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Using Pinterest to Generate Blog Traffic : A Beginners Strategy

In the very recent past, Pinterest was an enigma to me. I was absolutely baffled by how to use it and why so many bloggers swear by its traffic-driving abilities. If trying to figure out whether it’s a legitimate business advantage or just a fun way to procrastinate sounds familiar, then you’ve come to the right place. Although I’m far from an expert there’s no doubt that I’ve made progress with it recently.

A couple of weeks ago Lauren from Ellduclos kindly offered me access to her Pinterest E-Course in exchange for an honest review. I’ll speak about how this, other materials and just general common sense have shown me how Pins can be used to promote blog content. My own Pinterest has jumped from inactive with next to no interest, to active with 100+ monthly engaged and 4.7k monthly unique viewers. I’m aware that these aren’t stats to brag about but I’m also pleased that I’ve achieved them in a matter of weeks. It leaves me hopeful that with more time my stats will only continue to rise. So here is my beginners guide to navigating Pinterest.

What is Pinterest?

I like to think of it as a kind of online mood board. Despite it being fun and a great source of inspiration, by creating popular pins it can also be a great traffic generator. In order to manipulate Pinterest to your advantage, it’s essential that you actively create and publish your own content. Re-pinning content that interests you and is relevant to your brand is also important. I’m going to be honest, creating for Pinterest and staying active enough is time-consuming. However, I really do think that its benefits outweigh the commitment. It’s also an incredible source of content inspiration if nothing else.

Ell’s E-Course

If you’re both a blog and Pinterest novice then Ell begins her course with some super helpful blogging basics. Despite learning nothing new as an older blogger, I would have found this invaluable as a new blogger. I did find it great reassurance that I’m doing everything right with regards to my blog.

Ell then goes into depth about several ways in which you can set up your Pinterest. She discusses the best possible ways to ensure it’s business advantage. Her step by step guides are accompanied by screenshots which make following the process as easy as possible. This second section of the course also contains some really helpful tips about making your account look professional and easy for viewers to gauge.

Before beginning the course I was a member of a few blogger group boards, one of my favourite being run by the lovely Hello Bexa. Group boards are pretty self-explanatory; boards that are shared by likeminded people all looking for mutual benefit (sharing of content). Ell’s overview was easy to follow and gave me a better understanding of the concept as a whole.

There are eight sections to the e-course in question. If you’re interested in it yourself, it’s worth noting that one and a bit of these sections focus upon Tailwind. Despite being consistent with the rest of the course in its easy to understand approach and genuine helpfulness, I would consider your thoughts on Tailwind before committing. Ell makes some very convincing points about the benefits of Tailwind, but personally, I just can’t justify its cost. I think this is an important consideration when deciding whether this course is for you. If you have a budget for both the course and Tailwind then I think the two will work hand in hand to help you succeed.

My Strategy

After using Tailwind’s free trial and deciding that it isn’t for me, I looked for a strategy. For the past few weeks, I’ve attempted to be active on Pinterest and re-pin at least once every hour. Additionally, I’ve created my own Pins to promote blog content using apps like Canva. I share these on both my blog board and various group boards as previously mentioned. This is much more basic than if I were to use a scheduler but right now it works for me. I also find content re-pinning quite fun. There are so many amazing pictures and ideas to be found and shared.

I downloaded the ‘Pinit‘ Plugin for my blog, which enables viewers to Pin images directly from my site, which in turn spreads the word about my content. I’m going to be honest, so far Pinterest has referred much less traffic than my other social media. This isn’t ideal, but in fairness, it’s currently much less established than my Twitter and other channels. I’m experimenting with various Pin designs and styles and attempting to work out which creates the most interest. I’m now a very avid Pinner so make sure you’re following me! I can’t wait to continue learning about its benefits and to share any other tips I learn with you!

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