Growing Your Blog with Pinterest: Getting Started

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If you’ve been on the internet in the past – um, year – you’ve heard the buzz about Pinterest. And yes, it’s the best thing since Facebook.

Pinterest is a visual representation of the hottest things on the Internet, grouped by category. Who decides what makes it onto Pinterest? You do. The same way you (the reader) decide what to Tweet, or what to “Like” on Facebook.

But the power of Pinterest isn’t in who you know. It’s in the way that what you like brings you together with other people with the same interests. By “following” people’s pinboards, you see the things they deem important each time you log in.

{a confession}

I’ll make a confession here: all of my best friends didn’t make the cut for me to Follow them. And I’m Following a ton of people I don’t even know. Why?

We have the same style – the same interests – the same priorities when browsing the web.

A few of my pinboards

On my pinboard, I have categories like “Homeschooling” and “Makeables.” (see? You can even use words that aren’t really words!)

When any random Pinterest user sees my pins come across their screen, they can choose to re-pin (“grab”) that photo (with its description) and pin it on their board. At that point, they can say, “Hey – I liked that pin. I think I’ll browse all of this girl’s other pins as well!” And if they really enjoy looking at my pinboard, they may decide to Follow me so they always know when I’ve pinned something new. (by the way: you can follow me on Pinterest, too!)

Pinterest is a cross section of the very best of the web, in visual representation, at any given time.

How to Leverage Pinterest for More Readers

Step 1: Start pinning

Growing Your Blog with Pinterest Pinterest is a social medium. You don’t just go there to *get* new ideas, you also use it to share the love. You could just use Pinterest as a visual organizer for things YOU like, but since we’re talking amass-a-blog-following strategy here, we’re going to expand our vision.

What should you pin?

Anything that interests you – AND anything that may be of interest to people who would visit your blog. For example, let’s say I’m a work-at-home mom who loves to craft and create. And I ADORE fabric, but I’m not so into embroidery or cross stitch.

Okay, this isn’t a super big stretch so far.

But let’s also say I have a blog about crafting with a small but loyal following. If I’m only thinking of myself, I might see lots of pins that have to do with embroidery patterns and pass them up, thinking, “Who am I kidding? I’ve never completed a cross stitch pattern in my life.”

But if I’m thinking about the types of people who read my craft-crazy blog, I’d recognize the value of sharing beautiful photos of embroidery, since many of my readers probably at least have an interest. So, in the name of “sharing the love,” I’ll create a pin board called “Needlework” and re-pin photos that go with my (or my readers’!) style. That is – I, personally, would pass up the elaborate patterns of dragons and witches, but I’d pin patterns of things I can appreciate.

Even if I won’t be embroidering them myself.

Your Turn!

Pretend you’re one of your blog’s followers and think about things THEY might like. The more people repin from you, the further your influence and reach will be.

And we’ll talk about what to do with *that* in the next post in this series.

[box]This post is part of the series Growing Your Blog with Pinterest: the Ultimate Guide. Read the rest of the series here.[/box]

Jen says

This is a great series for me. Pinterest is the #1 traffic-driver to our blog, but our blog numbers are still pretty modest. I’d love to convert more of my Pinterest followers to our blog.

Sarah Caraway says

I’ve recently started blogging and have read a lot about how to use my Pinterest to grow my readership. I hadn’t been coming across any new thoughts but THIS is new! I never thought to start boards that would appeal to others and not specifically me. Thanks! I’m off to read the rest of this series. 🙂

Rhonda says

Great post…Great Idea!!!!

Kristen says

This is SO helpful! I’m a new blogger (launched a week ago) and I have been trying to come up with ways to get more readers. I am so thankful I found this series, I never even thought of using Pinterest (Facebook – yes, but not pinterest) Thank you for posting!

Sarah says

Hi there,

I’m blogging to help myself stay on track for a specific goal and to catalogue/curate information I am learning for anyone else who’s interested in accomplishing a similar goal. I do would like to use Pinterest to keep track of helpful information for future reference and get the information out to people who are looking for it. Given that information, do you recommend using my personal account to do this and perhaps having a couple of boards dedicated to my blog? Or do you recommend starting a separate account for my blog to maintain consistency?

I work in marketing, actually, but this is a conundrum I’ve been wondering to myself for a couple of weeks. You look like an expert and I’d appreciate the insight. Also, I’m not entirely sure how old this post is, so please excuse me if you’ve offered this insight elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any feedback 🙂

Jeni Elliott says

Hi Sarah, what a great question! Ideally, from a branding perspective, you’d have separate accounts for the two purposes, but for all practical purposes, it’s just not feasible to keep two accounts running. Then you have to log out and log in every time you want to pin something for the other account! My best advice is to just maintain ONE Pinterest account but make sure it’s branded to your business; it can even use your name, but something like “Sarah // Free to Run” for your name, with a description that matches your purpose statement for your business/blog. Then organize your boards so that the ones most relevant to your blog are at the top, and push your personal ones further down. Hope that helps point you in the right direction!

Yes, that helps a lot. I’ll have a lot of cleaning up to do on my personal Pinterest, but what you’re saying definitely makes sense. Thanks again! Looking forward to reading more of your articles!

Melissa Baum says

Thanks for much for this series. I am hooked and on to the next post. Pintrest has always been a media that I have avoided but I am ready to dive in. I see that a lot of pins are craft and recipe related. Do you think Pintrest will work for a blog about outdoor family adventure?

Hi Melissa,

Pinterest will absolutely work for your niche – the best thing for you to do is do a search for other blogs/content like yours on Pinterest, and take a close look at what those top pins are doing well. The same general ideas apply to all niches, but you might find some extra ideas when you look at other pins about family adventure that are popular. 🙂 Hope this helps!

Jeni

Thanks Jeni. I have been “pinning” away and loving all the things I am finding. There are truly some inspirational people out there. Hopefully I will see some results! 🙂

Kellie G. says

Great post! Gave me soooooo much to think about!

Growing Your Blog with Pinterest: Getting Started

{a confession}

How to Leverage Pinterest for More Readers

Step 1: Start pinning

Your Turn!

Leave a Comment:

12 comments

Stop blogging.
Start running a smarter business.

Growing Your Blog with Pinterest: Getting Started

{a confession}

How to Leverage Pinterest for More Readers

Step 1: Start pinning

Your Turn!

Leave a Comment:

12 comments

Stop blogging.Start running a smarter business.

Stop blogging.
Start running a smarter business.