Troon Scotland
The following is a guest post by Julie Syl Kalungi…
Unlike Ryan here, you may be new to the blogging world and you kinda think you are gonna get a ton of fans and traffic from Facebook. Maybe you trust uncle Google and think he will be your fairy godfatherâŠAre you of that school of thought?
Well I am sorry to burst your bubble but thatâs not gonna happen any time soon unless you got a pipeline to the Qatar liquid gold!
See, you are late to the free organic Facebook traffic boom by 4+ years and Google just aint playing unless you are willing to spend a farthing.
Or you decide like Ryan to become that go-to expert in your niche. Which you absolutely should do by the way!
So, what does a new or struggling blogger do to build authority and achieve your goals, you may ask?
Enter blogging success with Pinterest!
Do you know why Pinterest grabbed my attention and over 150 million monthly users? In my case way back in 2014?
You see, where I grew up in Uganda, back in the day, we used to create scrapbooks with images of what we wanted to be, do or have when we grew up!
Then comes Pinterest with this age-old tool of manifesting what one dreams of by simply clipping images as a reminder!
I can tell you, Pinterest was programmed into me and many others long before it was created online. So thatâs why itâs a natural tool to use for blogging success!
I am also sure you may have heard about the Mashable – Pinterest Story and how it drives more traffic than Twitter, Reddit, and Linked-In combined. Well now you do so I wonât bore you with those details!
But I will definitely drum it down your lovely blogging throat Why Pinterest should be one of your traffic strategies and resources if not the main oneâŠUnless they develop Facebook algorithm tendencies!
And unless you got shares in Pinterest, there is no saying that they will not, after all they are a business rightâŠshareholders and all that jazz!
So why donât we get back to the task at hand; getting you blogging success with PinterestâŠShall we!
Why Blogging Success with Pinterest though?
Yes, why not with LinkedIn or snap-chat or good ole horse mail? Well, I assume you read my article above! But if you are like most and you just skimmed thus far (tut tut), then understand that; Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest is made up of buyers.
Can I ask you a question? Good.
How many times have you replicated something you saw on Pinterest. I at least know that I go on there for ideas on how to spend my dollar!
Yes, for DĂ©cor, Fashion, Training courses, Books, Recipes, Travel Inspiration, Science, QuotesâŠyou name it. I dive in and get ideas and usually I Buy via the linkâŠ.
See I donât go thinking; do I know Like and Trust this person or website? At that point I am thinking Bargain, Yes please?
Now I am a typical buyer trust me on that, in hundreds of millions! So, as a person or brand with a product or service and you share on your blog regularly, I say go on over there and start leveraging this âStill Freeâ platform.
Before you go, allow just for a moment to be Cinderella and I your fairy God Mother, okay letâs do this!
How I Achieved Blogging Success with Pinterest, You can too!Â
Definitely think about Pinterest as both your SEO Secret sauce and bookmarking tool. The latter is simple, it uses images to front things people offer, desire/like or want.
(By the way if you are kind of a big deal on Pinterest or social media you might like to skip the next bit to the next 2 sectionsâŠYou are welcome.) đ
Definitely think about Pinterest as both your SEO Secret sauce and bookmarking tool.Click To Tweet
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Blogging Success with Pinterest – Your Foundation
Like I said, you can read my book for deets on how to get started right on Pinterest if you donât already have an account. And if you do, you probably made all the mistakes I made, that are blocking your traffic and results so, go fix that as well.
Now letâs look at the essentials to your Pinterest and blogging success:
 I suggest you have a business account.
- Make sure you use your personal picture and not a generic image or a product image.
- Keyword your description and make sure people know that you are there to help them succeed.
- Keyword your boards and your board descriptions because Google indexes these. And other search engines like Yahoo, Yandex, Bing etc. follow suite!
How to Ignite Blogging Success with Pinterest
Well, I assume you are a blogger so do make sure there is a Pin It button on your blog or website and under every article (usually with a bunch of other Social Share buttons).
Use Calls to Action (CTA) on your Pin Image to get people to pin your article. Yes, you donât ask you donât get!
Create a cool and catchy image that goes into your widget area to make sure people know to pin your article. I used canva.com for that, and pretty much every Pin image on our sites!
Do a test pin and make sure your html code is set up correctly. Also check your image description aka alt tag and of course check that it links back to your article.
I have boards where I post other peopleâs blog articles and I noticed that sometimes whether due to using bad plugins some pins Do Not carries over this information to pinterest. So double check – Very important that people know where to find your article as it is repined around.
On your blog or website article, make sure the images are professional and attractive. Make sure they tell a story and give your reader value. I sometimes use a hidden image to save on website resources and load speed. I use the Social Warfare plugin for that!
With professional looking images, others are encouraged to share from your blog or website to Pinterest.
Seriously, every time I check our website analytics, I am amazed at how many times our articles are shared on Pinterest and Facebook.
Blogging Success with Pinterest â Thatâs Image ThoughâŠ
It is common knowledge among Pinterest experts and prolific users that, the most attractive images to pinners have:
- Bright Primary colors.
- Teaser text on the photo if you are driving someone to your blog or website.
Example:Â 7 Tips to Lose More Weight In 21 days
Make sure this links back to the article that corresponds with the teaser. Always give what you have promised.
- Long photos (vertical picture collages) or infographics do really well. They take up valuable Pinterest real estate in the feed, which makes you standout. Best image size is around 734 px by 1200 px
Your Virtual Filing Cabinets â Pin Boards
I recommend that 5-7 boards should be EXCLUSIVELY dedicated to your business/interest or niche. So, no pinning other stuff on these. These are your Analytics or tracker Boards. They will give you a true picture of how your content is received on Pinterest and which one to focus your resources on!
This will in turn help your blog SEO as you fill these boards with pure value content and people keep tuning in for more, sharing, saving and clicking through!
One of these boards should be a Product/service review board. So, if your product is eye lashes – make the name of the board âEye Lashes Reviewsâ.
Add 10+ boards then in whatever else interests you.
It is important that you choose niches that you are interested in. Pinning for non-excited niches is not very fun and it becomes a chore that you will put off. Plus, it affects your rank if nobody engages with your pinned stuff.
With the latest Sections addition, I suggest you Copy Pins to your created sections as opposed to Moving themâŠYou lost? Learn about Pinterest sections in this resource!
Research Niches
To have blogging success with pinterest like any other platform, do your research!
And as usual, I like to be the green sheep! I donât turn to google because thatâs where every other SEOer is going. I go to Offer Vault  (Ssshhh donât tell everyone) đ and yes, I know its not for everyone, busy site, selling stuff (how dare they lol). Listen up, it works for the goose so why not you!
Why OfferVault? Because these are monetized niches. I go after niches that I can monetize first before my purely for pleasure niches. I want to reach the people that need my solution and reap the rewards there of aka Pay day, I assume so do you!
So once in OfferVault scroll down and on the right side you will see trending searches.
Remember to only pick niches you are interested in or cover your blog or brand needs. Â
Blogging Success with Pinterest – Which Link?
So, you did all that work and you have no real tangible offer to give your audience? My grandma would say, you washed and hung your clothes in dirt!
In other words, a waste of time! So, have the link to some of your pinned images go to your business capture page or your own personal funnel system.
You must be comfortable with selling your stuff, otherwise why labor every blessed week blogging? Yes, I know you love humanity, but go help them even more by having abundantly more in your kitty! Â Ask for that Sale already!
Set up a funnel for your boards so you can track your Pinterest efforts⊠The more you can personalize your funnel system to your target niche, the better your results.
Like all social media platforms, make sure you interact on other peopleâs pins and boards. Never spam your link on otherâs boards!!
Set up a funnel for your boards so you can track your Pinterest effortsâŠClick To Tweet
Conclusion:
There you have it. That should give you a good beginning your journey to blogging success with Pinterest. on getting free leads on Pinterest.
Pinterest is a lot of fun, just stick to the niches you have an interest in and deliver value, value, value! Go be a super entre-pinner!
And a massive thanks to Ryan The Blogging Major-Domo for allowing me to ramble in his jungle @BloggingfromParadise!
Now, its your turn, How do You use Pinterest for Blogging or brand success? Do you even Use it? Share in a comment below.
