Blog friends… I have some secrets to let you in on today! If you feel like you haven’t gotten hold of the #PinterestGame yet and that your blog traffic is suffering because of it, you’re in the right place right now!
By now you should know that Pinterest can be a really great tool to drive traffic to your blog. Pinterest isn’t really a social media platform – it’s more of a search engine. People use Pinterest to look up ideas on just about anything, which is great news when you’re a blogger. I believe that any blog has the potential to be successful on Pinterest.
[bctt tweet=”8 Pinterest Mistakes You Could Be Making (And How To Fix Them!)” username=”SummerTelban”]
Today, we’re going to dive into a lot of good stuff. We’re going to be talking about some things you could be doing WRONG on Pinterest and I’ll be giving you solutions on how to turn that around.
8 PINTEREST MISTAKES YOU COULD BE MAKING:
1. You Don’t Have A Business Account // If you don’t have a business account on Pinterest, you’re really missing out on a ton of resources that’ll help you grow. If you don’t have a business account, you don’t have access to Pinterest Analytics or the option to create ads. In Pinterest Analytics, you can see the amount of engagement your pins get daily, how many people your pins reach, and you can see any activity from your site associated on Pinterest. If you don’t have access to this, then you don’t have a full view of where you could improve.
Solution: Get a business account ASAP! It’s free and easy to set up.
Related Reading: How To Craft The Perfect Pinterest Profile
2. Your Pins Aren’t Attractive Or High-Quality // If your pins have blurry or grainy images, fonts that are hard to read, or you’re using colors (like yellow), your pins aren’t going to gain traction. People want to pin high-quality pins!
Solution: Step up your photo game and only share the best that you take. If you need to, purchase some gorgeous stock photos to use that fit along the theme of what you blog about. Make sure that you’re sticking to fonts that are on-brand but aren’t too fancy. Script fonts that are thin are extremely hard to read, so stay clear of them. The colors you use should also be on-brand but if you’re using light colors, make sure that they stand out. Colors like yellow and pastels, especially when used for font colors, are difficult to grab people’s attention.
Your Pinterest images play a huge role in your SEO strategy! Pinterest has a “smart lens” that basically tells them what your pin is about by taking the pixel data from your pin. So, it’s not all about the title and description of your pin… the background photos matter just as much! If you’re using a background image of flowers but your pin is about productivity tips, Pinterest will suggest more pins dealing with flowers rather than productivity.
[bctt tweet=”Your Pinterest images play a huge role in your SEO strategy! Pinterest reads your images just as much as it does your descriptions & keywords. Learn more here!” username=”SummerTelban”]
3. You’re Not Properly Using Descriptions With Keywords // As I said earlier, Pinterest is a search engine. If you don’t have proper descriptions with keywords, your pins are NOT searchable. Not searchable = no one finding your pins. If you’re just writing your blog post title in your pin descriptions, you’re doing it all wrong.
Solution: You want to have descriptions that go along with your pin that are enticing to those you’re wanting to reach so that they click-through to your site to learn more. You want to adopt an SEO mindset when it comes to everything about Pinterest. Writing thorough descriptions with popular keywords that are relevant to your pins is the best way to get your content to your target audience.
For example, part of what I blog about is fashion and style. Before writing a description with keywords for my new style pin, I’ll go to the search bar and see what keywords are performing well from the drop-down menu.
4. Your Pinterest Boards Aren’t Named Properly // While it’s fun to have cutesy and unique board names, it’s not a smart thing if you’re using Pinterest as a blogger! 😉 Your self-care board titled, “All things for me” isn’t going to be found by anyone. Even if someone is looking at your entire profile, they’re not going to know what that board is about unless they click on it.
Solution: Again, keeping SEO in mind, you want your boards to be searchable! Name your boards what they are. It’s as simple as that!
My style board is called, “Style”. My Instagram tips board is called, “Instagram Tips”. And so on and forth!
[bctt tweet=”On Pinterest, it’s all about being FOUND. Your pins, boards, and profile all need to be created with SEO in mind.” username=”SummerTelban”]
5. You’re Pinning To Random Group Boards // Group boards can be such a great tool to use to further the longevity of your pins, but if you’re pinning to the wrong boards, it’s pretty much pointless. Pinning your travel content to “self-care tips” or “fashion” boards isn’t going to draw more attention to your pins. If you’re just pinning to any and every board out there with no strategy in mind, you’re going to let yourself down.
Solution: Join group boards that are niche/topic specific. I blog about blogging, fashion, and self-care, so I join a ton of different group boards and each is specific to one of those topics. If you blog about food, join food group boards, not self-care boards. Try to steer clear of the general group boards out there. While some can be successful, your smartest thing to do would be to join niche-specific boards, because you’re guaranteed more attention. More attention = more repins and more page views.
6. You’re Not Using Tailwind // If you’re not using Tailwind yet, you’re doing Pinterest wrong! It’s the only Pinterest scheduler out there that you should be using because it’s integrated with Pinterest… Aka: it’s Pinterest-approved!
The cool thing about Tailwind is that it’s more than just a scheduler. It has tons of different perks like Tailwind Tribes (similar to group boards but more effective, in my opinion), a weekly summary and insights, and the new SmartLoop feature.
Solution: Get onboard the Tailwind train! You can get your first month of Tailwind FREE by signing up through my link. After your first month, you have the option to pay monthly or yearly. It’s $14.99 monthly and if you subscribe yearly, you get 4 months free. I currently pay monthly and it’s beyond worth the money! It’s honestly one of the BEST investments that’s affordable that you could make for your blog.
I’ll be sharing more about Tailwind and my strategy in the future. 😉
[bctt tweet=”Tailwind is where it’s at for bloggers wanting to get serious about their Pinterest strategy to grow their blog traffic.” username=”SummerTelban”]
7. You’re Only Relying On Scheduled Pins // If you’re already using Tailwind but you’re not manual pinning, you’re still missing out on some of the riches of Pinterest for your blog. Scheduled pins help to always have content being pushed out but Pinterest wants you to be actively on and using their site.
Solution: Commit to manually pinning for at least 20 minutes a day. Carve out some time in the evening (or whenever is best for you) and start pinning. Sure, you want to pin your content but you need to be pinning other people’s pins, as well! This is important!
Just about 2 years ago, I purchased this Pinterest Strategies Course when I wanted to get serious about Pinterest. I love how everything is broken down in the course and it’s updated whenever there’s new information on how Pinterest is running things. I highly recommend it if you’re wanting to up your #PinterestGame OR if you can’t dive into getting Tailwind just yet. It’s very affordable especially compared to other Pinterest resources out there and is 100% worth every penny.
PIN ME FOR LATER!
8. You Have No Strategy Or You’re Not Consistent With It // If you have no Pinterest strategy, you can’t expect to see results. If you do have a strategy but aren’t consistent with it, you won’t see results there either. By not having a strategy or staying consistent with it, you’re basically telling yourself that it’s not a priority to you. If you’re here today because you want to tap into all that Pinterest has for you, then you’ve got to come up with a strategy that you can be consistent with.
Solution: Start with the basics if you have absolutely no approach to Pinterest at all. There are tons of resources out there that can help you develop a strategy (like the Pinterest Strategies Course)! If time is your reason for not sticking to a strategy and you can’t dedicate at least 20 minutes to manual pinning, then it’s time to invest in Tailwind. If you really want to grow your blog’s traffic, Pinterest is the platform you need to focus on. Make it a priority.
SIDE NOTE! If you’ve been consistent with your strategy but haven’t seen any success, it’s time to switch up your strategy. Remember, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
[bctt tweet=”8 Pinterest Mistakes That Are Holding You Back!!” username=”SummerTelban”]
Where can you improve your #PinterestGame? Let me know if you have any questions and I can help you out the best I can! I’ll be sharing my strategy in the future. Let’s chat!
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