Pinterest is one of those sites that I originally looked at and said, “oh gosh, not one more thing to learn.” with a sigh of resignation. But then I had a post about how to make your own wall hanging go viral on Pinterest to the tune of tens of thousands of page views and suddenly I saw the point.
It wasn’t until I reviewed the book, Pinterest for Dummies by Kelby Carr, however, that I began to appreciate the full potential of Pinterest and understand how to engage with others. Now I use it for market research on my websites and for clients which is amazing. Here are ten tips for Pinterest to help maximize what you are doing there.
1. Use Group Boards When Appropriate to Extend Your Reach
For example, I was invited to a group board called Southern Comfort Food and it is solely dedicated to a particular style of recipe. The group of pinners often repin contributions to that board, and the amazing content share (seriously delicious recipes) means that the board has a lot of followers. I know anything I pin there will likely result in 50-100 repins right off the bat.
2. Check Your Source URL to See What People Have Pinned
Do you have some older archived content that people are pinning a lot? Make sure the post looks good, is formatted correctly, etc. I like to check and see if any of the images need to be updated to make it easier for people to pin.
3. Pay Attention To What You Name Your Board
Your pin board can actually appear in Google results so don’t be afraid to change it from the default settings that Pinterest suggests. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with punny titles, it should still be clear about the board’s topic.
4. Use Appropriate Hashtags for Your Topic
Just as with Twitter, the use of Hashtags on Pinterest can help connect pins that are about related topics. Users will search for specific things using hashtags so don’t forget to include some relevant tags when you pin. In the case you own a business, use this link to learn now how can be used as other social media platforms as a marketing tool.
5. Comment on Pins When You Are Repinning
While always being careful to pin from original sources (see #6) you still want to create connections with active Pinterest users. I’ve discovered that if I comment, then repin someone I’ve followed I will almost always (so far it’s been 100%) get followed back. Compared to about 75% follow back when I just follow without the comment.
6. Pin From Quality Sources
Do not pin OR REPIN from websites like tumblr, or other poorly curated, even scraped content. Take the extra 30 seconds to click through to the original source. If you repin from another Pinterest user’s account that is a great way to build relationships, just make sure that they have pinned from a quality source.
7. Put Seasonally Relevant Boards On Top
You can rearrange your Pinterest boards on your pin board so try putting your most popular and seasonally relevant boards at the top of your page to make it more eye-catching. This will help maximize your pinterest followers.
8. Check Your Site Source to Connect to Fans
You can check the Pinterest URL for your website which I call the source link. For example, http:://Pinterest.com/source/untrainedhousewife.com shows the pins that have untrainedhousewife.com as their source. In other words all the recent pins that have been pinned from Untrained Housewife!
9. Follow People Who Regularly Pin You
Do you see that someone is pinning you and pinning to a board your site fits into? Or someone who’s pins get comments, repins, and likes? Make sure you follow them so they will connect with you and be more likely to repin, read and enjoy future content you produce.
10. Use Pinterest to Brainstorm New Ideas
Look at the board titles that people are pinning your content to and use that to create future content plans. For example I had a salsa recipe pinned to a board “Garden Veggie Recipes” by one of my readers. Not only is that a great idea for a series of posts in the future, but it’s also the theme of an upcoming book I have planned.
Using Pinterest doesn’t have to be overly complicated or difficult and you can easily add engagement and additional page views to your website with just a few added minutes each week. What is your favorite Pinterest tip? You can find tons of additional ideas for using Pinterest in Pinterest For Dummies or Pinterest Marketing For Dummies by Kelby Carr.
Great tips, Angela!
Thank you so much for the point about not pinning from Tumblr and similar sites. The content on Pinterest has degraded tremendously in the last 6 months (and the spam has increased proportionally). It does take a little more effort to make sure your link goes to the right place, but dead-ends are so frustrating!
Thank you Angela! The light just went on for me. I have enjoyed looking at various boards but didn’t understand how Pinterest could help me. I get it now and my new goal is to become more educated! Thanks