How to Use Pinterest for Beginners

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As you start reading the beginning of this article you find yourself wondering what it would be like to receive regular free traffic from Pinterest.

You're intelligent enough to know that some people use Pinterest to drive most of their traffic to their blog.

The further on you read you'll begin to understand how this is possible.

Welcome to how to use Pinterest for beginners...

Firstly, Why Use Pinterest? 

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If you're anything like me you've probably not used Pinterest much.

The little time you have spent on it has been wasted by pretty pictures of barn weddings and girly stuff.

So why bother to use Pinterest?

Because it's business model is designed to connect users to content. No other BIG social media platform is designed for this.

Now, read that again.

Simply put, the best way to get NEW visitors to your site are:

• Pinterest = user to content (awesome)
• Google = user to content (awesome)
• Facebook = user to user (good)
• Twitter = user to user (good)
• Instagram = user to user (average at best- it is good for creating "followers" and a brand though!)

Any social media can be a great way to drive traffic to your website, especially if you already have a "presence" on there.

However, Pinterest really takes the biscuit for getting new visitors to your website.

A pin that is months or years old can still bring traffic to your website.

This is not the case for most other social media platforms (especially Twitter... imagine!)

As you pay close attention to this page you will find out how this is all possible...

Related content:

• The Top 4 Secret Pinterest Hacks

5 Steps to Get Traffic to Your Blog Using Pinterest

So there are loads of little tips and tricks to automate this traffic and to turn your blog into an online business.

But let's keep it simple to get your account set up in the best way possible.

If you are interested in seeing some of these automation tips then check out how Jeff and Ben created a $240k/ month online business using Pinterest.

Let's find out how to use Pinterest for beginners...

#1 Set up Your Account- Understanding How Pinterest Works

Step one is to have your account set up in a way to help Pinterest know who you are and what you are sharing.

Just like other social media platforms, Pinterest uses fancy algorithms that decide what content is shown to which people.

It's your job to make sure your account is set up to tell Pinterest what your blog is about and people that are interested in it can find it.

Simples.

Here are a few things you need to make sure you have done for your account to be set up in the best way:

• Have a business account set up
• Enable rich pins
• Use keywords in your name and bio
• Set up boards using keywords

It doesn't sound too bad but if you do this stage right it can take some time. Click any of the links above to find out more about each step.

I will leave this little nugget with you to help find your Pinterest keywords...

1. Click ads in the top left corner on Pinterest (only available to those with a business account).
2. Click "create ad" (don't worry you won't actually do this)
3. Hit continue
4. Scroll down to Keywords
5. Type in your keywords and it will show you the number of people that search for variations of your keywords every month

#2 How to Create a Board on Pinterest

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I'm not going to waste your time here... but this is an important step for how to use Pinterest for beginners!

• Click your profile, click boards, click add board.

The bit I do want to mention is what you should have on your board.

1. Specific title ("blogging" is bad "blogging tips for beginners" is better)
2. Keyword-rich descriptions (put in keywords i.e. "get more traffic" "SEO tips for beginners" "Affiliate marketing tips" etc.)
3. Design a brand cover photo using colours and fonts that you usually use (see below)

Related Articles:

• Top Secret Pinterest Hacks
• The Best Blogging Resources
• Build an Amazing website in under 30 seconds!
• Why do People Create Blogs? These 28 Bloggers Explain Their Story
• 6 Blogging Tips for Newbies

Re-arrange Pins on Pinterest Boards

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This can cause some confusion!

It's easy enough to repin your own pin to a different board but a lot of people seem to struggle with rearranging pins WITHIN a board.

Let me ask you this... Do you have certain posts that you want more people to find?

Of course, you do!

So make sure you rearrange your pins on occasion so that your best pins are at the front of your board!

There has been a couple of changes to Pinterest recently so check out this video to see how to rearrange pins on Pinterest.

https://youtu.be/CbBaTEdKFTI

#3 How to Make a Pin for Pinterest 

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So you've had your appetiser, now let's just jump into a few plates of meat...

There are 2 main graphic designers you can use to create your pins:

1. Canva
2. Snappa

Canva is free

Snappa costs $10 a month (or you get 5 downloads for free each month).

Canva is great for starting out, so here are my top tips:

• Bookmark different designs you use so you can quickly find the layout you like.
• Use Pexels.com to get all the FREE stock photo's you need
• If you want a transparent background (especially for logo designs) use this website for free.
• Use a png compressor to make sure your pins are a smaller storage size (which improves the SEO of your website)

Snappa basically can do all the above (minus the png compressor) in one place.

Here's why you may choose Snappa:

• You pay for convenience!
• It's much more user-friendly to use
• You can save unlimited pin designs (to save you time rather than recreating them EVERY time)
• The stock photos are better than pexels.com

Now, I can almost hear your mind saying...

But What Should Your Pins Look Like?

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There's really only one rule...

Make them "Pinterest Pretty"

But what does that mean?

Just look at the best pins for "affiliate marketing for beginners":

Top tips for how to use Pinterest for beginners:

• Don't make them ugly
• Make Writing BIG and clear to read
• Use LOTS of white space
• Don't make them ugly
  
• Use COLOURFUL text
• Use a 2:3 ratio (typically 600 x 900px... don't go over 1,260 px tall but I'm currently trying out 735 x 1,105 px to make it stand out a bit more)
• Don't make them UGLY!!

Here's an example (be sure to Pin this so you can come back to it later!)

#4 How to Get Followers on Pinterest 

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There's no secret sauce here!

Here's the scientific 2 step process (which can be used on ANY social media platform):

1. Follow Pinteresters that you'd like to follow you!
2. Pin stuff!

NEXT MEAL PLEASE!

Honestly, it has been said numerous times by Pinterest that the number of followers you have on Pinterest DOES NOT MATTER.

STOP!!

Re-read that sentence.

Partly because your content can be found through the search bar and the home page but mainly because of Tip number 5...

#5 Ultimate Tip! How to Join Pinterest Group Boards

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So this is the game changer!

This is how Pinterest can help to drive so much more traffic than other social media platforms. 

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Hold on a jiffy... What is a group board?

It is a board that has 2 or more "collaborators" (people that can post pins on a board)

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You can invite others to collaborate on your boards but the exciting part...

You can become a collaborator on other boards.

So if you are new and you get on a board with 10,000 followers then all of these people can see, share and view your pins!

Boom!!

If you would like to know how to do this then I would recommend you start this free Pinterest email course.

This includes an email template of how to ask to become a collaborator and how to track who you've asked!

How to Use Pinterest for Beginners Summary

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The more you keep reading this article the more you begin to understand how to use Pinterest and how it can be a MAJOR traffic supply.

Since you're still here I'm going to assume you want to take Pinterest seriously.

If that's the case you can find out a lot more tips and tactics about how to set up Pinterest in the best way for traffic in the FREE 6-day email course above...

The best part is:

There's a way to automate it so you only need to put in one hour a month once it's going!

Get on it like white on rice!

Keep changing for the better,

Mike

P.S. If you want more Pinterest tips, then check out the 5 Pinterest Hacks to get More Traffic.