new one.
Quick note on Ads for Pinterest.
This article is NOT about buying ads on the website. Although that is an option which may work for you it’s not the focus of this read, we’re only interest in generating traffic from Pinterest for free. Hopefully there’s no confusion about that.
In order to get your Pinterest business account all set up and ready to work for you, you’re going to need to verify your website with them. Additionally to the improved analytics you’ll have the option to join their ‘Rich Pins’ program granting you more tools you can utilize from right within your pins.
- Real time pricing
- Location details
- Extended formatting tools
- Product pins
- Recipe pins
- Article pins (this one is very useful)
- And more…
Although Rich Pins in Pinterest are not a requirement and you might not even need them, they are an option only available for those who have verified business accounts so keep that under consideration. The ‘Article Pins’ are very valuable in our particular case as they can help with SEO even better than your average pin. With snippets taken straight from your blog posts, option to utilize logos, bigger headlines and even links back to your site it all serves to put your own webpages front and center directly inside of a neat little pin right on the Pinterest website.
Use Descriptions Wisely for Pinterest Strategy
We’re in this for the traffic which means you need to compel anyone who is looking at your pin to want to click over to your site. This is where those ad copy skills of yours come into play. Pinterest isn’t like most other platforms, most people who are browsing pins are either looking for things to buy and are browsing pins for ideas, or they’re looking for something they can share… and sometimes they just enjoy killing time on their favorite image-based website but we’re not really concerned with these folks right now.
You only have a split second to capture their attention with your image and then convince them that they need more information which can only be found by clicking the link to reach your website. Here are some tips and Pinterest Strategy to help maximize engagement with your pins:
- Intriguing to the reader, appeal to curiosity and tug a few emotional strings if it fits the cause.
- Detail key points, you don’t have much space so use it wisely by packing essential details in as few words as possible.
- Helpful descriptions which hing there’s more to be learned by clicking a link work best in most cases.
- Actionable descriptions where the reader wants to find out more is your best bet so use a strong call to action in every single description.
Don’t forget to use SEO friendly keywords in your descriptions wherever possible, but don’t stuff them to the point your words stop making sense. Remember, this is something actual people are going to read, we’re not only trying to appeal to a search algorithm here.
What & When to Pin
This one is going to require some trial and error on your part, you’ll have to pin things every day of the week at different hours of the day to see which times and days are getting the best results.
To find out what you should pin you need look no further than on Pinterest itself. Start searching for your preferred keywords and see what’s showing up near the top of the results. Don’t copy but do emulate success. Watch the video embedded below to learn in greater detail how to do this more effectively.
It’s very important to use images in your pins which will catch attention and make people actually want to click on them. Using pretty fonts directly on the images which are legible in thumbnail form are essential to get the best results.
There is an extremely helpful software called Canva which you can use straight from your web browser. All you have to do is create a free account and get started. This tool grants you access to both free and paid stock photos as well as an entire suite of handy tools you can use right away to begin making beautiful pins as well as many other types of graphics. This was the tool mentioned earlier about the “tool to write pretty letters with” so give it a look and try it for yourself. There is a paid version but you honestly don’t need to use it unless you feel it would benefit you.
Join Pinterest Boards
This is where the social part comes into play. Quite possibly the most powerful tool available to you on Pinterest is the group boards. This is where you’re going to find people congregate which means you now have access to many people all in one place who are interested in one thing, that’s powerful. Think of it in a similar way to groups on Facebook, people intentionally join groups to be in a collective with like-minded people.
Once a member of a group board you’ll be able to pin to that board which is how you get exposure. The more frequently you pin the more opportunity you create to be discovered. This isn’t an invitation to spam the Pinterest board, but it is suggested to pin regularly. If people like what you pin (and many of them probably will) then they’ll follow you and will be notified when you post new stuff. An easy way to track down group boards is to use the website Pingroupie which indexes a ton of boards all in one place with a handy search function.
Utilizing Pinterest and creating a money-earning e-commerce strategy is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. It does take effort, sure, but as mentioned near the top of this article, if you set things up and put that effort in, then it can pay off for months and potentially years. Popular pins oftentimes get shared around the internet and they get a lot of traction on the Pinterest website itself. More exposure means more traffic, which is our goal.
