Blogging

Blog tips: 7 Ways to step up your Pinterest game (in 10 minutes or less)

step up your Pinterest game

step up your Pinterest game

Having a blog taught me quite a few things; one of them being this: you can’t be everywhere at once. There was a point when I realized that I’m spending less time blogging and more time “hanging out” on social media. Okay, when I say “social media” I mainly mean Instagram because.. well… I’m just not a huge Twitter or Facebook fan. Well.. guess what? That can suck the fun out of blogging. I suddenly realized that replying to my Instagram comments or posting on Instagram became more important than creating content. And that is something I knew I needed to change.

So, I decided, that since I can’t have it all and be present on every single social media platform equally, I’ll focus on one that helps my blog the most: Pinterest. When I shifted my focus to Pinterest, my traffic referrals increased and once I came up with a good scheduling system, I no longer had to worry or stress out about being “present” on that particular platform and can spend more time doing what I love doing most: blogging.

Pinterest has over 150 million active users, so if you’re a blogger, it’s a great place to be. In this post I’ll tell you how to step up your Pinterest game in 10 minutes or less.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BIO

Does your bio include a link to your blog? Does your profile image match your Twitter/Facebook/Instagram? These are the things that will help you out with branding. Make sure that your profile includes a short bio and a link to your blog. Your blog readers might want to find you through Pinterest, and you want to make it easy for them. You want to include your photo, blog name, a link and a CTA.

“Visit my blog”- creating a CTA. In my profile I included both my name, and my blog name. Making the most of the bio; including a link as well as blog description. Also, I’m showcasing a board with pins shared only from my blog and Instagram. 

CREATE A BOARD FOR YOUR BLOG

Create a “Best Of” (or just a regular) board for your blog. Pin your most popular and loved articles- this is a great way for people who follow you to keep up with your blog posts. I make sure not to over-spam my followers with my own pins, so I share my own posts maybe every 10th pin or so. You want to make it easy for others to pin content from your blog, and you want to pin your own posts as well, but if one of your goals is to grow your Pinterest account, you have to pin quality content. Usually that involves pinning a lot of content from other blogs and website as well- not just yours.

SCHEDULE YOUR PINS

Scheduling my pins is what helped me grow my Pinterest account pretty much effortlessly. Last January I had about 600 followers on Pinterest, today I have 20k and it’s all thanks to Tailwind. I already talked about it at length in this post.

ORGANIZE YOUR BOARDS

Move your most popular boards to the top. Change up your covers once in a while, delete underperforming pins, try re-pinning them. With a tool like Tailwind you can also track your pins and boards performance; see which ones have the most followers, which pins get the most repins, etc. I’d definitely suggest that you keep your own blog board on top, followed by your most popular boards.

If you don’t already have Rich Pins set up for your blog, do so ASAP- find out how to set them up in this post. Rich Pins are Pins that include extra information right on the Pin itself. It includes things like source of the pin- your blog name and your blog’s favicon. 

SELECT CATEGORIES

This is important if you want to get your pins discovered! Make sure that all of your boards are categorized. I kind of wish that Pinterest had more categories and that they were a bit more detailed, but hopefully this will change in the future. In the mean time, make sure that your board category is selected to describe it as closely as possible.

BOARD DESCRIPTIONS

Speaking of description- add one to your boards. Make it as detailed as possible.  To avoid feeling overwhelmed, try working on few boards a day, if you have a lot of them. For instance, if you have a board about blogging use terms like: blog tips, blogging tips, tips for bloggers, etc. Take a look at a description for one of my new boards to get the idea:

CHANGE IT UP

As the seasons change, make sure to change up your profile. Move some of the no-longer relevant boards to the bottom (like Christmas, winter boards, etc) and move up your relatable boards to the top (like spring, summer fashion, spring/summer recipes) where they’ll be more visible and will have a better chance of being discovered. I also like changing up my covers once in a while, updating my board descriptions- those all seem like small changes, but it all adds up.

I know that I say this in pretty much all of my Pinterest-related posts, but I’ll say it again; if you’re a blogger and haven’t taken advantage of Pinterest yet and all that it has to offer, you’re missing out!

Don’t know where to start? Check out how some of my other Pinterest posts:

+How to grow your Pinterest following FAST + expanding your audience
+How to Increase Your Pinterest Traffic + Strategies that Doubled my Pageviews
+How to Create Pinterest-Friendly Images For Your Blog
+Pinterest for Blogging: What Are Rich Pins & How To Set Them Up
+How to use Pinterest to grow your blog

48 Comments

  • Reply
    Reine
    February 26, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    I love Pinterest but sometimes I can’t be bothered on figuring out how it works. I know it can bring your blog LOADS of traffic but like many, I have very little knowledge on how to use it. Thanks for these tips! I’ll definitely apply them to my profile and read the other posts you wrote about growing Pinterest! xx

    Reine | Sincerely Reine

  • Reply
    D. Tangled
    February 26, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    Oh I love Pinterest!! This is great, now I can really use it for my advantage. Thanks!! XO

  • Reply
    Katherine Tran
    February 27, 2017 at 12:58 am

    I need to use Pinterest more, thanks for sharing this!

    http://www.myclusterofthoughts.com/

  • Reply
    Linda Libra Loca
    February 27, 2017 at 2:25 am

    And I immediately pinned it, so your strategy seems to work quite well. Just like you said, I don’t want to spend more time on social media than I do on the content, plus I have two kids and a full time job to handle. That makes me always searching for tips to make the most out social media while spending minimal time.

    Linda, Libra, Loca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      March 2, 2017 at 8:16 pm

      Haha, thank you Anne! I find it difficult at times to juggle a full time job and a blog and you have little ones too- you’re a superwoman :)

  • Reply
    MihaBalan
    February 27, 2017 at 3:06 am

    Paula Meanwhile trying my best to work on other social media I never have enough time to work with Pinterest and always had problems. I will focus my march for Pinterest for sure. thank you for tips, I will save your article and follow you on Pinterest :) hope you are well
    https://mihabalan.com

  • Reply
    Roxanne
    February 27, 2017 at 8:44 am

    Super helpful as always! I will definiteley use these tips :)

  • Reply
    fannyanddailybeauty
    February 27, 2017 at 8:46 am

    Being relatively new to Pinterest (and having a broken Instagram account), this post is extremely helpful to me and I will make sure to put into practice each of these tips! Thanks for sharing :)

    http://fannyanddailybeauty.com

  • Reply
    Rebecca Ellis
    February 27, 2017 at 9:42 am

    I’ve been really enjoying Pinterest this year, but I’ve never even thought of doing these! I’ll definitely give them a try x

    http://www.sheintheknow.co.uk

  • Reply
    Eire Pollard
    February 27, 2017 at 9:45 am

    Oh goodness, Tailwind is my life (if Pinterest was life…) SAVIOUR. I love it and can’t recommend it highly enough! However, I’ve only noticed my pinterest following ticking up *very* (very..) slowly. Am amazed by your results — it must be all of your fabulous content! As always, thanks for the incredibly helpful tips x

    Eire | Wolf & Stag

  • Reply
    Wag Doll
    February 27, 2017 at 11:15 am

    I love your super helpful blogging posts, I’ve learnt so much x
    http://www.wagdoll.co.uk

  • Reply
    Jenn
    February 27, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    This is so helpful! I just started the free trial of Tailwind, and I definitely see where it will be very useful. I plan to work on my Pinterest in the coming month a lot, so I will definitely be referring to this post!

    Jenn │ Beauty by Jellybean

  • Reply
    Megan
    February 27, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    I couldn’t agree more! I’ve been working on improving my Pinterest account for the past couple of weeks by (setting up rich pins, joining group boards, etc) and it has really helped grow my blog.

    Megan | http://www.beautyblisswithmimi.co.za

  • Reply
    Biana Perez
    February 27, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    This is such an great post – so much detail and I’ve pinned about 3 different things in this post to try!! The trick is finding the time!! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      March 2, 2017 at 8:28 pm

      These are all very quick- it’s the whole point ;) I’d try not to overwhelm myself and do one or two of those things at a time. x

  • Reply
    Rapunzille
    February 27, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    I loved this article girl! I use Tailwind at work and it is AMAZING!!! Great tips about deleting in performing pins and chain going the order of your boards! Going to take this onboard! X Samantha http://rapunzille.com

  • Reply
    Kate
    February 27, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    I definitely have to check out Tailwind! Social media really can be a drain on our time. I think I could spend all day on Instagram if I didn’t stop myself! x

    Kate Louise Blogs

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      March 2, 2017 at 8:29 pm

      Tell me about it! I love interacting on Instagram, but sometimes it can feel a little exhausting haha ;)

  • Reply
    Ela BellaWorld
    February 28, 2017 at 5:28 am

    I really need to focus on Pinterest, I tend to ignore it a lot lately. I didn’t know you’d add description to the boards, it is something I must do! Also never thought about changing up the order of the boards, it actually makes sense. I should create more specific boards rather than general ones. Another great and useful post, Paula!

    Ela BellaWorld

  • Reply
    Hope Aslinger
    February 28, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    Pinterest is definitely something I’ve neglected, but I’m going to up my game after reading this post. So many simple things I could be doing that I’m not! Thanks for sharing!

    Hope // http://www.misshopeelizabeth.com

  • Reply
    Reetuparna Saha
    March 1, 2017 at 2:19 am

    I am bookmarking this post rightaway. Such helpful tip these are, Paula. I love you and your posts. You’re one creative genius I say! I’m still getting to know Pinterest and this post is so helpful.
    http://ambersity.com

  • Reply
    Mikéla Davelyn
    March 3, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    As usual, great blogging tips! I forgot to add descriptions to my boards that aren’t group boards, so I’m going to start doing that right now! :)

    Hope you have a good weekend!

    xo, mikéla / simplydavelyn.com

  • Reply
    Lexie | NAILGIRL.NET
    March 4, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    Bookmarked! I’ve been struggling with Pinterest but you have some great tips and strategies here!

    Lexie
    nailgirl.net

  • Reply
    Fiona
    March 5, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    I love your blog! It has given me so many great tips since I have just recently started my own blog!

    Fiona
    missfionamae.com

  • Reply
    Veronica Bizzarri
    March 14, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    I’ve recently really got into Pintrest it’s so easy to spend hours on it! Thanks for the tips I had no idea that there was a website to schedule pins defo gonna look into that

    Ronnie
    http://www.veronicabizzarri.blogspot.co.uk
    xx

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      March 18, 2017 at 8:40 pm

      I get most of my traffic from Pinterest- couldn’t live without it. Such a fun and useful resource, too!

  • Reply
    julie
    April 17, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    Love this post Paula, really great tips! What are your thoughts on commenting on pictures? I’ve been testing that out recently but haven’t noticed any changes yet.

    • Reply
      Paula @ thirteenthoughts.com
      May 1, 2017 at 7:05 am

      Julie, that’s not really something that is going to help. Pinterest isn’t a social media platform, you have to think of it as a search engine. I’d focus on your keywords instead.

  • Reply
    Victoriasbeautyedit
    April 23, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    This post is so great. I’m definitely trying to expand my audience and reach for my blog and don’t currently use pinterest. So that is my new project. I also have clicked and read all the other blog posts you linked haha. So great and so informative for a rookie like me. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, it’s fantastic and so helpful. You have a beauitful blog xx
    Victoria. x.
    Victoria’s Beauty Edit – http://www.victoriasbeautyedit.com

  • Reply
    Lorena Aguilar
    May 1, 2017 at 12:31 am

    I’m new around here, but i’ve been reading a lot of your how to’s and everything is very helpful! Thanks for sharing all the info we need.
    I’m gonna practice all the photoshop and Pinterest tips you gave to expand my audience
    Lorena A/Lo89

    http://www.lo-89.com

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