How to Promote Your Blog Using Pinterest

I was recently joining in on a blogger chat on Twitter, the #lbloggers chat more specifically (7pm Sundays and Wednesdays GMT), and the topic was “How to increase your Readership”. As always there was a load of discussion about consistently posting, writing as you would speak and being genuine with your integrity, but the topic soon turned to what tools and Social Media sites are best for promoting your posts.

As always Twitter came up trumps with Facebook and Google+ as close joint seconds, but then someone threw up a curveball; Pinterest. Whenever Pinterest is mentioned as a promotional tool in these chats it is always met with a chorus of “but how?!”. Now, I love using Pinterest. I was a Pinterest nut before I even started blogging, in fact it is how I got into it. The story goes like this:

*Me perusing through food porn*

“Ooh, look at that pie. Ooh, look at that brownie! Ooh, oh……wait, what?.....the Anti-Diet? What is this business?”

*Clicks on link*

Computer: “Welcome to The Londoner Blog, please keep your arms in, your eyes open, and say goodbye to the next 5 hours of your life, you’re in for a ride.”

Within a very short amount of time I had a little collection of blogs that I followed via Pinterest (I still have my trusty Blog Board here), then I discovered Bloglovin’ and the rest, as they say, is history. I have always used Pinterest as a way of promoting my blog because it’s all I know and it is a great tool for British bloggers looking to get themselves noticed across the pond. “How?!” I hear you cry, well I am by no means an expert but I do have a few little hints and tips that may just help you along the way:

1.       First thing you need to do is get on there and pin. Pin until you think you’ve pinned too much, then pin some more. The fundamental thing to Pinterest is to get your pins in the main feed. Once you have some established boards you will find that you pin more and more, and your pins don’t have to be blog based to start with. Show your personality through your boards, have a wanderlust board, a food board, a board with funny cat memes, a Harry Potter Board….anything that you are interested in; have a board for it!

2.       Spend time researching your area of expertise. If you are a food blogger I tend to think you have the easiest ride on Pinterest. It is by far the busiest subject and it is easier to get noticed. The people love food! Fashion bloggers are the same. All you beauty bloggers out there may find you have to work a little harder. Ultimately, though, the key is to stand out. Pinterest is an entirely visual thing and this is the reason it works. The better quality your images the better, just remember you need to stand out. A picture of 4 different eyeshadow shades painted on your arm is not going to get much interest, neither is a dark photos of your marvellous couscous dish. A picture of your beautiful face with the eyeshadow in its rightful place will be more interesting or your couscous dish in an exotic looking bowl will do the trick. Be clever with your photos.

3.       If you do tutorials on your blog then get.them.up.there. Pinners love a good tutorial, your how to guides will go down a storm. If you are a vlogger then do some stills and link it to your video. You can post videos but I never see these being repinned as much as photo stills. Remember that the people who are likely to give your tutorial a go are likely to do it with your tutorial open on a screen beside them….stills mean they can go at their own pace.

4.       Find niche areas within your areas. Now, I don’t mean start writing about things you don’t believe in, I mean find what works and doesn’t in each of your topics. I know that book pins don’t tend to get as many repins or views as an Adventure post. I know that when I pin my more cute and quirky recipe posts I get more views than when I post my serious cake posts (can you have a serious cake post?!). Watch what works and what doesn’t. My Harry Potter board has more followers than any other board I have….I don’t write about Harry Potter, but I know it gets traffic to my profile and from there I can entice readers with a Roger Moore eyebrow and a come hither look, so I pin to it…..plus there’s always room for more Harry Potter in your life. Oh, all the feels!

5.       As always; network. Get your pinterest account out there, get people following. Join community boards. Do occasional “my faves of Pinterest” posts on your blog. Follow other bloggers. Comment, like, pin, repin and message until you can do no more. Pinterest is still Social Media and the more you use it the more you’ll get from it.

6.     Make it Easy for people to pin from your blog. Add widgets and get pin it gadgets on your images. You can link your blog to your Pinterest page and have a business account which gives you access to additional tools and basic analytics. I find these very useful!

7.     Repin other blogs to your boards. Whether you pin their images directly from their blog (don't worry Pinterest automatically links the image to their blog so you don't need to worry about being accused of image theft!), create a board specifically to list who you follow, or even repin what they have pinned. All of these are great for spreading the word on your blogging community with the added bonus of promoting your own. 

One final thing to consider if you are umming and ahhing about hopping on the Pinterest bandwagon: it can inspire you more than you can ever imagine. You will discover things, learn things and see things that will trigger that little light of inspiration, and before you know it you will be writing an entire blog post based on something you’ve seen on Pinterest.

I will also recommend, if you’re all about the DIYing, you really should read Sonja’s blog (http://pintester.com/ ). She is hilarious and shows you what is worth trying and what is not. Definitely worth a read if for nothing but a chuckle!

Now, if you don’t mind I’m going to go and find a quiet place for some alone time with my Pinterest account (go on, give us a follow!)!