Blogging

How to Use Pinterest for Blogging

Raise your hand if you L-O-V-E Pinterest?

Learning how to use Pinterest for bloggers was the best thing I did.

Why? Because it exploded my traffic.

My traffic grew from 4,000 pageviews a month to now over 60k pageviews a month when I started using Pinterest.

Now? I get over 100,000 pageviews and have over 55,000 Pinterest followers that click on my pins and read my posts!

And for many new bloggers who just started a blog, trying to figure out how to get people to their blog seems like a challenge.

They start a YouTube channel, an Instagram profile, maybe even TikTok and a Twitter profile.

Yet, nothing.

No comments on their blog posts, no clicks to their income generating posts. Nada!

The one thing I suggest for new bloggers is to focus on one or two social media platforms as a way to explode your blog traffic. For me, it was Facebook and Pinterest.

You can use Pinterest for business because if you want to make money with your blog, then your blog is your business mama!

If your blog audience hangs out on Pinterest – 80% of Pinners are women and moms – then you NEED to be on Pinterest.

Let’s go over 27 Pinterest marketing tips + a bonus tip for 2021 to help you get started on using Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog.

How to Use Pinterest for Blogging

Learn the steps on using Pinterest for blogging and affiliate marketing.

Your Pinterest Profile

1. Use a Headshot, Not a Logo

People want to follow other people and if you’re a blogger, then having a headshot of you or your family is the best way to connect with your followers.

I know there are blogs out there that use a logo, and that’s fine, but the successful bloggers humanize their brand with a photo of them.

For example, Chasing Foxes is a huge blog with a huge Pinterest following and they aren’t using a logo.

2. Claim Your Other Accounts

When setting up your Pinterest profile, you can claim your other accounts like YouTube, Instagram and/or Etsy.

When you do this, you get some great features like:

  • More analytics to use to take action with. When claiming your other accounts, you get to see all the analytics for Pinterest for each pin.
  • Grow your monthly views. Your monthly views are the analytics of how many people have seen or engaged with your pin. This number can grow when you claim other accounts as the monthly views will be aggregate across accounts.
  • You can grow your Pinterest followers. With a claimed account, when others pin your pins, they get to see your profile and a red button to follow you (if they haven’t already)

For more on this, check out Tailwind’s post.

3. Niche Down Your Pinterest Profile

As a blogger with a Pinterest profile, you need to understand that Pinterest is doing its hardest to figure out what your profile is about. It uses your user behavior and other information to understand your Pinterest profile niche.

For example, the boards you have on your profile and the pins you pin to those boards gives Pinterest information on the type of pinner you are.

Similarly, the pins other people save from your account helps Pinterest understand another level of context with your profile.

So, the best thing you can do is niche down your profile.

For your title, instead of using multiple keywords, try using one main (umbrella term) for your title.

With Smart Mom Ideas, I originally had several keywords like parenting tips, pregnancy tips, frugal living and organizing tips.

But, I recently cut all of that out and niched down to just parenting tip & pregnancy tips.

4. Optimize Your Bio Description

Under your title, you have a spot to tell pinners what you are all about. This is a great place to optimize that description with keywords based on your blog niche.

For example, if you have a mom blog and you blog about frugal living and organizing, some keywords you can incorporate into your bio description are:

  • Frugal living tips
  • Save money tips
  • Organizing tips
  • Declutter and organize

Your Pins

When you learn how to use Pinterest for bloggers, the number one way to gain clicks to your blog is your pin design.

5. Be Creative in Your Pin Titles

The goal of promoting your blog on Pinterest is to gain a new audience. You want them to see your pin and click to your blog post.

But, how do you use Pinterest for that?

By having a reason for them to click over. And you can do that with the Pin title.

What’s great about Pinterest is that you can create multiple different pins for the same blog post. This means you can try out different Pin titles to see which one brings the most traffic or click-throughs back to your site.

For example, let’s say you wrote a post called: 5 Instant Pot Meals Your Toddler Will Love.

In this post, you share 5 dinner ideas using the Instant Pot.

You can create different Pin titles around by upping the curiosity and using emotional words:

  • 5 Yummy and Delicious Instant Pot Meals Your Toddler Will Devour
  • 5-15 Minute Instant Pot Dinners for the Busy Mom
  • The Best Instant Pot Meals that Are Toddler Approved

6. Include a Call-to-Action in Your Pin Descriptions

As a way to promote your pins on Pinterest, you get a Pinterest description that you can use to place keywords in. But, remember it’s a good idea to also place a call-to-action.

This is something you want the pinner to do.

For example, “click over to read how I got my baby to sleep through the night.”

7.  Use Different Keywords

One thing you can do to grow your traffic as a new blogger on Pinterest is to title your pins different keywords for the same blog post.

For example, let’s say your blog post title is: 25 Kid Activities to Beat Boredom.

On Pinterest you can have multiple pins targeting different keywords like:

  • Toddler activities
  • Indoor activities
  • Outdoor activities

Just go to Pinterest and search different ways to title your pins for your post.

 

8. Use High-Quality Photos

Can you use free stock photos on Pinterest or is it better to use paid stock photos?

I use both options and what I can say is that the paid stock photos do convert a bit more than the free stock photos.

In saying this, you can get away with using free photos by making sure you change the angle of the image, increase the size to focus on one thing in the picture and changing it by brightening or darkening the image.

9. Avoid Faces In Your Pin

This is a personal choice. For my Twins Mommy profile, I try not to use too many faces, but I’ve been playing around with using more faces. For Smart Mom Ideas, I use a lot of faces.

Both instances haven’t hurt my click-throughs and impressions on Pinterest.

So, do some A/B testing and see if faces convert for you.

You can try showing partial face, the back of the head, or full face.

10. Avoid Using Dark Images

People tend to stop and click on bright pins with a lot of white space. If you use a pin image that is dark or cluttered with too many things in it, pinners may just scroll past it.

If you use a free editing program like PicMonkey, you can easily brighten up the image.

11. Make Your Fonts Large

Most people view Pins on their mobile phone. To make sure they see your pin, use a large font and an easy to read font on your pins.

I personally use a sans serif font rather than a serif font as a way to market my blog & business on Pinterest.

But, I do like to A/B test, and serif fonts do convert as well!

I feel it’s tied with what the pin is saying too!

So try different styles of fonts and sizes!

12. Place Your Blog Name On Each Pin

It’s a good idea to place your blog name in each of your pins. This can help pinners know where the pin comes from, grow your brand and blog and helps pinners know if your pin has been stolen.

For example, if your pin says NatalieSimmons.com but when a pinner hovers over your pin it goes to some weird blog, then they know that your pin was stolen or doesn’t lead to what the pin states.

Your Pinterest Boards

13. Use Keywords As Board Names

It’s important to let Pinterest know what your profile is about from the words you use to name your boards. Instead of using a cute name like “yummy food Nathan likes” you can optimize that board by using keywords like “Dinner Meal Ideas.”

Think of what other pinners will type into the search query and use those ideas as board names.

14. Create Relevant Board Names

Another important thing  on how to use Pinterest for business and as a new Pinner is to name your boards relevant terms based on your blog niche. Remember, you want to niche down. So your coffee loving Pinterest board may not align with your frugal living board names.

For those personal blogs, just turn them into secret boards. Click on the pencil icon when you hover over your board and edit your settings.

15. Fill Out Your Board Descriptions

Did you know that Pinterest recommends boards to other pinners?

If you want your board recommended make sure to fill out the board description with keywords based on your blog niche.

16. Pin to Your Boards Daily

Pinterest loves fresh and new content so give Pinterest what they want!

You can manually pin from your blog to Pinterest every day or you can schedule your pins using Tailwind.

Here’s my video on scheduling pins.

17. Pin to a Relevant Board First

When you have a brand new blog post with a brand new pin, the best thing you can do to show Pinterest what your pin is about is to pin that new pin to a relevant board.

For example, if your new blog post is about Toddler Snack Ideas, you can pin that pin to a board called “snack ideas” or “toddler snacks.”

18. Optimize Your Boards With 3rd Party Pins

When you create new boards, an easy way to quickly show Pinterest what this board is about is by pinning popular 3rd party pins. Just use the search function in Pinterest and usually, the first 3 pins in the first row are optimized for that keyword.

19. Be Cautious when Repinning The Same Pin

Pinterest has stated that they are looking at your boards and making sure that you aren’t spamming your own boards.

This would mean pinning the same pin over and over again.

So make sure that if you pin the same pin to a board that there are other pins between your same pins.

Pinterest Marketing Tips for Business

Let’s go over some optimized marketing tips for Pinterest. Having a pinning strategy will help you see if Pinterest is driving traffic to your blog.

20. Use the Native Pinterest Schedule

When you create multiple pins, schedule them on Pinterest with their native scheduler.

I feel this is a good way to get on the side of Pinterest and for Pinterest to notice your profile and bump it up to more people.

I’ve been using it for my niche profile and it’s helped grow my traffic to that site.

21. Know The Best Time To Pin

While this may not fit your blog niche, know that most people spend time on Pinterest or are pinning content in the evenings and during the latter half of the week.

Knowing this helps me decide when to publish content on my blogs. Since Pinterest drives most of my traffic for Smart Mom Ideas, I publish content on the weekends and the midweek.

Generally though, pinners are on at night – between 8-10 EST – and during the later half of the week (especially the weekend).

22. Join Tailwind Communities

Tailwind Communities is sort of like group boards where you can share your content and others can repin it or schedule your pins to go out.

This is a great avenue to take with your Pinterest marketing strategy. All you have to do is sign up to Tailwind with a free account and you can join up to 5 Tailwind Communities.

23. Verify Your Website

It’s important that once you have a Business Pinterest account, that you verify your website.

This is easy to do as long as you have the Yoast SEO plugin installed on your blog.

Go to social > Pinterest.

On Pinterest click on the verify button and grab the HTML code and place it in the box in Yoast on your blog.

And that’s it!

24. Pin Fresh Pins Daily If Possible

As mentioned, Pinterest favors fresh and new content. To take advantage of this Pinterest priority, start creating fresh pins daily.

I sometimes create two or three at a time and publish them. But the most important thing is to be consistent with your fresh pin strategy.

Don’t publish 3 and then forget to publish for the next 5 days!

That’s why one is good to try to incorporate at night!

25. Check Your Analytics

Pinterest offers analytics to help you figure out how your pinning is doing.

Use this information to figure out:

  • Which pins are your top performing pins
  • Which pins need more “love”
  • How big your impressions are growing
  • Which boards are your top performing boards

26. Automate Your Pinning

It’s too much for bloggers to manually pin every day. Instead, opt to automate your pinning strategy using Tailwind.

Tailwind uses different ways to automate your pinning strategy. I like to use board lists and interval pinning as well as the new SmartLoop functions where you can have pins loop to the same board based on the interval of time.

You can schedule your first 100 pins for free using Tailwind!

27. Audit Your Pinterest Boards

Every month or few months go into your Pinterest boards and group boards to see what’s going on.

Are you spamming a board or group board?

Or, worse, are you neglecting some of your boards?

I have a lot of boards (including group boards) on my profile. I try to audit my boards every 6 months. I just recently archived 8 boards that I don’t normally pin to.

If you don’t want to archive your boards (meaning you can’t pin to those boards and others can’t find those boards), you can merge your boards with other boards too.

It’s always a good thing to go into Pinterest and see what’s going on.

You can even act as a consumer/pinner and use Pinterest like that for the experience YOUR followers get with your pins!

28. Bonus: Consider Using Story Pins

Late in 2020, Pinterest announced a new type of pin – the Story Pin.

This is in competition of Instagram and how we can share multiple pages when we post on Instagram. Now, Pinterest has made it available to create an interactive pin where you can share information over a few pages.

Not every pinner will benefit from doing story pins and once you do start this strategy, your home feed will have more story pins and at this moment, I’m not sure if that will cause a de-prioritization of your regular pins.

So far, it hasn’t. I have been creating story pins and regular pins and my regular pins are still generating traffic. Here are recent pins I created after creating story pins.

29. Bonus: How to Use Pinterest for Affiliate Marketing and Blogging

The last bonus tip is to learn how to use Pinterest to ramp up your affiliate marketing income.

For my niche website I use Amazon affiliate marketing and Pinterest to make sales almost every day.

My Amazon income

To use Pinterest for affiliate marketing you have to write about products.

For example, I write posts about kitchen supplies or shoe storage ideas.

These are what Pinners like to click on and buy.

How to Use Pinterest for Bloggers

Pinterest can be your best friend for your blog!

By using these proven and best tips for Pinterest, you can start gaining blog traffic!

Over to you – tell me which Pinterest marekting tip you will try out from this list?! I want to hear!

Leave a Reply

53 Comments

Wow, what an informative and well-written post on using Pinterest for blogging! I’ve been exploring Pinterest for a while now, but your insights have given me some fresh ideas to implement. The way you explained the strategies and tips makes it easy for bloggers at any level to understand and take action. Can’t wait to apply these techniques and watch my blog traffic soar! Thank you for sharing your expertise!Reply to Aziz
I use a logo because I’m not exactly photogenic like other bloggers and have pretty bad acne so I’m very insecure about being on camera…I don’t have a digital camera either. Just my iPhone. What do you recommend?Reply to Jamari
Hi Jamari, I have acne too but with good lighting it can help block that! Just play around with your headshot images and have fun!Reply to Elna
Hey Elna! Wonderful website – has been so helpful. I know you run multiple blogs and I’m curious about how you manage your pinterest accounts. Do you have separate accounts for each blog, or do you combine within one account? I have a lot of followers for my main blog and nervous about starting from scratch again with a new blog. Do you recommending piggybacking under one “brand” and having separate boards for each blog? Or should you start separate accounts? Thanks!Reply to Sarah
Hi Sarah, Since my blogs are all different niches I do have separate Pin accounts for some of my other blogs! It’s hard to start new but it’s worth it in the end. It will just take longer to build a brand on Pinterest!Reply to Elna
I always get confused with tip 20 and 24. So if I’m pinning the same pin from my website at different times like once or twice a month, it’s not exactly repinning but sending a new pin from my blog to Pinterest? And another question, how many different pins do you create per blog post?Reply to Leah
Hi Leah, Yes, you are right. Repinning is doing on the Pinterest platform! I hope that makes sense. I typically create just one pin per blog post, sometimes two. But the ones I make more than that are the ones that bring traffic, subscribers or make me money.Reply to Elna
Great info! Thanks for taking the time to write it.Reply to Lauren
What a valuable post! Thank you for sharing this awesome list of tips and tricks. I look forward to implementing your tips to help reach moms that want to teach their little ones Mandarin at home. Julia lingobuddies.funReply to Julia
Hi Julia! Wow! Thanks so much for stopping by. Pinterest is a fabulous place to grow your blog traffic! Have fun using it!Reply to Elna
What the best guide on Pinterest I ever read! Dear Elna! You rock. You are a Pinterest guru. I learned a lot from this comprehensive guide. Your writing skills make the understanding skyrocket. Thanks for such a nice post.Reply to Abdul
Hi Elna, I am not a mom, but still grateful for your content here nonetheless! I haven’t used Pinterest much so it remains largely a mystery to me. Thanks for helping me crack it a little bit. I feel like it would be key to driving traffic to my new blog.Reply to Scott
I am a new blogger myself and this was so helpful! I love how easy it was to read I am suoer grateful you took the time to make this. I love that you also wan to help other moms!Reply to Mari
Hi Mari, You’re welcome! And it means a lot when you say my writing is easy to read! I am a freelance writer and brands hire me to write content for them so this is nice to hear! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this post and if you ever need help you can email me! I’m here for ya!Reply to Elna
Elna, you always provide the best quality advice. I was wondering does Pinterest favors those websites with higher domain authority?Reply to Mila
Hi, Thanks so much! I don’t think Pinterest favors blogs based on domain authority. They are only wanting people to stay on their platform as much as possible and interact with their pins on the platform. So if your blog on Pinterest is doing that then Pinterest will favor your blog.Reply to Elna
Wow! This was so helpful! I am just starting out in the blogging world and I was able to correct several things on my pinterest account thanks to this article! Thank you so much for sharing!Reply to Hannah
Hi Hannah! Wow! That’s awesome to know! So glad this post was helpful in optimizing your Pinterest profile!Reply to Elna
These are great tips! This post made me check my Pinterest and my URL speed for my website. I was amazed at the results, so do you have any recommendations for fixing these as well or a blog post?Reply to Tiffnicole
Hi Tiff, You just have to be consistent. Produce fresh content for Pinterest and content your followers will engage with! Good luck!Reply to Elna
Thank you for the reminder to audit boards on a regular basis! I need to do that more often.Reply to Erin
Hi Erin! You’re welcome! Yes, auditing your Pinterest boards should happen every 3-6 months for sure!Reply to Elna
Superb info! I’ve been working on my Pinterest game for a bit, but it’s a little shaky. Some months it’s up and the next month it drops. Hopefully by implementing some of these great tips I’ll be able to blast this thing off! Thanks!Reply to Devin
Hi Devin, Good luck! Pinterest is always changing so you have to up to speed with the changes and trying new tactics!Reply to Elna
Thank you for this. I needed some tips. I just started a blog; I feel like I have a lot to write about and various topics that I can contribute to, but don’t know the best way to get anyone to view my content. http://www.mnmilitarywife.comReply to Kelsey
Hi Kelsey, That’s great! Good luck with your blog content!Reply to Elna
Thanks Elna! I find your tips very helpful!Reply to Joy
Hi Joy! So happy to hear this!Reply to Elna
Regarding your comment on group boards, I definitely agree! I’m a brand new blogger with less than 50 followers on Pinterest, and I am a contributor to a group board in my niche with about 5k followers, yet I get more impressions, pins, and link clicks from my own board! All that being said, my niche does seem a bit small. Is it possible that there’s not enough interest in my niche to grow my blog?Reply to Nailah
Hi Nailah, That’s great about Pinterest group boards. For new blogs Pinterest is the place and being on just one group board can help you grow your engagements for sure! Not sure what your niche is but you can also broaden your niche if you find that it’s too narrow!Reply to Elna
hi Elna, This is a very helpful blog. I’ve got some ideas to read this blog. I worried to think about how to increase a traffic on blog but you solved this problem. Thank you for sharing….Reply to blogging
Hi! Thanks so much! Yes understanding how to use Pinterest as a new blogger can be a challenge. We aren’t consumers, we are content creators for Pinterest. Once you understand that you can form a plan!Reply to Elna
Thanks for these awesome tips! The biggest help for me on Pinterest is definitely scheduling. I don’t have the time to manually pin all day with a toddler running around and an Etsy shop to run!Reply to Madi
Hi Madi! Yes, I feel the same way to. I have multiple Pinterest accounts and without Tailwind they would be static! Glad you found some tips on how to use Pinterest!Reply to Elna
As a new blogger, I’ve been trying to decide which social media platform to use. Instagram is out because it seems that you have to post on your phone and not computer. I can’t stand using my phone for the internet. I’m going to use your pintrest tips and run with it. Thank you for a very informative article.Reply to Isabella
Hey Isabella! Good to know! Yeah, Instagram is hard for me too. I haven’t updated my profile in a year or more! I like working in my office on my computer! I hope you enjoy Pinterest!Reply to Elna
In #24, what exactly does pinning from your blog mean?Reply to Erica
Hi Erica, When you pin from your own blog, that means you go to a blog post of yours and pin it.Reply to Elna
Thanks much. These are great tips. I only can hope Pinterest will help grow my blog as successfully as yours:)Reply to Mark
Hey Mark! I’m sure it can if you sink your teeth into Pinterest marketing and try different strategies 🙂Reply to Elna
Thanks for your tips! These are super helpful. I noticed that PicMonkey only has a free trial. Has this changed recently from free to a paid service? Can you recommend another editing program?Reply to Beth
Hey Beth! Thanks so much! You can try Canva too!Reply to Elna
This is great info. My monthly impression got up to 350,000 and then a group board I was pinning to a lot went solo and my monthly impressions dropped down to 70,000 monthly views. So I know what you mean about not depending on group boardsReply to Terrie
Hey Terrie! Yeah, group boards may die out next year, but who knows? For now, group boards are working for some of my profiles and I’ll continue to monitor them! Thanks for stopping by!Reply to Elna
Thanks this is the clearest pinterest strategy guide I have read.Reply to Anne
Hey Anne, Good to know! Thanks so much! Yes, how to use Pinterest for your business or blog can be a challenge for many. It’s much more than a social media platform for sure!Reply to Elna
Thanks, Elna. I noticed my pageviews dropping over the past few weeks and needed some tips to be noticed again!Reply to Nipa
Hi! So glad these tips helps you on how to use Pinterest as a beginner! Gaining blog traffic from Pinterest can be a challenge if you don’t know the platform! I hope this helped!Reply to Elna
Oh, My Word! Thank you! I have been wondering how people got the follow me on Pinterest on their blog and now I know! Thanks to you I always learn some great actionable tips from your posts. I am trying to grow my blog traffic and this is very helpful.Reply to Jane
Hi Jane! You’re welcome! So glad you found some Pinterest tips for marketing your blog!Reply to Elna
Thanks for these amazing tips Elna! Always love your posts and how helpful they are. Pinterest has been a bit of a challenge for me lately so these updated Pinterest tips will come in handy for sure.Reply to Nicole
Hey Nicole! Thanks for stopping by! Yes, Pinterest is all over the place lately eh? But, I found these 27 tips to be stable and they’re easy to adopt in your Pinterest marketing strategy as a blogger!Reply to Elna
This is one of the most vital information on increasing you target audience to your blog.Reply to Babatunde