How to use Pinterest for blogging

Blogging has grown into a phenomenal online and commercial business where users are flocking to learn how to make or how to bake. Whether you’re a full-time influencer or just getting started with WordPress, it’s essential to understand how to use Pinterest for blogging and to know that social media and bloggers go hand-in-hand. If it’s not a part of your plans, then it really should be.

Pinterest is just one of those social media giants, and it’s the perfect place for bloggers. Sure, Instagram and Twitter will be high on your radar, but Pinterest is by far one of the most prolific platforms for sharing creative, inspiring and visual content. 

But while you may use it to pin the odd recipe and browse for home decor inspo, using Pinterest for blogging is a whole other kettle of fish. Don’t worry though, we’ve got your back. We’ve put together this essential guide on Pinterest for bloggers; the perfect resource for those who have talent and skills to share!

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First, what is Pinterest?

We go to Facebook primarily to connect with friends, colleagues and family – sharing what we are up to on a daily basis. We go to Twitter to stay up-to-date with news, entertainment and have the albeit slim chance to get into conversations with celebrities or businesses. Instagram is the place to indulge in aesthetic photography. But Pinterest is THE place to come to, to be inspired, to pin notes, recipes, designs and wallow in all things arty. 

Pinterest allows you to create ‘boards’ and organise everything from art projects and decor DIYs to food ideas and wardrobe inspirations. It acts as a clever digital scrapbook or notice board to ‘pin’ mood boards, and allows people to follow your boards and for you to follow others, as well as follow individual topics. No matter what you’re interested in, there’s sure to be a board and a pinner out there. 

Pinterest statistics you need to know

Before you embark on your blogging for Pinterest journey, let us give you some statistical insight or two. We’re a bit of a stickler for data here at TAL Agency! According to social media scheduling tool Hootsuite, these are some of the important stats businesses need to know about Pinterest and its users:

• Launched in 2010, the platform has grown to receive 335 million monthly active users
• More than two thirds of Pinterest’s base is women and more than 80% of U.S. women ages 18-24 with children use Pinterest
• 85% of female users use it to plan fun things like home decoration, holidays, parties and fitness routines
• 98% of users actively go out and try/buy the things they see on Pinterest
• 80% browse and search Pinterest on mobile rather than desktop
• 55% of Pinterest users are looking for real products when they browse, as opposed to just ideas and images
• Pinterest users are very organised. They plan for events twice as early as other social media users
• 600 million monthly searches on Pinterest are visual

The most popular Pinterest categories

No matter what your niche talent or skill is, you will more than likely find an audience for it here. Pinterest isn’t just home to ideas on weddings, home makeovers and knitting. There are boards even on how to blog and use Pinterest itself. 

Like anything there will be content and ideas that work more favourably on different platforms, but HubSpot recently found that travel, health & wellness, home renovation, women’s fashion, beauty, and food & drink were 2019’s six most popular Pinterest categories. So, if you’re a blogger that links to any of these topics, you’re in a great position to start pinning down and sharing content. 

Pinterest blogging tips you can start using right away

There are many ways to increase followers to your blog and Pinterest is a great way to do that. Below are the simplest ways to get started:

1. Create a content plan and social calendar

Jot down all of the events coming up in the year that would work well with your blog to inspire content and pinning. 

2. Be visual

Using design tools, you can easily take creative stock imagery and make them your own by adding collages, titles and text. These will make eye-catching posts for Pinterest for others to pin and it makes you more appealing to follow. Make sure to always include your website on images along with the blog title to increase exposure.

3. Make your content searchable

Having the visuals is good but pointless if you aren’t working on getting them seen. Make sure your content is tagged with relevant hashtags, adjectives and keywords.

4. Be active

Making sure you are posting each time you blog is important, as well as staying active in-between blog posts to keep visitor engagement high. Staying active means engaging and interacting more, and pinning content that is more likely to show at certain times. This means keeping up to date with what’s going on in the world, especially within your area of interest and expertise.

5. Analyse and look at insights

List your profile as a business one so you can monitor your engagement statistics including monthly visitors, impressions and engagements with a more granular analysis on demographics and categories insights. This will all help with content plans and help give you an advantage on timing posts.

How to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog

Ready to take your pinning to the next level? See how Pinterest for blogging works wonders for improving your traffic.

1. Start by doing some initial research

Don’t be put off by the word research as this actually involves spending some time each day on Pinterest doing different searches to see what content appears and works best. Try to make note of the time of day, whether there is an event like ‘International Women’s Day’ on the horizon, whether it is the weekend etc., as all of this will help you analyse what ranks in the feeds and how relevant content is to the searches. This will give you great insight on what captions and hashtags to use, and when to post depending on your topic.

2. Use good design tools

Look at useful design tools like Canva to create aesthetic visuals with titles to your blogs. Use these in relevant boards on your Pinterest profile along with captions that tease the content inside to encourage pins from your boards. The more visual, the better!

3. Have a social media calendar

Use a social or content calendar to plan content in line with relevant and useful celebratory days. This can work brilliantly if you have niche homemade products to sell that can link to Mother’s Day, for instance. 

4. Use relevant hashtags

Using relevant hashtags isn’t just for Twitter. These tags can help widen your reach and deliver more traffic to your content. You will have more visibility and a better chance of popping up by using them, and Pinterest highly encourages this. The algorithm likes hashtags, as it can connect similar content to provide a better user experience for Pinterest.

5. Share pins across your channels

Share pins across different channels to increase visibility. As a blogger, chances are you’re on many different social platforms, so make sure you link back to your Pinterest profile and boards where possible. Drive more traffic to your Pinterest page by sharing a board here and there depending on what the buzz is at the time. For example, when Easter comes around, you may have the perfect board on what Easter crafts to create.

We love social media. And Pinterest is one of our favourites, as the creative freedom it provides truly knows no bounds. And you don’t have to be a blogger to use it! Even if you’re a business in the visual industry, we can show you how to keep your existing customers engaged and bring in lots of new ones. We know what, when and how to pin!

Get in touch with us today to find out how to drive traffic to your blog using Pinterest.

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