How to Get Traffic from Pinterest in 7 Easy Steps

Like any social network, Pinterest can be a very effective tool for generating traffic to your website or blog. Pinterest, unlike other social networks allows you to share images and videos to your own boards or other user’s boards. A board is like a folder that categorizes these images and videos (also knowns as pins).

And, everyday, millions on Pinterest users login to the site to find new ideas and explore potential products to purchase, making it a great source of traffic for website or blog owners.

There are many ways you can generate Pinterest traffic.

Step 1: Optimize your account

In other words, make sure you have a profile picture, a keyword rich bio that underlines who you are and how you help people, keywords you want to rank for next to your business name and your website URL that is verified.

If you have a personal account, make sure you convert it to a business account by going to: http://business.pinterest.com and follow the prompts”. By having a business account, you’ll be able to access analytics about your account and their advertising network.

Step 2: Search privacy settings

The second way to generate Pinterest traffic is by making sure that your “search privacy” settings are off so that your account and your pins can be found by anyone.

Step 3: Creating Pinterest boards

The third step is working on your boards. Make sure the name of your boards are keyword rich and the description of the board is keyword rich too. Your best boards should also be re-shuffled so they appear at the top, and each board has plenty of relevant pins. For example, should you be in the sustainable fashion business, you can create a board called “sustainable fashion” another one for “upcycled dresses” etc…

Step 4: Creating pins

The fourth step is by creating long and attention grabbing pins. Pinterest pins should be 735 x 1102 pixels preferably so they stand out in people’s newsfeeds.

Make sure the file name of your pin is keyword rich so it can be picked up by search engines such as Google.

To upload a pin, simply click on the plus sign on the top right hand size.

Then, you’ll be asked to add a description. Make sure your description is keyword rich so your pin can rank higher in the search results when people type in these keywords in Pinterest’s search engine.

For example, should you be in the weight loss industry, and you want to rank for the keywords: weight loss, lose weight and low calorie, your description for a pin that describes a low calorie meal could be: This low calorie meal is very effective for weight loss and has helped many people lose weight within a few days. Then, once you’ve uploaded your pin, click on the pin to add your URL. When you do, this will redirect people to that URL when they click on the pin.

When pinning, make sure your pins are not ordinary, or just act an online catalogue for your products. Pinterest users usually look for interesting and creative ideas. For example, if you’re trying to sell an anti-ageing product, instead of just putting a picture of the product, you could create an infographic about anti-ageing. To create infographics, you can either ask a graphic designer or you can use pinterest tools such as piktochart.com.

When pinning, make sure your content is not one-dimensional. Vary the type of content you publish so you don’t become predictable, and pin consistently depending on how often you can commit to pinning. If you can pin once a day, then pin once a day and stick to that schedule. Consistency is really the key to success.

Step 5: Make your website Pinterest-friendly

The fifth step to generate Pinterest traffic is by making your website Pinterest friendly. In other words, make sure the images that are on your website can be pinned onto Pinterest by adding a “pin it” button on each image. Plus, make sure you add a Pinterest follow button on your website to convert your website visitors into followers. The more followers you have, the more traffic you can generate from Pinterest.

Step 6: Engage with Pinterest users

The sixth step is engaging with Pinterest users. The more you connect with people, join conversations and interact in general with Pinterest users, the more noticed you’ll get. There are many ways you can engage with users, including following people. When choosing who to follow, a good strategy is looking at pins relevant to your industry, and following the people who engage with these pins. This will ensure the people you reach out to are active on the platform.

Another way to engage with Pinterest users is by liking, sharing and commenting on other people’s posts. This will help you get noticed by these pinners and as a result, increase traffic to your pins and website. If users have engaged with your content, make sure you acknowledge them by responding to them or simply acknowledging them to nurture the relationship further.

Step 7: Pinterest advertising

The seventh way is using Pinterest advertising. To set up your ad, go to ads.pinterest.com. This will take you to Pinterest’s advertising dashboard. The first section will show you analytics for your ads. To create your ad, click on the “plus” sign on the top right hand corner, and select “Create ad”. Choose your campaign goal, which can be either to build brand awareness, boost engagement, get traffic to your website or drive installs for your app.

The next step is selecting a pin you wish to promote. You will have to upload the pin to one of your boards before being able to use Pinterest ads. If you are unsure which pin to advertise, check first which one created the most buzz among your own followers, by checking the engagement rate and how many clicks each pin generated. When you do, you’ll notice that a few clearly stand out as the winning pins you should invest in. Once your campaigns have been running for a few days, track your ads by going to the advertising dashboard and checking which ads are performing best and stop running the ones that are underperforming.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post on how to get traffic from Pinterest in 7 easy steps. Remember to leave a comment below and subscribe to our Youtube channel to receive the latest social media tips straight to your inbox.

About the Author

Corinna Essa

Corinna Essa is known internationally as the go-to person when it comes to social media marketing.

Corinna owns a social media marketing company helping businesses around the world leverage the power of social media without doing any of the legwork. Her company has been featured in many media outlets including Sky Business news, Working Women magazine, Ymagazine, Tasmanian Times, Channel 7 and 101fm.

Corinna is also the author of 2 bestselling books “Money On Demand – The 16 Fastest Ways to Becoming a Millionaire Online” and “Reach: The SECRETS to converting your social media audience into your network marketing downline fast”