As I’ve mentioned in a previous post about Pinterest, I love the benefits I’m receiving with very little time and effort.
You just can’t beat that kind of traffic.
I’m a very light Pinterest user and probably use the site less than 30 minutes per month, but continue to receive more and more followers and traffic as time goes on.
So a few days ago, I tried something new.
I noticed that someone I follow posted an image with a cute saying about natural hair, and it received quite a bit of likes and re-pins (shares).
I decided to create my own after being inspired by a teen who had severe damage from straightening her hair with relaxers.
As a result she had to cut all her hair off and decided to grow it out naturally. Unfortunately she began getting teased at school because her natural hair was not “straight and pretty” like most of her classmates.
[sigh] I can only imagine how incredibly traumatic that must be for anyone, let alone a teenager in a world where bullying is out of control and acceptance is craved.
So I fired up Photoshop and in about 3 minutes, I produced this very simple image that reflected my thoughts…
After I created the image I added it to a relevant page on NapturallyCurly.com to prepare it for pinning/sharing on Pinterest. (Photos you pin/share link back to the page where the image is located.)
Within a few days the image received over 40 likes and nearly 100 re-pins (shares) on other member’s boards. As a result, the page the image was linked to also began getting daily traffic from those who clicked it.
Now, for you Pinterest pros out there, those stats may not be that impressive, but considering I only have 96 Pinterest followers (that number does not include followers on my individual boards) and spend so little time on the site, I would say that’s a pretty good return on investment.
Imagine if I duplicated this strategy on a regular basis.
I should also mention that traffic I receive from Pinterest shares from my own site are of decent quality. The bounce rate is around 40% and the average visitor stays between 3 and 5 minutes.
I attribute that to…
1) My Pinterest account is very niche (boards are all natural hair focused), so I attract a more targeted following
2) The topic of hair is very visual, which is great for a site like Pinterest
Quick Example
So let’s say you have a cooking website and a Pinterest board named “Favorite Meals” where you post images of dishes you like to prepare.
You could create an image with a picture of your homemade lasagna. Underneath the image, take the classic cliché phrase and change it up to read….
The Way to a Man’s Heart is Through My Lasagna
OK, sounds corny, I know… but you get the idea. 😉
Next, add that image to a page on your site where you have the lasagna recipe listed. And if you don’t have a page, create one! Now when you pin this image to your board from that page, it will be linked to this recipe page for all your followers to view.
If this example sounds extreme to you then you probably don’t realize how truly popular Pinterest is right now. People are claiming that Pinterest is now driving more traffic to their sites than Facebook and Twitter combined!
Twenty million (and growing) Pinterest users are pinning pictures and sharing EVERYTHING from trees, flowers, jewelry to shoes, cars, animals, houses and more.
Try It Yourself
You don’t have to be a graphics designer to create a simple image. All I did was open a blank file and use the text tool to write.
If you don’t have a graphics program, you can download Gimp or Paint.net for free. There are numerous tutorials on YouTube for how to create a basic image. I promise, it’s not hard. For Photoshop users, I have a tutorial on creating a simple image with text here.
Now, here’s how to get the most out of your creation for Pinterest…
1) Create a board just for posting pictures from your site (i.e. Favorite Meals)
2) Create a message that is relevant to the images you’ve pinned on that board
3) Make the message funny, inspiring, catchy or noteworthy
4) Don’t forget to watermark it or add your website address to the image for branding
5) Ensure it’s large enough to be read easily (at least 300 pixels) and has good quality
6) Add the image to a page on your site that is relevant to the image so when pinned, it will be linked to that page from your Pinterest account
Have fun with this! You never know what could become of your creativity. 😀
How can I get more traffic from pinterest?
I created on Pinterest that netted me over 800 followers and tons of repins out of nowhere. One tip I would like to offer is to pin images that are out of the norm. People love seeing something different and unique.
One tip I would like to offer is to pin images that are out of the norm. People love seeing something different and unique.thanks…!!
I have 1 board that I created on Pinterest that netted me over 800 followers and tons of repins out of nowhere. One tip I would like to offer is to pin images that are out of the norm. People love seeing something different and unique.thanks…!!
Great tip Angelina!
These is a great example and I agree with the picture because you know what we go through as women. I have 1 board that I created on Pinterest that netted me over 800 followers and tons of repins out of nowhere. One tip I would like to offer is to pin images that are out of the norm. People love seeing something different and unique.thanks…!!
helllo..Lisa really informative article…thanks…in between merry chritsmas…!!!
Great post Lisa. I have a question for you. Suppose if my blog is without any pictures of its own but contains affiliate banners that shows when a page is pinned, can it lead to any problems. How do I circumvent the problem without any image of my own.
From
Larn Edutech
I don’t see this as a problem given that the link will go back to your site where you are promoting the product anyway. So it only gives more exposure to the merchant that owns the affiliate banner.
You can use either of the two to get high quality traffic on your website. SMO is similar to SEO to generate traffic and visibility for a website. It’s Optimizing a website and its content in terms of sharing across social media and networking sites.
Thank you. I was looking for this kind of information. I am just hoping my website gets decent amount of visitors from pinterest. Starting with it now.
This was very informative thanks!
thx for this awesome tricks i m going to use them.
Hi Ms Lisa! These is a great example and I agree with the picture because you know what we go through as women. I have 1 board that I created on Pinterest that netted me over 800 followers and tons of repins out of nowhere. One tip I would like to offer is to pin images that are out of the norm. People love seeing something different and unique.
Lisa, thank you, this is just an awesome idea and post! I am a regular reader of your site but barely respond to posts (i’m shy), but this time i just had to. Makes me want to try build a totally new website and try increasing its traffic mostly by Pinterest 🙂 I might really try it, you got me all excited 🙂
Hi Lisa,
I have around 1k followers on pinterest but never get a single visitor from Pinterest…what you say about it..?
Hello lisa Great topic but i have one question i created Aboard Named jewelry Under Products category When I pin an image from my website does not appear on Public Under This category What is The Reason ?
I do use pinterest alot and normally i put funny items i do have together with funny pictures. It is amazing how it goes though i have quite a few followers and some of them my clients. The ones i normally use are pinterest, facebook and twitter. The right on pictures sometimes is hard… It means if you find a picture, you can’t share it because you don’t have the rights, in the end of the day.. the photographer gets no credit..understood… so for the picture rights why doesn’t the photographer itself put his copyright or mark on the picture that way he gets credit from the “share” after all people are sharing his work isn’t it, for the simple fact of enjoying the pic.. it is complicated… when i find a pic with the copyright i normally share it… but the copyright goes with it too plus backlinks… It really depends on what i do like really.
Hi ALL,
I am working for an educational product site. However I pin the images of the products on daily basis. These images are so attractive. But I am not getting Viral Traffic from pintrest. What should I do fro getting traffic? Please give your suggestions.
I am using It but no viral traffic