Oh my goodness you guys! I have been using Pinterest all wrong for years!
If you're a blogger and in the same boat read on. If you're a Pinterest expert this post is not for you but maybe you have some tips to add in the comments at the bottom. :)
Recently I have learned a little bit about Pinterest. Up until now I have made the mistake of ignoring Pinterest a lot and I have also just been repinning stuff willy-nilly without any plan. Here's what I've learned and what all bloggers should know.
1. Pinterest is a search engine.
A very powerful search engine. It's like Google! So when you pin something you need to check what it says in the caption and edit it to make sure you have key words in there so it will show up in a search. I feel really dumb about this but I was pinning things from my blog and not even checking the caption. If my blog post had a weak title like "Finished Projects" that's what would show up in the caption. So none of my stuff was getting found in search! Doh! (smacks forehead)
2. You can move your boards around!
I didn't know this! You can click and drag your boards around. This means you should move all boards related to your blog or your own work to the top of the page! Then people who click in can see your work and what you're all about first.
3. Don't keep empty boards:
When I first signed up for Pinterest there were boards there that Pinterest had for me as suggestions to get me started. I never pinned things to these boards and they were just sitting empty. Delete those boards! They bring you down in priority for Pinterest (yes Pinterest has an algorithm too) so you don't show up as often on people's main pages and they also look bad to someone who is thinking of following you.
4. Delete pins that don't have any repins:
If you have a lot of pins from your own site and they aren't getting re-pinned - delete them. Re-pin them again so they get back to the top and check your captions to make sure they are descriptive and have great key words in them. Words such as "mini quilt" or "pincushion" or "rainbow quilt" so that when someone searches those terms your pin will pop up.
5. Pin every week:
Ignoring Pinterest was a mistake. By doing that I became very low on their priority list for what shows up in search. No one was seeing my pins or finding me there. Since I've started paying attention and being more mindful of my pinning I've already gained about 20 followers in two weeks! If you aren't following me there yet I would love it if you would!
Click here to follow me on Pinterest.
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