If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few months about this wild world of blogging, it’s how underused and underestimated Pinterest is. I think we (as in bloggers, creatives and maybe even some small businesses) have all gotten so completely wrapped up in putting our energy into Instagram that we’ve forgotten about some of the other tools we can utilize. Personally, I’m definitely working on diversifying the platforms I give my energy and focus to – including bringing you more content here on the blog.

But back to Pinterest!

Pinterest is something I’m working on right now because I’ve started to learn the value it can bring. After a bit of educating myself on the topic, I felt like I absolutely had to share because I think so many other creatives could benefit from this information!

It can send SO much traffic to your website

This might sound silly, but I never really considered Pinterest when thinking of ways to send more traffic to my website or even my Instagram account (you can pin directly from Instagram), since that’s a huge part of my business too. Before I got started working on my Pinterest, I read that large blogs that pin often and consistently see upwards of 500,000 visitors to their website per month strictly from Pinterest. Of course a number like that doesn’t happen overnight, but knowing the possibilities definitely encouraged me to rethink my Pinterest strategy, which was almost zero at that time.

To start working toward more website visits, here are a few things I started doing and recommend to you as well:

• Be sure you have a business account – First and foremost, make sure your Pinterest account is a business account. It’s super easy to confirm in the settings tab, and if you don’t have one, converting from personal to business is simple.
• Pin consistently – I decided to invest in a third party platform called Tailwind to help me schedule my pins to make pinning every day feel more manageable. The expense isn’t huge and in the long term, it’s an investment in my business.
• Set up boards that are relevant to you/the kind of content you create – If you take a look at my profile, you can see I have boards like “Frank Vinyl | Outfits” and “Frank Vinyl | Travel”. This is because I share a lot of outfits and (pre-Covid) I did a fair amount of traveling. Pinning to these boards frequently and consistently is what will ultimately help my content be organically discovered by pinners.
• Use relevant titles and descriptions – There’s quite a bit of information out there on how/why to do this, but basically, you want to be able to let pinners know what your pin/content is about without coming across as spammy. So instead of filling your pin’s description with a ton of random keywords, just simply write a few sentences sharing what your pin is about that include a few key phrases.

It can help to show you what content is resonating most 

One of my favorite things to do is find out what content my followers and readers are loving most. Pinterest has allowed me to take that to another level by showing me what pins/boards are getting the most impressions, clicks and saves (original pins). It’s really fascinating to see if this coincides with what people are swiping up on on Instagram or searching for directly on my website. Understanding more of what people want me to create is invaluable to me so I love that Pinterest can help me hone in on the content I should be making more of.

Exposure to new audiences

Pinterest is labeled as a social media platform but it’s more of a search engine. It actually functions much more like a Google search than it does any other social channel. Think of it like the images tab of google search, but prettier. For example, if someone wants to know how to style combat boots and types in “how to style combat boots” on Pinterest, it’s going to show you all the most relevant images to your search. This is why it’s important to pay attention to how you title and caption your pins!

I just love that Pinterest functions this way because people don’t have to be searching for you to find you. If how to style combat boots is something you’ve talked about and pinned to your profile, you have a chance of showing up in those search results (of course you have to consider other things Pinterest looks for in high-quality pins as well). It all just feels a bit more useful/helpful and slightly less superficial than Instagram if you ask me.

This is quite a bit of information, but there’s seriously so much to learn on the Pinterest front! I hope this post was helpful to anyone who had no idea Pinterest could be valuable in this way or you’re looking to up your Pinterest game! I’d love to know if you’re already using Pinterest in this way/what your experience has been so please share in the comments!

And of course, don’t forget to ccome pin with me over on Pinterest!