How to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic 2023 | Actionable Tips

We use Pinterest to search for stunning images and ideas on different boards all the time, but did you know using Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog is all the rage as well?

It is time to get some real traffic.

Why Is Pinterest Good for More Traffic?

Here are some good reasons that you should use Pinterest to drive traffic.

·  Pinterest was founded in 2010 with more than 400 million monthly active users as of August 2020. And the number of users continues to grow at an astonishing rate.

·  It is more like a search engine (like Google) instead of a social media platform. You probably need to wait for a long while to get organic traffic from Google because ranking requires SEO knowledge, tremendous effort and time, whereas promoting on Pinterest could lead to fast traffic growth if done correctly.

·  Visual search is king in our virtual community. Pinterest is inspirational to cultivate creative ideas.

·  The platform is widely appealed to women, especially moms worldwide. Besides, the number of male users is on the rise.

·  Users are looking for products or services on Pinterest to purchase and are open to accept new brands/products.

·  Compared to the short lifespan of tweets (18-24 minutes), or Facebook posts (a couple of hours), Pinterest pins’ average lifespan could last for weeks or longer in one’s feed provided they are relevant and quality pins.

·  Affiliate links are allowed on Pinterest, which means you can do Pinterest affiliate marketing with or without a website.

·  There is no limit to generating revenues from affiliate links on Pinterest because it is a perfect platform to raise branding awareness and trigger purchasing behavior.

How to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic

1. Set up a Business Account

The first and foremost step is to set up a FREE business Pinterest account. So you can have full access to valuable Pinterest analysis of your account activities (such as impressions, profile page views, the number of repins and clicks) and be able to run ads.

If you have a personal Pinterest account, you can convert your personal account to a business account.

Note that you can switch back to your personal account any time you want.

Or, if you haven’t used Pinterest before, you can create a business account directly.

2. Complete Your Profile to Get More Followers

You can go to settings, upload your profile photo and complete your profile in detail. The best way is to use your website‘s name and logo to build loyalty and trust.

When it comes to business names, use rich key phrases to describe what you can provide visitors with your account so followers know what your pages are about.

3. Personalize the Privacy Setting

Go to your account > Settings > Privacy and data > Search Privacy.

Don’t hide your profile if you want search engines such as Google to find you.

4. Create 8-12 Boards with Various Topics to Drive Different Traffic on Pinterest

Create at least 8-12 boards to start with, then search and share different pins on the boards so your target audience can locate the desired pins effortlessly.

For example, suppose you want to use Pinterest to drive more traffic for a travel website. In that case, you can have boards on different topics such as travel tips, accommodations, destinations, experiences, budgets, and many more.

You get the idea.

Share your pins on multiple related boards to maximize public exposure and increase the chances of repins. You are welcome to create more than one pin for every post to test the reactions.

If you want to edit a board, click on the pencil icon on the board, then edit the information.

Note that you don’t have to create all the boards’ pins; you can share other people’s pins to drive more traffic.

It is also good to have one board with your updated posts.

5. Create Images with Canva

It is all about vibrant colors, captivating photos, engaging texts, interesting elements, and desirable designs when it comes to images.

You might wonder how you can create tempting pins if you have no experience with image designing. I was in the same position when I started, so I understand how you feel.

After trying many design tools, I found Canva (a professional online design tool) the most user-friendly and helpful. It has made my blogging life much easier.

I use Canva on a regular basis for my blog.

Related reading: Canva Pro VS Free – Design Like A Pro

Colors

In general, light colors do better than darker ones.

For example, reddish-orange, pink, red, orange tend to get more repins on Pinterest.

Besides, a couple of dominant colors in the image are more popular than a single-color image.

You might want to play around with vivid colors to get the best ones that fit your theme.

Photos

Choose the background photo that is closely related to your topic. Research shows images without human faces receive more repins.

You will need high-resolution, pin-worthy images to drive more traffic.

Texts

It is hard to know the specific topic without the text overlays.

Try to use bold, italics, underline, and elements to make your texts stand out. In addition, you can make some tweaks to the font, size, color, and effect to achieve the best result.

Remember, one pin is only for one theme/topic, so viewers don’t get confused.

Image Size

The minimum image size is 600px x 900px but the ideal one is 1000px x 1500px.

An aspect ratio of 2:3 or 4:5 is more likely to be repinned on Pinterest.

Generally speaking, engaging, long-pin visuals with information, such as infographics, get the most repins because they stand out from the crowd easily compared to the standard sizes and provide viewers with more information.

However, if everybody uses tall pins, then using tall pins wouldn’t make you different. So it is good to have a mix of tall pins and standard ones to see which ones get the most clicks, saves, and bounce rates.

6. Write a Description on Pinterest to Drive More Traffic

Suppose you have finished creating an alluring image with text overlays; you are almost there.

Now it is time to fill out the description with SEO-friendly key phrases for searching and ranking purposes.

When you type the relevant keywords in the search box, you will no longer see the suggestions of keywords in the red box from Pinterest. They are GONE!

However, when you type in the search box, Pinterest will auto-generate the most commonly used words/phrases on the platform. These keywords could also give you a good idea of what people are searching for on Pinterest.

You can write up to 500 characters to describe what your pin is about, although there is no need to use up all the word count as long as the description is detailed enough for visitors to get the idea and interest to click on your pin.

Don’t forget to add affiliate disclosure due to FTC regulation if you insert an affiliate link.

Put the most important message first, as only the first 75-100 characters will appear in the feed. It is great to add a call-to-action in your description, like Find Out Now or Get It Today.

7. Pin Your Posts to Your Boards

Don’t hesitate to pin it to your Pinterest board whenever you publish a post.

Appealing, eye-catching images could attract visitors to click on your pins and eventually drive more traffic to your website.

Think about what your target audience would like to see. Use images to trigger emotional needs and wants to increase the number of clicks.

Don’t forget hashtags so viewers can search them and find your pins more quickly. 12-15 hashtags will be a good range.

In step 6, you can either add the URL of your website or an affiliate link (works best if you don’t have a blog yet) that directs the viewers to your partnered merchant.

You might lose the chance to expose your potential readers to all other affiliate links of the page on your website if you use a direct affiliate link.

However, a direct link is more straightforward to trigger instant ordering.

So you can do some experiments to see which one gets the most clicks and sales.

Note that any third-party tools to shorten or beautify your affiliate links are not welcome on Pinterest.

8. Choose the Prime Time to Post

Time is super important, especially when you reach a bigger audience, as you don’t want your well-designed pins being swallowed by hundreds of thousands of newly uploaded pins.

Time is tricky for visitors from many geographical locations on various social media platforms. And it is time-consuming to post it one by one by yourself.

To automatically get each network’s busy hours, you can use Tailwind (a robust social media scheduling tool) to help you post all your pre-made pins with the predefined time settings.

Whether you are sleeping or traveling, Tailwind is scheduling your pins for you. It is a super powerful tool for Pinterest promotion that maximizes the number of visitors in less time.

You can use my link to get started with all Tailwind features FREE. 

No credit card is required. Get started with a free account.

9. Grow Your Followers on Pinterest

If you don’t have any followers yet, It’s OK! You’ve just joined!

When you have set up your boards and pins, completed your profile, you can try the following ways to grow your audience.

1. Check out some of your competitors’ accounts and find out their followers; follow them because the followers could be your potential viewers as well.
2. When you get new followers, follow them back.
3. Like other members’ pins and give comments to initiate the interaction.
4. Join group boards. Group boards are great communities for members to pin. If some followers from that group board like your pins, they might check out your board or follow you.
5. Create group boards and invite people to contribute.
6. Pin a couple of times a day if possible.
7. Add a “Pin it” button to your blog post. The Pin button will show up whenever a visitor hovers over an image.
8. Place a widget of Follow on Pinterest on your sidebar to gain more exposure.
9. Double-check all your links to see if they are functioning properly.

10. How to Join Group Boards

You should expect to see a significant increase in your followers if you have joined the right and quality group boards and consistently pin daily.

Follow the steps in the image then you will find the group boards in your niche (board topic). Relevancy could get you genuinely interested followers.

Check the number of followers because more followers mean more chances for your pins to be seen. So you can potentially get more referral traffic to your website and possibly get more followers, subscribers, or even consumers.

Click on the chosen boards; then, you will normally find the detailed instructions on how to join in the description section.

Here are two examples (First image: currently closed to contributors, second image: open to contributors):

If the group accepts new contributors, you can find the group’s founder when you click on followers (The first one is usually the founder).

Follow and send the founder a message to introduce yourself (concise but sweet) based on the instruction.

Once accepted, your pins in the group board will be exposed to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

11. Drive More Traffic by Interacting with Your Followers on Pinterest

Like all social media platforms, you need to be an active member and often communicate with your followers to keep them engaged.

Try to answer their questions and listen to their concerns in the comment section. You can understand your followers’ needs and issues at no cost by doing this. Then, you can produce more great content specifically to those desires.

It is a virtual community; you play together with other members; the more, the better. Have fun.

Final Thoughts – How To Use Pinterest To Drive Traffic

Pinterest is not just a platform for inspiration and mood, and it could do so much more than you can imagine for traffic generation.

You can explore the full potential by using the tips mentioned in the post and don’t miss an excellent opportunity to reach a broader audience on Pinterest.

Now you know how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article.

What is your experience with Pinterest marketing? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Enjoyed this post? Don’t forget to share it and follow me on Pinterest. I appreciate every single share. 😊