What are the steps to use Pinterest for traffic on blog

10 Best Pinterest Tips for Bloggers for 2019
This post reviews the best Pinterest tips for bloggers for right now and into 2019 to drive Pinterest referrals to their blog. It further summarizes what changed in 2018 for bloggers who use Pinterest referral to drive traffic to their blogs. By the end of this post, the reader will have practical steps they can take to get in line with what is working now to drive traffic to their blogs through Pinterest.
What Big Things Changed for Bloggers on Pinterest in 2018?
Pinterest and most social media platforms change often. I have been blogging as a TOTAL newbie for less than 6 months, and every month I have been blogging, I have seen a major change in something related to blogging. Here are the changes that happened in 2018.
a) Large, Unfocussed Group Boards Were De-Prioritized in the Algorithm
Pinterest announced in late spring 2018 it would be deprioritizing such groups. Group boards with no specific niche and hundreds of contributors are what was targetted.
b) Pin Sizes Changed
In early summer 2018, the “ideal” pin sizes changed.
c) BoardBooster Died
BoardBooster was an automation tool that served many bloggers well for Pinterest growth. It died and Tailwind emerged as the real leader in automation tools for Pinterest.
How I Learned What is Working Now



i) Pinterest
Most of the information is taken directly from Pinterest. They kindly put out information about upcoming changes via Facebook Live in Spring 2018.

ii) Pinterest Experts
There are a number of Pinterest expert bloggers I follow who were also an ongoing source of up-to-the-minute information. I provide links to each of them here.
iii) Trial and Error
Since Pinterest is constantly changing, it is useful to try new approaches and learn that way too. I have learned by trial and error myself and through shared lessons with other bloggers in my community.
What is Working Now-Best Pinterest Tips for Bloggers:
1. Fresh Content
New High -Value Blog Posts
Pinterest has said that new content will be promoted on Pinterest. That means to get more referral traffic from Pinterest, you must put out fresh, quality content regularly.
Freshen Up Old Blog Posts
If you have some older posts which you put out over the slump period in the summer and they did not really gain traction, try putting up a couple of fresh pins for them.
By fresh I mean new images and new pin descriptions. Make sure the new pin description uses the same keywords and still clearly identifies what the reader will be getting if they click on the pin.
Some Pinterest experts suggest making up to six different pins for your posts. It extends the “freshness” of the blog post on Pinterest and sometimes an old post takes off with a brand new pin.
2. SEO for Pinterest
This is not really new, but when you are writing your pin descriptions and even the content of text on your pins, make sure and do a check for Pinterest search engine optimization (SEO) first to use the right keywords. It will ensure when people are searching on Pinterest for specific keywords that your pin gets found.
Also, when you pin a new pin, make sure the first place you pin it is to an appropriately key-worded board. This will consolidate for Pinterest what your pin is about. This will help ensure it is in the algorithm for the appropriate category.
3. Use Original Images in Pins
Free stock photography is awesome for pins. However, for some topics, the same free pictures get used over and over again in pins. Pinterest is a visual media and while it cannot be proven, several Pinterest experts have identified pins with images that have been used before do not perform as well.
If you have the skills to take your own high-quality pictures, use those images. If you do not, consider paying for some more original images. I have used Shutterstock, Canstock, and ETSY for purchased images.
4. Hashtags for Pins
These are again allowed in the pin description. It helps people find your content searching on a specific topic. You can search hashtags on Pinterest to use appropriate ones for your pins. Tailwind also has suggested hashtags for your posts.
5. Tailwind Tribes
So far, Tailwind has been an excellent time-saving automation tool for me for driving blog traffic from Pinterest. I started with Tribes shortly after I joined Tailwind and once I increased the number of Tribes (I used something called a Power-up add-on) I saw an increase in referral traffic to my blog.
What I suggest is to join a few Tribes and see how they are performing for you. My pins are pretty (if I do say so myself :-)) and they are often reshared quickly after I join a Tribe.
There was one Tribe I joined, and I had no reshares or repins after 3 days after adding 30 pins (and sharing the correct amount of pins based on the Tribe rules). So I left that group and joined one that had a better ratio of reshares of my pins to how many pins I had shared of someone else’s. Do the same. You can join Tailwind here for $9.99 USD a month. If you would like to try a free month of Tailwind, contact me using the contact page. I will send you a referral link.
6. Smaller, More Engaged Group Boards
So, in the Spring of 2018, Pinterest said in their Facebook Live, Pinterest group boards of ten or less highly engaged pinners sharing content around a niche topic are acceptable. I have not tried this one personally, but I have heard from other bloggers that these groups work well for them. I have a post here about Christian Pinterest group boards. The ones remaining on my profile now are the ones sending my website decent traffic still. These just happen to be smaller and niche specific boards too.
7. Ditching Non-Functioning Group Boards that Are Pulling Your Profile Down
Tailwind has a “board insights” function where you can see the overall engagement in the group boards you are in. You can see virality and engagement on the board, two indicators of how successful the board is overall. Even more important though is to check and see if the board is sending you any traffic at all.
In September, I dropped out of the larger non-niche groups with hundreds of contributors. I saw my Pinterest traffic increase. Then I dropped any Pinterest group boards that sent me little to no traffic in the previous 3 weeks. I saw a relative increase in traffic to my blog again. The small number of Pinterest group boards I am still in are still sending me traffic, but I check often and will act quickly. I encourage you to do the same.
8. Create More of Your Own Properly Keyworded Boards
A great niche-specific and properly key-worded board of your own helps Pinterest’s algorithm identify what your pin is about quickly. Try to pin to that board first. I have just started doing this, and my Pinterest referral traffic has been growing.
9. Proper Pin Sizes
The ideal ratio size of Pinterest pin in 2018 is 2 by 3 (vertical) or 1 by 1 (square). Ideal sizes announced in 2018 are 600 px by 900 px (I predominantly use this) or 600 px by 600 px for square. If you want a long pin 600 px by 1260 px is acceptable, but longer will be cut off. The source of this information for me was from Louise Myers Visual Social Media blog. You can read her post on pin sizes in 2018 here.
10. Video Pins
I have not used this yet myself. However, I have heard from recipe and workout bloggers that using video in their pins has led to an increase in referrals to their websites. If you are in a niche where this is a good fit, it is worth giving it a try.
Pinterest Tips for Bloggers Where The Jury is Still Out
Here are a couple of other strategies I heard of in 2018. For these, I feel the jury is still out whether they work and under which circumstances they would be most useful. I would say experiment in these areas and see if it works for you.
Pin Promotion-paid
If you have a product or freebie and you specifically want to drive traffic to your blog and pay for it, this seems like a sensible approach. If you do not, it seems illogical to just pay for pin promotion to get your pin seen without a specific goal in mind for subscribers or sales. I have seen posts from Monica at Redefining Mom blog on the topic of paid promotion on Pinterest, and if you would like to read more, here is a post on the topic. If I develop a product in 2019, I will be delving more into this approach.
Pinterest Pods using Strategies Like Pin-30
So, I have heard in Facebook groups, that for some people these strategies have driven huge traffic to their blogs very quickly.
Pinterest pods are basically supportive groups of bloggers in the same niche that commit to pin relevant content from each other’s boards. Pin 30 involves pinning 30 pins from an assigned person’s blog (the assignment changes daily) and the cycle lasts about 15 days.
However, I have also heard from some they have seen their engagement go down since starting with such groups. Also, the premise is a bit artificial. Whenever the support pod ends, whatever traffic your pins generate due to the natural interest in the topic will eventually return to normal.
Key Take-Aways:
A lot has changed on Pinterest for bloggers in 2018! This post gives up-to-date Pinterest tips for bloggers going into 2019 from experts and direct observed experience for what is working to drive traffic from Pinterest today. It provides resources to learn more about what works on Pinterest right now.
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