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. 😀
Hi Lisa, great post thanks.
I must admit that I signed up for a Pinterest account a while back and lost interest in it pretty quickly because I didn’t really get what it was all about.
Time for me to take another look I think and add it to my traffic arsenal 🙂
I’ve played around with Pinterest a bit and it doesn’t take long to see just how effective it can be–for people who aren’t me. There are certain kinds of images that do well, but unfortunately, none of them are found on my site.
I run a travel themed humor blog, but the only travel images that do well on Pinterest are one that have spent hours on a Photoshop desktop.
I think the sites that can benefit most from Pinterest are online shops that have quality photographs of their products.
Its good tips for getting started. To this point we have been trying just pictures so will give this a try.
Lisa, I too use Pinterest for less time. I have been working on improving my followers. They are very less. Adding a # tag helped me to a certain increase. I am following many of the points that you mentioned here instead of good caption. From, now I will try to give catchy names to my pins.. Thanks a lot. 🙂
I just know about Pinterest from this blog and I want to try it. It sounds interesting for getting significant traffic, Thanks Lisa for your sharing.
I am using pinterest, but still i am not able to understand how i an drive traffi from that? plz do reply admin
Pinterest is really the best and I love staying in Pinterest. I waited for 2 months, just to get the invite. As you say, it can be the best for business, sharing, and everything and also the shares in Pinterest are always unique. I think it will be beat Facebook in few months.
Hi Lisa,
I’ve read some of your posts about the very interesting pinterest.
I will soon set up a website about the cake that I made. Ihave prepared some pictures. And of course I also have made a request to be invited to pinterest.
Now, I just have to wait for the invitation. I hope it comes quickly;)
Thank you again Lisa.
Its good tips for getting started. To this point we have been trying just pictures so will give this a try.
Hi Lisa,
I’ll definitely be trying this out. Lots of traffic from this new social site.
Cool information keeps up the work!
Problem is that i didnt get any email from pinterest as i register there.
http://vmobileloadmillionaire.blogspot.com/
thanks for the info lisa. great content
Hi, Lisa, I don’t use Pinterest as much as a I could…I appreciate these tips and you pointing out great strategies. I have just discovered your videos on youtube and really appreciate all of the advice about Thesis! Thanks so much!
Hi Lisa! I’ve just started on Pinterest and admit that I’ve been a little lost and not quite sure what to do. I’m really excited after reading your article. Thanks so much for sharing your tips! 🙂
hey Lisa ! really great post !
Pinterest is just boosting my visitors! i appreciate your unique effort !
proved it once again ‘images speaks better than words’
Hi Lisa good to leave my first comment on one of your pages. You do such a good job of being seen on the Internet from Youtube to Pinterest & always with such good information.
I have watched so many of your videos and always look forward to the next look or hair style but I really wanted to let you know about this webinar for building traffic from Pinterest you can sign up at pinningprofit.com for a time that you can make it.
Thanks for this information. I will be giving this a shot!
Thank You
Hello Lisa, I would like to know if I can incorporate my adsence account to my pinterest to make money
Thank You
No, not at this time.
Hey Lisa, thanks for the tips, I’m certainly going to try this. So far my experience of Pinterest has only been of people browsing and repinning our images, but we’ll persevere with your tips and see if we can get some users actually clicking through.
Thanks
This is a great Pinterest strategy! If you don’t know what you are doing then generating SEO results and traffic results can be hard… you seem to have hit the nail on the head! Thanks for sharing this neat little trick 🙂
Good suggestions. I can’t believe how quickly Pinterest has grown in such a short period of time! One of the reasons is that you don’t have to write anything more than a caption. People don’t like to write. I always hear people say “I don’t use Facebook or Twitter, because I never know what to say”. With Pinterest, you just post a picture about your interests. Everyone knows “A picture tells a thousand words”. I love this video of people making fun of Pinterest: http://www.screenflex.com/videos/pinterest/
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.
There are probably scripts you can install to block the Pinterest functionality. I know that Flickr installed one. Worst case though is something will just click your banner and it will go to your affiliate URL. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Lisa I absolutely LOVE your image and think that was a great idea. Now I’m considering doing the same, and it’s funny that I never looked at it that way; I read so many from other people it never crossed my mind to create my own 🙂
Hi Lisa.
I have been a bit slow to get over to Pinterest even though everyone is talking about it.
That was a great idea that you had and a sad story about the young girl.
I have been busy with creating a product but will have to get over to Pinterest and open an account.
Thank’s also for the six point that you shared.
Hey Lisa, awesome tips you are providing as usual.
I have been on the Pinterest boat and I must say that I have been enjoying the traffic that I have gotten so far from it. This is a must for all persons who desire to build up traffic. Just keep your boards niched categorized so that these persons will benefit more.
This is a great post. Too bad that none of the people who are reading my site are posting on pintrest regularly. Or is that just a group that I need to connect with?
Lisa,
Your last post was what got me to use Pinterest more often, maybe 15 min a month, but I do get visitors to my site and followers on Pinterest. I just wish I could figure out how to easily thank people for pinning or re-pinning my pins.
Great post! We put a video spoof on Pinterest on our website & on Pinterest. We doubled the clicks pinning on Pinterest. I also agree that adding a witty comment or something catchy gets more repins.
For kicks, here is the crazy video my friends and I made about Pinterest.
http://www.screenflex.com/videos/pinterest/
hi, i want to get more income from blogging. so want is you suggestion. by the way, you have great post. keep it up. thanks in advanced.
Thanks for the info about Pintrest. I created an account after viewing your yt video. I had a few sales since then.
I will try using Pinterest to promote our villa websites. It has a great potential.
Lisa
pinterest is awesome I’m a light pinterest user my self but, my followers are growing and im getting some repins
Pinterest is one of the ways we can use to increase traffic and promote the sites we have.. Thanks Lisa for your awesome share here!
Hi Lisa, Thanks for sharing this with us. Although I have been hearing about pinterest, I have never thought of giving it a try. But, I think with your write-up I may want to reconsider. Also thanks for sharing those graphic programs.
Lol, been having this idea for some time now just need to actually implement it! Guess I have no excuse not to do it now that you kicked me in the butt, lol. Awesome tip!
Get on it, Missy! LOL
So true! Images do play a key role in enhancing blog posts and when we talk about pinteresting, that very image can drive us quality traffic only iff its attractive. Isn’t it?
Lisa nice write up and so true about magic of images on Pinterest.. you actually did a great work here by creating an image and proving the theory “Images speak hundred words” and you touched the sentiment here…..
Something every blogger should look out for if they targeting Pinterest …
Loved the post Lisa!
For once I have tried what you mentioned at my recent post and it worked! Yes, because it was the first time I didn’t get that many likes but because Pinterest is so viral it just spreads like wild fire!
I intend doing the same thing with most of my pictures I am going to be using on my blog. However, I do have a questions regarding the images we use for this purpose.
Do we have to use only the free images and then add our effects and text to it to make it of our blog? Or can we even use the copyright or any other image that can be worked upon, and without giving credit to the photographer use the image, because we would be creating a new image by adding text or other effects to it?
I have seen people do both the things so was just wondering. And any suggestions as to where we could get free images that can be worked upon or free to use without giving any credit?
Pinterest is addictive, and it takes ages to get away from it for sure. But yes, I love this tip you shared and it DOES work. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Harleena,
For copyright reasons you should only use images that you have rights to use. MorgueFile.com has images you can manipulate free for commercial use. Now of course that doesn’t mean the images you pin from other people’s sites aren’t copyrighted…. that’s been the biggest issue with Pinterest thus far… but you can’t really control what other people do. I just make sure that my own images on my sites have been cleared to use. I have a subscription to Photos.com, which gives me rights to use/modify images commercially..
Frankly, I never use pinterest before I view this post. May be I will have a try. Do you have some other tips for beginners?
Hey Sara, I’m still kind of new to it myself. But I’ve done something a little different than most. My account is very niche, meaning I only create boards related to my hair site that is linked to my account. It helps me attract a more targeted following. Not saying it’s the best way, but just the way I’ve chosen to operate, for now.
I am loving pinterest at the moment, for now I have been just using it on my writing blog, spread examples of poetry and essays etc, but now, this week, I am going to create another account just for my Internetmarketing blog and see what traffic I can generate with this. Pinterest is actually a brilliant site, and it is amazing for talented artist out there wanting to spread their work since for me, facebook is a waste of time and the new mess of a timeline seems to be turning people away from it towards pinterest.
Just thought I’d mention that pixlr is a pretty cool online graphics/photo editor, that’s free and doesn’t require downloading.
It’s a good alternative to PhotoShop, Gimp, etc, for doing a lot of graphic related tasks.
http://pixlr.com/
Thanks Tom! Always good to know about these tools when I’m referencing an image editor…. especially ones that require no download.
What an awesome illustration of the power of an image. I went to Napturally Nurly immediately when I saw the pic.
Love the idea!
Ha ha, yeah it’s definitely more popular among women it seems.
Very true, like those infographics that people are always sharing on Twitter and Facebook.
Pinterest is something that I haven’t really gotten into. My wife has realized the power of Pinterest and has become addicted. I find it funny, since she rarely gets addicted to anything online.
As for what works, I find images that are funny, catchy, or inspiring can work for many social networks, and not just Pinterest.
Hi Lisa,
I hadn’t heard of Pinterest till I visited your blog last week. My blog however isn’t graphical to say the least. Any advice on how bloggers with less graphical sites can get viral traffic from Pinterest?
You can create a board for your favorite blogs. Pinterest is not just for visual sites. So let’s say you have a board for “Marketing Blogs” Anytime you read a blog article you like, you can pin the picture and it will link back to that blog. Pinterest users pin all kinds of stuff — even content they like — it’s definitely not just for visually oriented sites.
I’ve only just started using Pinterest Still got to get my head around it
Handy to show pool renovations before and after shots
Hope all is well out there Lisa 🙂
John
Hey Dave,
I believe if you are creative and you like doing graphic design then there are a lot of opportunities there!
I am on pinterest and I also have good # of followers but I have no Interest on Pinterest 🙁 what you say about Pinterest?
Hi Lisa! Pinterest is quite unique – I do a lot of original artwork, photography and illustrating… I’ve had people beat me to “pinning” my own stuff!
Just like blogging, “pinning” should be effortless if you are already creating original images for your blog or website!
Blog On!