Want to know something kind of nuts? Over 90 percent of my social media traffic comes from Pinterest.
Yes, Pinterest.
The social media app that you use to pin outfit ideas, motivational quotes, and recipes (that, if you’re like me, you’ll never try). Except Pinterest isn’t really a social media platform anymore and people aren’t just using it to waste time save inspiration and ideas.
5 changes you can make today to get more traffic from Pinterest
Pinterest is actually a search engine. More and more people are skipping Google to find what they need on Pinterest. You can type any phrase or keyword and something useful (usually many somethings) will pop up, which means Pinterest is a great traffic-building strategy for any niche.
[Tweet theme=”tweet-box-shadow”]Pinterest is actually a search engine. People are skipping Google to find what they need on #Pinterest. [/Tweet]
To help give you a head start on boosting your traffic from Pinterest, here are five things you need to update on your blog to help your posts be pinned, re-pinned, and clicked.
1. Image sizes
Pins need to be tall. Period. Because this is the norm, pins that are horizontal or square just don’t take up enough real estate to be effective. The more pins get re-pinned and clicked, the more often they’ll show up on Pinterest. Small images end up being ignored.
The best size for a tall image will be somewhere around 800x1200px. If this doesn’t work with your blog design, you can always add a hidden image by using this code.
This way it won’t show up right in your post, but when people click to pin they’ll have the option to use that image. See?
2. Image design
There is A LOT of content on Pinterest, so it’s important to create images that stand out. Choose a photo for the background instead of patterns or colors and add large text and enough white space to separate your pins from everything around them.
Thin, small, or script/handwriting text can be difficult to read and will keep your pins from getting clicked or shared.
3. Image descriptions
The description on your pin is searchable, so it needs to describe exactly what your post is about and include relevant keywords. Adding a description to your alt text ensures that when readers go to share your content, the description YOU want included with the pin shows up.
Don’t leave this up to your readers. If you skip adding a description, Pinterest will grab your image’s title, which might be something like emaillist123.jpg. That is not going to garner many clicks or re-pins!
4. Share buttons
There are three problems I run into when going to share other people’s blog posts . . .
1. They only have share buttons at the bottom of a blog post.
What if someone only reads to the middle of your post? What if they just scan for relevant information? Are you really going to bank on them making it all the way to the bottom in order to share your stuff?
Sharing needs to be beyond effortless so adding buttons to the side of your post, that stay glued to the screen as they scroll, is the best way to not only remind them to share, but make it a two second process. (I use SumoMe.com share buttons for this.)
2. They have six different sets of share and follow buttons.
Here’s the thing, adding too many buttons or share options and leaving it up to the reader to discern what is what is probably going to net you ZERO shares. One set on the side of your posts and one set at the top and/or bottom is enough. Make it obvious and easy and I guarantee you’ll see a boost in share numbers almost immediately.
3. They have share buttons all over their site.
Share buttons should only show up on content that is beneficial to share (aka blog posts). If your share buttons show up on the homepage or archive pages, pins will link to those pages.
Personally, my homepage only displays my three most recent posts, so if someone clicks that pin in six months the post they were looking for is going to be long gone. Adding share buttons only to your blog post pages guarantees that every pin links back to the correct information. (Generally, you can adjust this in your share button settings)
CLICK HERE: HOW MUCH TRAFFIC ARE YOU MISSING OUT ON? GRAB MY FREE CHECKLIST TO MAKE SURE YOUR PINS BECOME POPULAR
5. Pinning more often
Lastly, you probably need to be pinning way more often than you think. I’m pinning around 30 pieces of content every day (which is on the low side of what you could be sharing). In order to not spend my entire day on Pinterest I use the scheduling app TailWind (tailwindapp.com) to schedule content in advance. This way I can spend a few minutes each day pinning content from my own blog and from other blogs and TailWind takes care of the rest.
Because I’ve created lots of my own boards and joined a bunch of group boards, most of my blog posts will be pinned to about 20 boards over the course of two or three weeks.
With these adjustments to your blog design, your post design and your pinning strategy you’ll make it easier for others to share your content and start boosting traffic from Pinterest in no time.
Yes, there’s more!
If you’d like even more Pinterest strategy feel free to join my Pinterest Powerhouse e-course to learn how I use Pinterest to choose pinnable blog post topics, create and join group boards to grow my audience, and turn all that blog traffic into email subscribers!
This blog post was contributed by Sarah Morgan – a digital strategist teaching creatives, bloggers and small business owners to build a kick-ass online presence. In 2012 she escaped the clutches of a corporate web design job to run away with the circus (literally!) and strike out on her own.
She strives to help people build a home online that not only provides a stable income but fuels their passion for what they do without busyness and stress getting in the way.
Check out all of her blog-building secrets at XOSarah.com and on social media @xosarahmorgan.
