Pinterest is all the rage these days.
Did you know that it’s a platform that is equally beneficial to DIY’ers and bloggers alike? Most people associate Pinterest with handmade crafts, DIY projects, birthday party plans and recipes. They don’t necessarily associate it with blogs, traffic to them or a medium for new readers.
But it is! Pinterest is a great place for advertising your blog posts, providing a platform for others to spread the word about your stellar content and generating new fans and followers. How?
There are many ways to use Pinterest. In an effort to help you to take action (and not get overwhelmed), I’m going to share one easy way to get started using Pinterest to further your blog traffic – creating a “best of” blog board. Here are four steps to get you going.
1. Sign up for Pinterest (If You Haven’t Already)
If you’re not currently on Pinterest, go here and sign yourself up for a new account. You can start with a personal account and upgrade to a business account later (both are free) like I did or start with a business account right off the bat.
What’s the difference between a personal and business Pinterest account?
Basically the main difference between a personal and business Pinterest account, is that you can verify your website with a business account. This provides credibility (you add a snippet of code to your website) and verifies your business is legitimate.
Some people reccomend having both a business and a personal Pinterest account to keep them separate. I started with a personal one and upgraded it to a business one later (this is a new feature). I don’t have the time or motivation to keep up with two, so I’m just going with the business one for now.
2. Start a Best of Blog Board for Your Website
Starting a new board is super simple. You basically click the section that offers this, name it, provide a description, assign a category (if you want), make it public and assign other pinners (if it’s a co-blog for example).
After you start pinning (step 3), you’ll want to make sure to come back here and update your cover photo (the default is using your first pin’s image) that is representative of your blog’s them or niche. This is easy to do, just go to the “edit” tab on the board and “change cover photo.”
3. Start Pinning
In order to pin a blog post to Pinterest, your post needs to have at least one photo. I’ll only include one photo with most of my blog posts, but know others that add 2-3+. When you have multiple photos, you can choose which one you want to represent your pin.
When you create a cover pin image for you blog post, it’s been said that having an image with a text overlay can help your pin to stand out (increasing its odds of getting re-pinned). Typically, I’ll use PicMonkey to do this. It’s pretty simple, but I’m planning a step-by-step guide soon to show you exactly how. I usually use the post’s title for the text on my image (today’s post is an exception, as it already had text that I felt adequately explained the content).
Each time that I have a blog post go live, I’ll pin it to my “Best of Fully Booked VA” Pinterest board. When you pin something, there’s a field for a description. Make sure to fill this out! In addition to the image (and text if you add it), this section is another way to “sell your content” to a reader to click through to your blog or re-pin it to their board.
When writing a description, try to convey to the reader why they should re-pin or click to read. Don’t over-promise, but give a realistic summary to what they’ll gain from doing so.
4. Pin to Other Boards
Another way to increase your blog post’s visibility is to pin the post to multiple boards. Not necessarily multiple of your own boards (although you can do this).
Instead, try to join some collaborative boards in your niche or start your own. I only belong to one other collaborative board (I plan to join some more soon) and I’ve also started one of my own. The goal of a collaborative board, is that you share and re-pin each other’s content, thus increasing your pins visibility and social sharing.
In Conclusion
Pinterest is for more than DIY. It’s a great medium to share your blog posts and get noticed. This one platform has the potential to send one of your posts viral! That’s every blogger’s dream, right?
Starting a “Best of” Pinterest board for your blog is simple. Sign up (if you haven’t already) and consider upgrading your account to a business one. Start a new Pinterest board for your blog (best of) and start pinning. Make sure that you have Pinterest-worthy images (ideally with some text), with a great description.
Try joining some collaborative boards and pinning your content there (make sure to also re-pin other’s content) or start one of your own. Pinterst doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but it can be effective. It’s worth a shot!
Do you currently have a “Best of” Pinterest board for your blog? If not, are you going to start one?
