4 Pinterest Hacks You Can Adopt to Drive Traffic to Your Blog If you didn't know it already, Pinterest is a blogger's best friend. So, turn your blog posts into pins.
By Syed Balkhi Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you didn't know it already, Pinterest is a blogger's best friend. You may have thought the platform was useful only for finding recipes, home decor and DIY projects; but in fact it's so much more: Every single day, 2 million people post pins on Pinterest and a large number of those pins come from bloggers, startups and entrepreneurs who are finding new fans for their blogs and businesses.
Related: 3 Super Simple Pinterest Strategies to Quickly Grow Your Website's Traffic
As a blogger, you stand to gain a ton of traffic, in fact, by turning your blog posts into pins. The way this works is that any time someone finds your pin, it's a pathway straight to your site. But with so many pins on the platform to sift through, how do you stand out from the crowd and get a ton of re-pins?
There are some simple tactics you can try to make you more popular on Pinterest and lead more readers to your website. Here are four Pinterest hacks to drive traffic straight to your blog.
1. Create boards for your target audience.
If you're a blogger who focuses on digital marketing, having a board dedicated to recipes isn't going to do much for you. Instead, create boards tailored to your target audience so they'll be able to easily discover you.
Lauren from the financial site The Practical Penny has created Pinterest boards based on the interests of her website visitors, money-saving tips and personal finance advice.
Source: The Practical Penny Pinterest boards. https://www.pinterest.com/apracticalpenny/boards/
Takeaway: Use keywords in your board name and description to take advantage of Pinterest SEO, and your target audience members will be able to find the valuable content they're looking for.
Related: Pinterest Kills Off Affiliate Links Program, Leaves 'Power Pinners' in the Lurch
2. Create branded images.
Images are important: If the image a user sees on Pinterest is dull and low quality, he or she will probably keep on scrolling. While making branded images for your pins (so they stand out and attract viewers) may take a bit of time, that's time well invested.
Branded images not only make you stand out but make you recognizable as a professional; users will be able to tell the difference between your pins and someone else's.
Business coach Jessica Nazarali, for example, has beautifully branded pins that make her instantly recognizable:
Source: Jessica Nazarali branded images. https://www.pinterest.com/JessNazarali/
Takeaway: You can use a tool like Canva to easily craft stunning graphics for Pinterest. When designing, use a large, clear font to display your blog title and make sure to display your website on the image, too.
3. Enable "rich pins."
Rich pins are extremely important if you want to get noticed in the feed and be considered valuable in the eyes of Pinterest. When rich pins are enabled, you get more information displayed on your pin like a bold headline, your website address and your author icon.
Mom blogger Elna Cain has enabled rich pins on her blog to make her pins stand out.
Source: Rich pin from Elna Cain. https://www.pinterest.com/elna4/
Takeaway: WordPress users can set up rich pins in just a few simple steps by installing the Yoast SEO plugin, visiting the site's "Rich Pin Validator" and plugging in a link to one of its blog posts. It's that simple. Viewers will be able to see where the pin is coming from and where they can get more awesome content -- i.e., your site.
4. Join group boards.
Another great hack to drive traffic to your blog and widen your reach on Pinterest is to join group boards. Group boards are where a number of pinners collaborate on the same board. They do this by pinning their own content and others' content that relates to the same topic. With many influential bloggers all in one place, group boards can bring a ton of followers who then become new readers for a blogger.
For instance, the following Pinterest group board for female entrepreneurs and bloggers has a large following a blogger could take advantage of.
Source: group blog for bloggers and entrepreneurs. https://www.pinterest.com/BabesMakeMoney/female-entrepreneurs-%2B-bloggers/
Takeaway: You can find group boards to join by doing a bit of digging around Pinterest. For example, check out your favorite bloggers' profiles. If you scroll through their boards, you'll probably find some great group boards they're collaborators in. You can then request membership in those groups, too.
Related: Use These Tips From 6 Successful Bloggers to Blog Your Way to Riches
Further, consider starting your own group board. You can turn any of your existing boards into group boards by inviting other pinners. Not only will you get new audience members but you'll be able to form connections with fellow bloggers in your industry.
Driving traffic to your blog with Pinterest may take time, but it's worth it. With these tips, you'll be ready to join the thousands of other bloggers who already use Pinterest as a marketing tool to sending the traffic to their sites skyrocketing.
