I love Pinterest, and have been a casual user for years. I really want to start using Pinterest more as an extension of my blog though - here's a guide to Pinterest for Bloggers which will hopefully encourage me to practice what I preach!
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is an image sharing website which lets users upload or simply save images ('pins') to different folders ('boards'). It was launched just six years ago, in 2010, but quickly became the dominant social media network for aspirational living - they don't call all those beautifully styled interior shots 'Pinterest Perfect' for nothing!
Why should I be using Pinterest?
Pinterest has over 70 million users worldwide; about 3 million of those are UK based, pinning some 3 million images per day. The most popular searches are for recipes, crafts and tutorials but people can - and do - search for anything and everything on the site. So, no matter what you write about, Pinterest has the potential to drive traffic to your blog.
How do I use Pinterest?
The simple answer is you sign up for an account - preferably with a username that links you to your blog - fill out your profile information, and then start pinning pictures. You can even schedule pins in advance using sites like Buffer.
But nothing is ever simple!
You need to make your Pinterest account attractive enough that someone looking at it would feel inspired enough to click through to your blog. Write clear descriptions of what your boards are about, to help them show up in searches, and use hashtags in your actual pin descriptions for the same reason. Another idea is to 'brand' your Pinterest boards so your account looks cohesive, like so:
My Pinterest account - the board cover images are 217 x 147 pixels. (Edit as of August only the top section, or 217 x 111, is actually visible.) |
Make sure your readers know you're on Pinterest too; include a button in your sidebar, for instance, or even embed a Pinterest board or widget. You can generate the code HERE.
How can I make my blog Pinterest friendly?
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and, on Pinterest at least, it's true. You might have written the best tutorial / guide / review / etc ever, but the inferior post with the pretty 'pinnable image' is the one which will get pinned and repinned on Pinterest.
Because a 'pinnable image' is exactly what it says on the tin - an image which will represent your post on Pinterest. Make it big, make it bold, and make it striking. The ideal dimensions for a Pinterest image is at least 735 pixels wide, the width of the enlarged image when a pin is clicked on. Canva, the go-to online design tool, has a default Pinterest friendly template available.
To illustrate what I mean, here are two images I've used for a post on creating a blog media kit. The first I created when I published the post:
The unadjusted size is 810 x 450 pixels. |
Months later I went back and updated the post to make it more search engine friendly. I also swapped out the previous image for this one:
You don't even need to take the fancy photos yourself - these are royalty free shots I received as a subscriber to the Wonderlass blog. More cool images can be found on any number of free photography websites. |
The content of the post is almost entirely unchanged, but I think we both know which image is more likely to get it shared across Pinterest! Adding my blog address to the bottom ensures that people will know where it came from, even if the link gets lost along the way.
How can I make it easy to pin my content?
Once you have the images, you need to get them onto Pinterest. You can manually add them yourself, of course, either through the pinterest website or via a browser extension. But what about your readers?
Most default blog post footers will have a pinterest share option, but it's not always that obvious. Another option is to install a 'pin it' button which will appear on all your images. Pinterest makes this easy to do with their widget builder page, and you can then modify the code to suit your own needs. If you don't want a particular image to be pinnable - or just don't want the hover 'pin it' button appearing on your sidebar images, for example, include nopin="nopin" in your image html.
Finally, don't forget to confirm your website with Pinterest. This will make sure any image pinned from your blog will be attributed to you.
Anything else I should know?
In addition to personal accounts, Pinterest also offers business accounts. They offer a few extra features - pinterest analytics, promoted pins (if you're in the USA), and rich pins. There are six types of rich pin, which need to be verified with metadata:
- App. (USA only.)
- Article. This will make the headline, author and a description automatically show up.
- Movie. Shows extra details like year of release, name of director, etc.
- Place. This will add addresses, phone numbers, and maps - perfect for restaurants or events.
- Product. Links to the product page, and automatically updates the price for you.
- Recipe. Rather than just linking to your recipe, this will show the ingredients, serving number, method, and so on. You can still get people to click through for more detailed instructions.
Setting up a business account, or converting your existing account to a business one is both free and easy - and well worth considering!
You can also embed pins into your post to make them easy to share.
What tips do you have for making Pinterest work for your blog?
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Urgh - I reeeeeeeeeeeealy need to work on a Pinterest board. Will definitely try to put a day aside this week to get cracking on it. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how you get on! :)
DeleteThese are some great tips! I really need to up my pinterest game, I love the updated media kit image xx #anythinggoes
ReplyDeleteThank you! :D
DeleteI've done all these things. I am an avid user of Pinterest but I'm not sure how much it contributes to my blog. I don't really care either way because I get so much pleasure out of pinning beautiful images. Any benefit to my blog is a bonus - these were all really good tips - Thanks for sharing at our #OTM link up ~ Leanne :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! :3 I love Pinterest too - it's a source of so much inspiration for me! x
DeleteGreat tips! I really need to sort out my Pinterest account. It's there but it's not pretty and certainly not 'Pinterest perfect". #anythinggoes
ReplyDeleteI find Pinterest so addictive - once you get started it just sucks you in!
DeleteI love your boards! I really need to create an image to display to make a more cohesive look across my boards. This is such a useful post, I'm pinning, stumbling and tweeting. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm so glad you found it useful :D
DeleteMy goal for this month is to really dig into Pinterest and try to improve my game over there. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! :)
DeleteAwesome tips- especially if you're just getting started! I'm trying to figure out how to rework my pinterest strategy- the recent algorithm changes have really effected my traffic :(
ReplyDeleteWhenever you think you have something sorted, bam, they implement changes... x
DeleteI love Pinterest ! Would you recommend changing to a business account thinking of doing this
ReplyDeleteI've only done it recently but I like the extra features - like the analytics. I haven't made much use of rich pins yet, though I hear good things about them. I think it's worth going for and trying it out. x
DeleteAmazing tips! I have never thought of making my own custom board covers! Genius!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It looks really effective, for such a small thing x
DeleteGreat, informative post! I've just started using Pinterest for my blog and so far, good results! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteThese are great tips :) I love Pinterest. It doesn't get me a huge amount of traffic but that's because I'm not ruthless enough. I pin things that I like because I enjoy it and if I get some traffic from it, its a bonus :) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteDebbie
That's a great way to look at it - I love Pinterest too, there's so much inspiration to be found. x
DeleteThis is so useful, my Pinterest is a bit of a mess, something like my closet! It badly needs organizing. I'm going to follow your tips and hopefully sort it out! Thanks for sharing with #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteYeah, if only my real life could be as organised as my online one... Lol.
DeleteThank you-I'm going to have to come back to this post I think as I am CLUELESS about Pinterest. I have an account but have never done anything on it linked to my blog-I just use it to look up recipes (which I enjoy, but don't blog about). I know, I'm a bad blogger! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteHehe, I had it linked up but didn't do anything more blog related for years! x
DeleteI have just started attempting to make Pinterest more related to my blog. Thanks for your tips, I think I need to spend some time on it to link up some more of my posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Amanda. #kcacols
It can be a great way of getting some extra traffic!
DeletePinterest is one of the largest source of traffic to my sites.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you don't mention is Rich Pins, which help even more. You can just google it, or I have a post coming on the International Bloggers' Association about it this week.
Ooh, good point, just added in a section on them.
DeletePinterest has just starting to direct some traffic to my blog. I want to work more on this goal as there is so much potential there. I've had Pinterest feature a couple of pins from my account but I wish they'd feature one linking back to my blog!
ReplyDeleteThat's Sod's Law in action! x
DeleteI'm clueless when it comes to Pinterest at the moment but I have been trying for the past week to build up my boards and follow people. I have already noticed in a week that gradually I'm building up followers of my boards so my next step is to sort my images out properly and make the more attractive! :)
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
It's really addictive once you get it into it - it always makes me wish I could cook! :)
DeleteThese are great tips. I'm working on improving my Pinterest boards, photos etc. It's a slog but I've heard it's well worth it. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's definitely worth it. x
DeleteAnother really use post Jessica! As I successfully managed to pin you last time. I shall be doing so again to encourage further reading (not least mine). I want to feel the Pinterest love like everyone else is. I think I need to invest some time. Thank you wise lady!! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the lovely comment! x
DeleteThis is great :) I am pinning this :) lol! In all seriousness I am planning on tackling pinterest when I start maternity leave and give my account a make over so I will be thinking about everything you have mentioned here and looking at changing my pinnable imagines on some posts because sometimes things don't generate the interest I was expecting them to! Thank you :) #AnthingGoes x
ReplyDeleteI did the same over Christmas break - I went back and added pinnable images to about 50 posts. I was sick to the back teeth of it by the end of it though! x
DeleteReally useful post, as if I'm honest I feel a bit daunted by Pinterest, but going to use your tips as a starting point! Thanks x via#KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteI hope they help! :)
DeleteGreat post. I really need to get into Pinterest and use it a lot more!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis is really handy Jessica, thanks for sharing. I definitely want to up my game on Pinterest and will be going back through my posts to make them more pinnable. I love what you've done to brand your boards. I've never seen that before #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThank you! I really like how they turned out - they really fit in with my blog theme now. :)
DeleteGood advice! I really need to try to get to grips with my pinterest. I find it difficult as I never used it before (and *whispers* I don't actually like it), and I don't really use a lot of images for blog, as I blog about my kids but don't put pictures of them online. I know pinterest is good for traffic if you can get it right though. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteI mostly love it but some days I just can't face all the pretty pictures! It can be great if you can get something shared a lot though. x
DeleteI don't use Pinterest nearly as much as I should. I'm definitely going to use these tips!
ReplyDeleteLaura xx
#KCACOLS
Hope they help! :)
DeleteThis is really useful. I didn't know you could change the cover of your boards. I use pinterest a lot for my linky but I haven't worked much on my other boards. I will need to get sometime to start making some changes. I'm starting to use more Pinterest threads and that helps to get more traffic. I will bookmark this post as there are a few links you mentioned that I would like to check them out with calm. Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. I would love to see you again on Sunday! :-) x
ReplyDeleteI only learned it pretty recently, but I'm really pleased with the difference it's made. My account looks really organised now. I think the more you use Pinterest, the more you get out of it. x
Delete