- Hey guys and in this video we're going to be talking
to you about how to use Pinterest to drive traffic
to your blog.
Sound good right?
- Sounds great.
Actually do you hear that?
(dogs barking)
- You know what--
- Where's that noise coming from?
- You know what is? - What?
- Ian Anderson Gray's moved out of upstairs, but
Alisa Meredith has moved in and boy is she noisy.
- Maybe she can tell us something about Pinterest?
(dogs barking)
(bell dinging)
- Puppies, knock it off!
Hey Andrew and Pete.
I am so excited to be on your channel today because
we're going to talk about Pinterest and how to use
it to get traffic to your blog.
You might not know, because the numbers went up pretty
recently, that we have 175 million monthly active
users on Pinterest these days and they are going
2 billion searches a month.
So, how do we get some of that?
One thing to consider is that with that search activity
happening, Google is starting to notice that people
are finding what they are looking for on Pinterest and
pins, boards, and whole accounts are showing up in
Pinterest search results.
So, the first thing to do is to understand how Pinterest
works.
It is not a social media network.
Even the founder says it's not.
It is a visual discovery engine.
You have to think about how people use Pinterest.
We use Instagram and Facebook to show people the best
version of out lives, right?
Only the good stuff gets there.
Pinterest is where we plan that best version of our lives
so it's really a very solitary experience that doesn't
necessarily require input from other and it doesn't
have that kind of polished exterior.
So, to understand that it's very different thing.
It's not the place to show your behind the scenes photos
of your office party or things like that.
One of the best things you can do for your blog, is make
it easy for other people to pin your blog post to
Pinterest.
And one way you're going to want to do that, is by
making sure each post has a pin-able image.
Sounds so basic, but there are some pretty great articles
out there on some pretty major websites that don't
have any pin-able images.
Some of them have no images at all which means that
people that use Pinterest are either going to have
to create their own image, which who has time for that?
Or they are just not going to pin at all, so make it
easy for people.
A pin-able image is going to be taller than it is wide.
Start with 735 by 1102.
Usually it's going to be in the warmer colour family.
Now if that doesn't work with your branding, stick with your
branding.
You want to use a little subtle branding, perhaps a logo
or a url.
Now, if you are an Instagram user, throw out everything
you know about effective images out the window when it
comes to Pinterest.
Faces do really well on Instagram, and they do not do
well on Pinterest.
In fact, if you look at some fashion pins, you'll see that
people are typically cut off right about there.
You can only see from there down.
Because people need a blank slate so they can picture
themselves and their lives.
You do want to use lifestyle images to showing your
product or service in use, but don't make it
so they can't picture themselves in that picture as well.
Use some text overlay on your images so people know what
they are going to get if they click through.
Now SEO is also important on Pinterest so you want to use
those words in your profile also in your board titles
and descriptions, and especially in your pin descriptions.
Another little ninja trick, if you are on Wordpress.
use social warfare plug in.
It allows you to have a pin-able image inside your
blog post that isn't necessary obvious or visible in your
blog post.
So, if someone clicks that pin button, a pin-able image
pops up with the description that you have already
written for them.
Now as far as getting more traffic from Pinterest to your
website, so far Pinterest is very generous in the way
that it lets people go or encourages people to go from
their platform on Pinterest to your website.
So, take advantage of that by making sure your contact
gets spread a far as possible.
One way you can do that is by using group or collaborative
boards.
Now some people have found that the effectiveness of their
group boards has really diminished
with the algorithm changes, but
I would suggest that might have more to do with the
content and the contributors of that board than the
effectiveness of group boards individually because it is
a feature that Pinterest created and wants us to use
and because of the fact that when I look at Pinterest
analytics especially in tailwind, and look at the virality
and the number of re-pins on boards,
those group boards tend to be some
of my most effective boards.
And the reason for that could be, when you are in a group
board and you pin something to that group board.
Your pin can then show up in the home feed of anyone
who follows anybody else in that group board.
Also, some pinners use those group boards to
find content to share themselves, so that's another way
to get your content seen.
Something I like even better than Pinterest group boards,
and can actually work with Pinterest group boards, are
tailwind tribes.
Now, yes, I work for tailwind, but I have to say that these
are a game changer.
So, what it is it's a community of like-minded pinners
who pin about something fairly similar.
It's a place to put in all of your best content, and then
the tribe owner, can see who is sharing out, but there's
accountability.
In a tailwind tribe, you're more likely to have rules
such as please share one or two pins for every pin that
you submit.
The tribe owner, can see who is contributing, who is sharing
out, and also who is not pulling their weight.
But, those are some of the best ways to get people to
your blog from Pinterest.
Most important thing, another P-word.
Patience.
Nobody wants to hear this, but I'm afraid I have to tell you
that Pinterest is a long game.
Pinterest is going to feel like you are in a ghost town
for a while unless you're some special unicorn.
There aren't a lot of those.
Even if you feel like your business is the most
Pinterest-y business ever, it can take six, seven, even
more months to start feeling like, okay the work I am
putting in is worthwhile.
So, remember it's a little bit on an investment up front.
You have to have a little bit of faith that it is
gonna work, but trust me, if you're doing it right,
it will work.
- Well, there ya go guys. - There ya go.
- We're not needed this week.
- That was easy.
- Thanks, thanks Alisa for that.
We should go and hit Alisa up for Pinterest tips.
- Yeah
- Before she moves out.
Please subscribe to our channel guys, for more of these
weekly videos and also please check out Alisa online.
We are going to put all her links below as well.
- Oh yeah.
He's been Andrew.
I've been Pete.
She's been Alisa.
And you've been you.
We'll see ya soon.
(giggling)
- Bloody noisy neighbours.
- Noisy neighbours.