Wondering how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website?
In today’s article, you will learn everything you need to know to start leveraging this traffic powerhouse.
I understand we are constantly looking for ways to bump up site traffic.
The quest to get more eyeballs on the website never ends.
After all, the more people visiting and reading your content, the higher chances of making a sale, right?
If you haven’t heard, Pinterest is one of the top traffic sources for most website owners.
And today, I am going to reveal why and how you can do the same.
First things first.
What is Pinterest and why should you care?
While many people tend to think Pinterest is another social media, they are not further from the truth.
Pinterest is a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and much more.
Think of it as a search engine for finding visual ideas.
For example;
If you want to find ideas on how you can decorate your bedsitter, head over to Pinterest.com and do a quick search.
Now, what good is it to you as a website owner?
Pinterest statistics you should know
To answer this question, let’s look at some Pinterest statistics.
- As of 2019, Pinterest had over 322 million monthly active users. This may look like a joke as compared to Facebook’s 2.7 billion monthly users. Don’t be fooled, Pinterest has one of the fastest-growing trends
- Seven out of ten users are female. This means that if your website is targeting women, you may have a better chance of growing fast.
- 97 percent of searches on Pinterest are non-branded. This means that when users are searching, they do not search for specific brand names. That is good news for you.
- More than two billion text-based and guided searches are carried out on Pinterest every month. And of all of these searches, 85 percent come from mobile devices
- 82 percent of weekly active users on Pinterest say they have bought products based on their brands’ content on the platform. This proves that this platform influences buying decisions, one vital reason to join.
But these tips give you a picture of the platform.
How about as a traffic source?
Here are some mindblowing facts;
- A pin gets 100 times more shares than your average tweet.
- Each pin can give you up to 2 page visits and 6 page views.
- For online stores, each pin can generate 78 cents.
- The life span of a pin extends to one week, as compared to 24 minutes for a tweet of 90 minutes for a Facebook post.
From these, you can get a glimpse of how much Pinterest can help give you that boost you desperately need.
So, are you ready to rock your website with Pinterest traffic?
How To Use Pinterest To Drive Traffic To Your Website
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Sign up for a business account
This is where to start if you are looking to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website.
Just like Facebook got a personal profile and business page, Pinterest has the same.
And as you can guess, the business page is where you can reap the optimum benefits.
To create a Pinterest business account, follow these steps;
Go to https://business.pinterest.com/en
Click on Sign Up.
Then follow instructions to complete the process.
Alternatively, you can upgrade your current account (if you already have one).
Why a business account?
Well, with this upgrade, you will get access to analytics and Pinterest ads.
The analytics gives you insights into how your pins are performing.
Additionally, you can apply for Rich Pins on a business account.
Unlike the standard pins, Rick pins allow you to have more information than you would with the normal pins.
And there are five different types of rich pins;
- Movie
- Article
- Product
- App
- Recipe
- Place
For example;
The article rich pin is so valuable for bloggers.
With it, you can promote your latest blog post alongside the logo, a headline, and a link back to the article.
Now to access these tools, you first need to submit an application.
You can learn how to do that here.
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Create boards and use relevant keywords
Think of it as a notice board for pinning your most important messages, but on Pinterest.
Here, you have boards for pinning related content.
This way, users can find relevant information fast.
Also, boards can rank on Pinterest search. An if yours make it to the top, you have a higher chance of driving traffic back to the website.
Talking of Pinterest search, here is what to do to increase the chances of getting your board discovered.
Use relevant keywords in your board name.
For example;
If you are creating a board targeting traveling enthusiasts, your title should be something like Travel Tips for Beginners.
Avoid using random keywords here or no one will ever find your boards.
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Put more effort into your pin descriptions
Each pin comes with a description below it.
This helps the reader understand what the pin is all about.
Now, as a blogger, having a title and a short description may be more than enough.
But since you are looking for how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website, you need to do more.
Do the following to boost the pin’s engagement;
- Make your pin description helpful. In fact, according to Pinterest, helpful pin descriptions receive 30 percent more engagement
- Provide everything the reader needs to know to be sold on clicking onto your website. After all, you after the click, right? So make it convincing
- Play around with words to capture emotions
- Include a call-to-action in your copy. For example, check it out, learn more, buy now, etc.
And as icing to the cake, use relevant keywords as well.
Think of it as Pinterest SEO.
There is some specific keywords users type when searching for content related to yours.
Find those keywords and use them in your description.
For example;
If your pin is about how to make money blogging, include that in the title and within the description as well.
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Use pin-worthy images
On Pinterest, you are not only targeting users who will click on your website.
You are also trying to nap those who will repin your images to their posts.
Think of repinning as sharing on Facebook or retweeting.
It helps amplify the reach of your pins, thus increasing the chances of getting more traffic to your website.
While that is adorable, there is a problem.
There are no enough repinners to go around.
This means that only the worthy pins get to enjoy the party.
To be among the chosen ones, you need to make your pin-worthy.
How?
- Use images of the right size. Generally, the Pinterest image size ranges from an aspect ratio of 2:3 or 4:5. Since a ton of users are on mobile devices, longer images tend to be hard to ignore. But be warned, Pinterest is cracking down on those abusing this loophole.
- Use amazing images. Avoid images with faces on them, apparently, pinners aren’t interested in your smily faces. Incorporate vibrant colors like limes, pinks, and red, it encourages sharing.
- Images with reds, oranges, or pinks tend to perform well on the platform.
- Add text to your image. This not only stands out but also lets the user know what is it all about instantly.
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Collaborate on a group board
You know of Facebook groups, right?
On Pinterest, they are called group boards.
They are community boards where other pinners can pin their posts.
Imagine what that can do to your blog, gives you the exposure and traction you need to generate traffic using Pinterest.
So, go ahead join some relevant group boards and start pinning your own content.
Better part?
A Group board is a genius way to rake up more followers.
If you pin regularly, others within the group will see your content and if they like it, they will hit the follow button.
Question is, how do you find Pinterest group boards?
By using PinGroupie.com.
You can do a quick search using a keyword, blogging for example.
Click on any result to learn more about it.
And if you like it, you can request to join.
Pinterest Traffic in Kenya: Pin consistently
Just like anything worth its salt, generating traffic on Pinterest needs consistency.
You can expect to pin today and boatloads of traffic tomorrow.
If you want to see results, you have to come up with a pinning strategy, including the content ideas and posting schedule.
Once that is on the table, you can now create a plan on how to pin.
There are two ways you can accomplish that;
One, by pinning manually.
All you have to do is click create a pin, upload an image, add description and pin!
While that may sound way easy, wait until you have to pin twice a day for the next 30 days!
The second and easiest way is using a tool.
One of the most popular Pinterest management tools is Tailwind.
It is a tool like Hootsuite, but dedicated to scheduling and managing Pinterest accounts.
With it, you can set and forget pins for the whole month, helping you be consistent and takes donkey work off the equation.
Wrapping up Pinterest traffic
You have learned how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website.
This is on you now to go and apply what you have learned.
Just to recap, here are the tactics you can use to generate Pinterest traffic;
- Switch to a business account
- Create optimized boards
- Write convincing pin descriptions
- Use pin-worthy images
- Join group boards
- Maintain posting schedule
