How to drive massive traffic to your blog for free?
Search Engine Optimization!
However, optimizing your website on Google search is fairly hard. It takes a couple of months at least before you start to see some visitors coming up to your website. Just remember:
NO TRAFFIC = NO MONEY!
I did some research and read about other bloggers using Pinterest to drive traffic to their website FOR FREE!
Pinterest? Yes, Pinterest!
Don’t forget to PIN this post on Pinterest
I have used Pinterest so far to find inspiration for my t-shirt designs and sometimes for food recipes, but I didn’t realize that I could use it to generate traffic to my niche blog.
Now I consider Pinterest to be a free ads platform and visual search engine, but the really good thing is that “normal” people don’t consider Pinterest images as ads.
They consider them to be images that can help to solve a specific problem they have.
Why is Pinterest so good for online businesses?
The following are some interesting demographics and facts on Pinterest users:
- Established in March 2010 and valued at more than $11 billion
- 250 million active users per month
- 50% of users earn more than $50K per year, with 40% of Pinterest users earn over $100K per year.
- 50% of users are in the US
- 80% of the Pinterest users access the platform using a mobile device.
- 83% of women in the US aged 25-54 use Pinterest
- 50% of new users in 2018 were men
- 34% of Americans aged 18-49 are Pinterest users
- 98% of users go out and practice the ideas they found on Pinterest
- 90% of weekly users use Pinterest to make purchase decisions
- 97% of Pinterest searches are unbranded stuff
- Pinterest generates 33% more traffic than Facebook, 200% more than Twitter
- Pinterest generates $4.30 gross return for every $1 spent on ads
Source: Hootsuite
So, how to use Pinterest as a reliable traffic source for your blog?
Below are the 5 easy steps you can use to drive traffic to your blog.
1. Create a Pinterest business account.
With a business account, you can access their marketing tools and analytics so you can create ads, see your account statistics such as total impressions, repin, click to websites, etc.
Be sure you use a proper image as your photo profile. Some people out there would recommend you to use your personal photo.
I understand it. But I have always wanted to maintain my privacy so I made the decision to use my logo instead.
That works well for me!
The size of my current Pinterest profile photo is 165 x 165 pixels. However, any photo that is in a square ratio works well. Pinterest resizes your photo automatically for you.
2. Claim your website and set up rich pins.
You will have to claims your website in order for Pinterest to be able to identify all of your content that you post that relates to your website. Rich pins connect your Pinterest content with your website and also can help to boost your Pinterest engagement.
The instructions here are for WordPress users only, so you have to install the Yoast SEO plugin. Don’t worry, it is a free plugin.
Once the plugin successfully installed, then go to the Yoast SEO settings in the left sidebar. Head to the Social link, and then select the Facebook tab and be sure to enable the Open Graph metadata.
Then go back to your Pinterest settings to the places where it states to claim your website, and then copy the part of your HTML tag inside the quotations.
After copying the code, go back into the Yoast plugin settings. Navigate to the Social link and then choose the Pinterest tab.
Paste the confirmation code that just copied into the Pinterest confirmation field and then click save changes button.
After saving your changes, go back to Pinterest and then click on the Next Button to get the setup process completed.
Your website will be verified by Pinterest within 24 hours. When your website successfully claimed, there will be a green checkmark next to your domain name.
Now, it’s time to set up rich pins. Be sure to enable the Open Graph metadata in the prior step
This step is incredibly easy. Simply head to the Rich Pins Validator and then copy-paste one of your blog post URL (NOT your homepage) in the field that is provided.
Click the Validate button, (don’t forget to select HTML Tag) and then click the Apply Now button.
Pinterest will then review your submissions and send you a notification email within 24 hours to tell you that you have been approved.
3. Create a few Pinterest boards.
So what is a Pinterest board? A Pinterest board is a place where you can save your ideas you want to share on Pinterest or that just you like.
Boards can be created for any topics you like (recipes, fashion, design, etc.)
However, if your Pinterest account is being used for business, it is best that you stick with boards that relate to your business.
For example, if your blog is about personal finance then you can create Pinterest boards such as make money, save money, invest money, financial advice, frugal living ideas, student loans, etc.
Create 5-10 boards at least to get started with Pinterest. Those boards should have descriptions and titles that relate to the most popular topics on your website.
4. Follow a few people/influencers and then add content to your Pinterest profile.
Following brands or people/influencers in your niche can help you.
- Add relevant content to your home feed that can be shared with your followers
- Spying on what content is being shared by your competitors.
Check a few profiles and look at their content. If you think they are posting good content, go ahead and follow them. You can also follow specific boards that relate to your niche.
Before you repining any content/images on Pinterest, always click through that pins to view their website. Make sure they have high-quality content and isn’t spammy content.
5. Create excellent “click-worthy” Pinterest images for your blog posts.
Because Pinterest is a really visual platform, so to be successful on Pinterest marketing you must create your own, eye-popping images.
Creating visually stimulating, beautiful images will increase your click-through rate, so your content will get better engagement on Pinterest.
According to Pinterest’s creative best practices, to get a more click and engagement, your Pinterest pins need to have a 2:3 aspect ratio.
What we recommend is that you use 600 x 900 pixels.
You can use Canva.com to create your own Pinterest pins. It is a free, photo creation software platform that can be used to create all different types of photo content and images for your website.
This is very important. If people don’t click on your pins, then all of the efforts that you put into creating great content could end up being worthless since no one will ever end up reading it.
- Be sure you use readable fonts.
- Use your call to action on your pins as well as intriguing wording that individuals need to click. Instead of, “How To Make Money From Home” it is better to say something like “How I made $5000 per month with FlexOffers!”
- Use stock photos (Pexels or Pixabay have tons of free photos that you can use).
- For branding purposes, add your logo to your pins.
- Create at least 2-3 Pinterest images for each blog posts.
6. Find Pinterest group boards and join them.
Groups boards are Pinterest boards that other people own. If your profile fits their classified, they will invite you to put your “pins” on their boards. It will help your pins get in front of their big audiences. It is an excellent way to getting your pins being exposed to more people if you still have a small number of followers.
If your pins are “click-worthy”, then they will click them (and maybe repinning), and then visit your blog.
So, how to find group boards?
- Search other individuals Pinterest accounts to find group boards.
- Use PinSprout or PinGroupie, which are websites that give you a list of all of the Pinterest group boards.
- Join Pinterest Group Boards on Facebook. There are some great group boards that open up each week. Keep checking it on a regular basis.
There are 2 reasons why I prefer to spy on other people’s profiles:
- If I found other small bloggers get accepted to a certain group board, then I’m also likely to get accepted to it as well.
- PinSprout or Pingroupie may be out of date. I also get a lot better ideas about which of the boards are working well for other bloggers by checking out their profiles. If a big blogger is joining into a small group board, then it’s probably a good one and you should try to get into.
To join one of the group boards, you should send an email or message to the individual who owns the board.
Usually, the group board description will have instructions, and in other situations, you will need to look around.
My only advice is never to stop applying and don’t ever give up!
Try writing at least 30 messages to the board owners per week. Usually, you will get one or two replies.
That is normal. Do it persistently and things will start to get better.
TIPS: Be sure you have created some boards already and pinned some content on your profile before you ask to join group boards. The owners usually will look at your profile to determine whether your profile is decent to join their boards.
7. Schedule your pins using Tailwind
In my first few months, I used manual pinning since I didn’t want to spend a lot of money.
However, after a couple of weeks, I started to use the free trial of the top scheduling service that will enable you to automatically re-pin your pins to group boards as well as your own boards.
Tailwind!
So what does Tailwind actually do?
Tailwind allows you to create a pins schedule. Basically, you will be creating a queue of your pins, and then Tailwind will pinning to your boards (and group boards also) throughout the day according to a set schedule.
Tailwind is essential software to succeed on Pinterest marketing and you will not find any Pinterest experts out there that do not recommend it.
Just imagine: while you are hanging out with your friends or immersed in your hobby, Tailwind automatically pinning your content on a regular basis.
Tailwind has takeover your work on Pinterest marketing!
I bet you will love it!
Never pay for any service until you really know what you’re doing.
TIPS: Simple Pin Pinterest Strategy is another excellent Facebook Group decent to join. If you are just getting started, and you’re not sure about this approach, there are so many helpful bloggers ready here.
If I choose to manually pin, is there any proven strategies?
Of course, there is!
I continued to research on the net and I just found that everybody was recommending a book by Carly called Pinteresting Strategies.
Carly used the system explained in her book to obtain over 200,000 page views on only a couple of months.
Carly’s book is incredible and one of the most reasonably priced courses that you will ever see. While other courses sold for $197 or more, this course only sold for $47.
Carly’s book Pinteresting Strategies shows you how to use a manual strategy to pin when you are just getting started. Her approach really helps you understand what Pinterest is about and how it works. Her course covers everything that you could ever need for a Pinterest beginner.
Conclusion
There are so many methods for driving traffic to a blog. Pinterest is one of the most reliable traffic sources for new bloggers. Simply set up a business account on Pinterest, create a couple of Pinterest boards, fill them with content, join the group boards and use Tailwind to automate your work.
The necessary extra effort (and need more focused) is to find some group boards to join. Once you have been accepted, your pins will start appearing in front of their audiences and your blog will be flooded with high-volume of traffic.
So, if you aren’t using Pinterest to market your website, service, or product, then you are leaving money on the table!
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