Already ten years old, the social media giant Pinterest seems to have moved out of everyday brand conversations and has been replaced with Instagram. Don’t tell Pinterest users though. The power of Pinterest remains strong with more than 320 million monthly active users. Many of these Pinterest users can turn directly into blog views.
Often, consumers are turning to Pinterest more and more as a search engine than a social media platform. This is wonderful news for bloggers. With so many eyes searching Pinterest, our team has curated a list of five ways to convert your Pinterest following into monthly blog views.
Know Your Audience
What content does your Pinterest audience engage with most often? What about on Instagram, or your other active social media channels? There might be a difference between the two! It’s important to review your Google Analytics to understand the search terms or keywords used most frequently to bring traffic to your blog. Once you have an understanding of what they are coming for, you can lean in and continue to create additional, relevant content to bring them back. And don’t just review your Google Analytics once, consider reviewing every three months to ensure you remain connected with what the audience needs.
Craft the Right Pin to Drive Blog Views
The work you put in with Google Analytics to understand the search terms used to drive traffic to your blog are critical when creating pins. Use those same keywords or phrases within the description of your pins. Think of it this way – if you’re needing ideas on a DIY project, where are you going to look first? Pinterest is a great resource to share ideas and projects, and many users turn to it for inspiration or guidance. Use that to your advantage. If you’re thinking of keywords from the perspective of someone who is searching for your content, it will put your pin front and center to your intended audience.
A pin with an outdated photo isn’t going to get anyone’s attention. Aspect ratios of your images are changing too. Long gone are the long and skinny pins. Today’s Pinners are using a 4:5 aspect ratio on images and engagement is on the rise.
Play around with the content of your images as well. Do infographics generally perform well for you? Or images featuring people? What are the people in your images doing? This is all vital information to understand when choosing the right image to tell your story.
If you’re not adding a link to your blog within your pin, you’re missing out on potential blog views. Let’s just say you were searching Pinterest for that perfect chicken parmesan recipe. You searched long and hard for just the right one – and you’ve finally found it! You click through to get the recipe, and it takes you to a page you weren’t expecting. What are you most likely going to do? I’m no quitter – so I’d most likely go looking for that recipe on the site it took me to. BUT most pinners would click away and look for another delicious chicken parmesan image. Other Pinners are less likely to re-pin your content if you’re not giving them access to the information they crave. Without repins, you’re missing out on important growth opportunities. If you change the URL on your blog, be sure to change it on your Pin too.
Board Titles Shouldn’t be Bored Titles
Remember those keywords we keep talking about? Consider incorporating a few into your board titles to continue attracting followers. Keep your board title simple and short. Let the reader understand what they will expect to see within your board.
Similar to the importance of images within your pin, images are just as important in board titles. Research shows that blue tones perform better than warmer colors and images without faces perform better than those with faces. Pinners like to imagine themselves in photos and if you add a face, it can detract from them using their imagination.
If You Blog It, Pin It
You’ve invested time into creating a blog so plan to share it everywhere possible, including Pinterest. Check your Pinterest insights to understand which of your blogs have performed well and then pin them again. It’s also important to note what is trending on Pinterest. Imagine you spent a week writing a blog post about your favorite summer travel spots. Those keywords would likely trend in the spring every year, so re-posting it around that time could lead it to trend again.
Consider adding the “Share to Pinterest” widget to your blog so your readers can share your content to their Pinterest audiences. We haven’t talked about key words for a bit but it’s important to change up the keywords you use in your pin descriptions and see if you can repurpose old blog content to fit a new, trending keyword. Not sure where to find trending keywords? Check out the Pinterest search feature.
Consistency is Key
According to Hootsuite, “The average Pinner types in eight Pinterest searches every month. It all adds up to more than two billion searches, and more than 200 billion Pins saved to more than four billion boards across the platform.” With so much activity, it’s easy to see how quickly your content can get pushed down in a timeline. Remember those keywords? They can help here too!
However, it is important to note that Pinterest rewards active users with more visibility. Also, Pinterest insights can rise and fall consistently, don’t get discouraged! Learn from your insights, and react accordingly.
Understanding and implementing these five strategies can give you the boost you need to help you convert your Pinterest following into more traffic to your blog. As we touched on in each strategy, focusing on the right keywords within your content will be the magic touch to help you grow.