Who wouldn’t want to receive 90,000 views simply by sharing a image?
Everybody, right?
If you’re not living under the surface, you’ve likely been aware of the latest kid on the block of social media, Pinterest, a bookmarking site that focuses on sharing pictures of interest to your friends. You may have heard bizarre stories of people who have just launched their own blog and have utilized it to generate an flood of visitors to their sites.
You’re probably getting confused.
What are bloggers doing to get traffic through Pinterest? What makes you feel like you’re not getting the best of the new social media site? What is it that everybody else is seeing on Pinterest speeding by you as a train during the dark?
Well, I’ve got you covered. While researching my upcoming pinay flex publication on Pinterest marketing I looked through some of the internet’s most effective Pinterest case studies to figure out how exactly it operates.
I also came across some intriguing strategies. In this article I’ve selected eight of the most effective methods for blogging, and some ideas about how to implement them:
1. Make use of photos for badges
One of the most effective ways to draw people to visit your site is to design “photo badges” and use them to display as the main image on the beginning of your article.
Consider, for instance, Nester Smith, the creator of a home decor blog that has nearly thirty thousand followers. Every time Nester writes, she posts stunning, inspiring and inspiring photograph. She’s an excellent photographer, which is why most of the photos used on her blog are of her own photographs.
At the very least, Smith adds a clear high-quality, clear image with each post. On some posts, she goes one step further. She designs a stunning image badge that begs to be featured on Pinterest.
The badges she gives her are photo-based. Smith typically uses the title of the blog post and incorporates it into an pinay viral image. She ensures that the content is easy to comprehend and the whole badge appears appealing and compelling. She then pins the image to one of her boards on Pinterest and ensures that the badge’s URL connects to her blog article.
Other suggestions regarding photo badges
- Pins that make use of real photos as backgrounds will receive more attention than those that have text overlayed on a plain background
- Choose lighter and appealing colors (think light pink, blue or yellow) instead of dark or neutral colors.
- Make sure your pins are less than 500 pixels. The higher the pin’s height more difficult for pinners to repin it.
- The more impressive your blog’s headline is, the more effectively this method will be effective. Take a look at Jon’s Headline Hacks report for honest easy tips on writing excellent headlines. (And don’t hesitate to add some or two strong words to increase the intensity.)
2. Get Your Timing RIght
One of the disadvantages of Pinterest is that it has an extremely short shelf life.
When the image or video is pinned, it’s instantly added onto your friends “New” pages. Then, you’ll have a an very brief time to make it become a hit on Pinterest. Some suggest that it could take as little as 20-30 minutes.
Does this mean that all hope is lost if the image does not immediately go to the top of the list?
However, it’s not all. Your pins are likely tostay displayed on your pinay hub pinboards and, occasionally, one will be taken up by a different user, and could be pins repinned several times, bringing you a tiny flow of traffic.
The distinction is significant. In comparison to the number of people who view your picture when it’s brand new the amount of people who bother to go out your old images is very small.
Therefore, you must consider strategically when it comes to timing. Maximize your time in Pinterest light by saving your pictures at times when the most people are likely to see them.
In most niches, it’s between 6 am and 6 pm, Eastern time, but it’s not a strict general rule of thumb. The best approach is to analyze the traffic statistics for your own blog to find out the times you get most traffic. Then, make a plan to pin at these times because it’s the time when people are browsing the internet and is likely to spread the word about your blog.
The negative news?
There’s no method to automate this process yet. As long as Pinterest makes its API available for developers, it’s not possible to create a tool to schedule pins and you’ll need to be on the internet and pinning in these Pinterest “peak times.” Sorry.
3. Pin New Stuff
Pinners enjoy fresh and original content similar to other users on social media. Instead of sharing old photos of other social media users look for new content on the internet to save to.
Be unique. Try something new. Make yourself interesting.
If you post fresh content onto Pinterest every day, you’ll get new followers which means you’ll see your Pinterest platform will increase in popularity. The bigger your Pinterest platform you’ll see more users click the links to your blog articles when you share the posts (and you will see more visitors you’ll receive through Pinterest!)
4. Collect and Curate Awesome Content
Your role to do on Pinterest is to collect and share amazing content in your area of expertise. This creates you as curator.
The real-world world is where curators organize, collect and display objects in galleries and museums. Your role as a curator online should be doing the exact process for your online viewers.
As a Pinterest curator, you select the most appealing images, and then arrange them in a unique way that is beneficial to your viewers. That is you select the top images that are associated with your subject matter and save the best ones to boards.
If you do an excellent job, you’ll establish your credibility, and people will begin to consider you to be the primary source for interesting images related to your subject. If this occurs, they’ll be back time and time again, providing many opportunities to promote your blog.
Then, get the products. Then, pin the items. If you’re a good curator, your followers will expand exponentially.
5. Don’t Pin Your Own Stuff All the Time
When making your curatorial choices, you could be tempted to just pin images from your blog or website. It’s possible to make boards that feature only the personal items of you or your affiliates products (if you’re selling items) or blogs (if your blog is a writer or another creator of content.)
Do not succumb to this desire. Do it all you ability.
If you pin only your own content on Pinterest You’ll fail as an individual pinner. You won’t see the constant circulation of targeted visitors you’re hoping for.
Some people suggest that you restrict the number of pins linking to your blogs or pages of products Some experts say that once per day is sufficient.
I’m not a big fan of rules that seem to be arbitrary however, I believe that you’ll notice when you’re pinnioning your own personal stuff to much. You’ll be feeling like an uninformed shmuck. Then it won’t feel great.
Don’t be afraid to follow your intuition. Don’t be an obnoxious schmuck. Make sure you post quality content from other sites as well as, when you feel it’s right, share your own content also. This will help you gain more recognition than constantly advertising yourself.
6. Give ‘Em More of What They Want
You want to know which videos and images users have been pinnin’ on your site?
You can learn more by visiting your site’s sources page at Pinterest. Go to: www.pinterest.com/source/[yoursitehere.com] to see your source page.
If you check your sources frequently you will be able to see the images that are most popular among Pinterest users. Once you’ve identified what they like, you can make sure to give them more!
7. Build Your Platform
If you are looking to get enormous amounts of traffic via Pinterest You need a lot of followers. Gain a lot of followers by:
- Pin a small amount every day, and preferably at high-traffic times
- Follow other people – discover interesting people to follow by clicking”Pinterest” and then the “Popular” or “Everything” tabs on your Pinterest navigation bar
- Post your pins cross-posting to Facebook and Twitter by using the built-in social media tools that are available within Pinterest
- Make sure you show your personality. There’s no need to limit yourself to pinning pictures or videos that match your niche. Are you curious about what your personality is like on Pinterest? Visit the travel blog of Jodi Ettenberg’s Pinterest boards for Marshmallow Fans or trees that look like Broccoli Pinterest boards.
8. Host Discussions
Pinterest can be used to help boost discussion. It’s also worth it to invest some time into receiving more comments about your Pinterest pins. Many of the fantastic ideas from Jon’s article about how you can gain more attention to your website can also be used to your Pinterest world. Be sure to reply to any comments that do come in Ask questions that are easy to answer, offer them a motivational speech or even an emotional story.
The marketing team at the pediatric recruitment agency PediaStaff have created their own Pinterest empire through hosting weekly discussions and creating great content for their fans. Take a look at PediaStaff’s discussions boards for inspiration.
9. Sponsor Competitions That Don’t Suck
It is possible to overdo contests on Pinterest the same way you do use different social media platforms. Some people may even critique your actions because you’re “buying” followers using contests.
But I think it’s possible to create an Pinterest contest that isn’t boring. If they are done right competitions hosted on Pinterest can be a buzz-maker for your company and be engaging and entertaining for contestants, too.
To organize a contest that isn’t boring:
- Invite your readers and followers to make pinboards that are based on themes you decide to choose. The department store Harrod’s situated in London recently ran an event which asked their customers to design storefronts inspired by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this summer. Better Homes and Gardens also had the same “Dream House” contest for their Pinterest customers.
- Simple is best. Don’t require contest participants to complete five different things to participate. Create a two-step procedure Make a board and then tell you about the board (whether it’s via Twitter or via email, or even a commenting on blogs)
- Make sure that you write these rules in your blog. You can then link to that blog post on the dedicated prize Pinterest board.
- Close and open your contest in time.
- Make a big celebration of the prize. You want to ensure that the winner will receive lots of positive press and so, post the winners’ board on your blog, post about the contest via Twitter and Facebook and make a big deal about the contest on Pinterest. The more you promote your contest as well as the winner more people are likely to take part in the next contest.
- Do not participate in contests that often. A couple of times a year is sufficient.
The Bottom Line?
It appears that gaining a ton of visitors and earning money through Pinterest isn’t just a myth – it’s happening to bloggers with smart minds all over the world.
However, you shouldn’t do nothing and sit around waiting until the pinners arrive on your website and begin buying You must act now.
Stop pinning random things and hoping that traffic will start flowing in. Instead, select one of these ideas and begin the process of getting it in place. It’s just one small step.
Go out and pick up a piece of that amazing Pinterest pie. It’s sweet, delicious and certainly worthwhile to fight for.
