Pinterest is different from what most people think it is. The platform isn’t quite a social network, and it isn’t a marketplace, either. Pinterest is much more than a photo-sharing app or virtual scrapbook and serves a unique role among content creators and creative professionals.

Pinterest behaves like a search engine, allowing users to share and bookmark their favorite content. The platform performs many functions that make using it an in-depth personal experience not seen elsewhere. But what does Pinterest have to do with blogging? 

Pinterest is unique – very unique. Aside from impressive growth over the past couple of years, the platform falls into a category that makes it hard to define. But it excels at one thing in particular – driving vast amounts of traffic quickly. This is why bloggers are fast realizing the value Pinterest has for their brands and content. 

This article reveals why bloggers are turning to this one-of-a-kind online resource, tool, and traffic kickstart engine. We’ll dive into what Pinterest is all about, what it can do for your blog, and how to start using Pinterest for bloggers in tandem with your blog as soon as possible. Blogging with Pinterest has never been more exciting!

For some time, bloggers remained focused on driving high-quality content to the internet and enjoying the fruits of their labor in traffic and resulting revenues. Simple. But times have changed. Blogging requires a multi-faceted approach that incorporates social media, SEO, and promotion on a level not seen before.

This means that bloggers spend much of their energy creating high-quality content directly through their blogs, hoping that Google ranks it. And while this is still the primary objective for successful blogging, there is a growing list of additional avenues bloggers can use to give their blogs the exposure they need – especially in the early days of its life – and Pinterest is one of them.

Show me the…Traffic

Pinterest is a known traffic driver. While some platforms are great for engagement and others for revenue, Pinterest is among the top tools for sending throngs of already-engaged audience members to your blog or website without having to build, wait and grow first. 

Pinterest for bloggers to gain direct access to specific blogging niches. The platform’s model and structure mean that people can locate visual content related to their particular needs far better than other platforms.

This presents a golden opportunity to use it to tap into their niche markets. Pinterest and blogging are both designed to inspire. And what better way to attract people to your blog than to give them an enlightened reason to do so? 

Pinterest is a search engine, a community platform, a content library, and a marketing tool all rolled into one. The best part? It’s all free. With 455 million active monthly users and a growing user base comprising a wide variety of niche audiences, Pinterest’s market reach is impressive. 

The platform lets users create “boards” – digital collections of visual content where users can save “pins.” This makes Pinterest a great resource for content creators looking to engage with their followers visually while boosting their brand image. 

Pinterest is powerful

Pinterest ranks as one of the fastest-growing community-based platforms and gives many other social media networks a run for their money. Here are some stats to demonstrate why blogging with Pinterest is such a good idea:

• Pins on Pinterest are up to 100 times more likely to be shared and spread than the average tweet (Instapage). 
• Pins last longer, too – up to a week versus 30 minutes on Twitter and under 2 hours on Facebook. (BloggingWizard)
• Here’s the real value though: Each individual pin on Pinterest can drive up to 6 pageviews and 2 visits to your blog. That’s exponentially higher than Facebook’s conversion potential and outranks Instagram and Twitter by a large margin (Search Engine Watch).

Pinterest uses boards and pins posted in a profile. These elements function similarly to other social media platforms. Marketers, online store owners, and brands use Pinterest to promote their products, communicate their offerings, and share inspiration and ideas. Pinterest for bloggers represents the visual side of their written content. Followers get to see visual snapshots of what inspires a blogger, while bloggers get to tap into Pinterest’s vibrant spread of new ideas. 

Pinterest Profile

Your profile is where everything lives. Your boards, pins, and information can all be found here. Users can see a profile’s monthly views, usernames, and follower counts. People can follow your profile, and you can follow others. Bloggers on Pinterest should open a Pinterest Business account, but we’ll get to that. 

Pinterest Boards

A Pinterest Board is a collection of media representing a theme, interest, or idea. Users can have collections of boards on their Pinterest profiles, and others can browse and explore them. Boards can be likened to a Facebook Page or an Instagram album. 

Pinterest Pins

Pins are essentially posts on Pinterest that are also bookmarks. They are images or videos containing a link, a title, and a description and are used to save content users like or want to share. Pinners can pin anything on their boards, and people can search for pins, learn more about them by clicking, and save the ones they like.

Understanding how to use Pinterest for blogging means that bloggers can use boards and pins to communicate their content ideas and to give their blogs a visual element. More importantly, pins and boards can help a blogger convey a theme or opinion related to their topic or subject niche. The more pins you share, the more traffic you’ll earn. 

As a search engine where you showcase your thoughts and ideas visually, Pinterest provides all the benefits of a social platform without the dangers and toxicity that come with many of them.

Beyond the benefits of using a search engine to market your blog, though, there are myriad other advantages of having a Pinterest profile as a blogger. 

Niche Access

Pinterest is a natural destination for creators and influencers operating in those ‘hyper-visual’ niches. Think about the travel, food, and design niches, and you can see the allure for creators looking to showcase their interests and offerings by blogging with Pinterest. 

But Pinterest also lets you tap into some traditionally very tough niches to enter. By reaching out to audiences in those niches via Pinterest and visually appealing to them by sharing their pins and engaging, you can leverage a channel into highly profitable niches that aren’t being heavily trafficked – yet. 

Traffic

Pinterest can be used as a significant traffic driver for your blog. Many bloggers have already leveraged the platform as their primary source of traffic. Once you’ve aligned your Pinterest activities to your blog, you can expect to see good numbers coming through this channel. 

If you adopt a strategic approach to your Pinterest and blogging – much like you would with your SEO and Google – you can take advantage of the search engine’s capacity to connect your content with the right people. Over time, as your followership grows, traffic will flow steadily from the platform to your blog effortlessly. 

Audience & Community

Pinterest has often been associated with a female-dominated, US-based audience. This benefits bloggers on two important fronts – especially if you want to use the platform to grow your blog into new markets. 

While almost 60% of Pinterest’s users are female, this is in stark contrast to other social media platforms’ male-dominated demographics. This makes Pinterest a particularly attractive option for bloggers operating in female-focused niches (Moms, cosmetics, women’s fashion etc.) At the same time, bloggers looking to boost their female traffic can use Pinterest to drive more women to their blogs. 

Pinterest’s US-dominated market share is also key to bloggers looking to attract lucrative traffic. Bloggers who rely heavily on local readerships or those partnering with US-based brands will see good returns for going the Pinterest and blogging route. 

Good Addition to Existing Social Media

Pinterest’s place as a ‘smaller’ platform, when compared to social media titans like YouTube and Facebook, means that it won’t get in the way of your current social media presence. If you’re struggling to gain as much traction as you’d like on other platforms, you can use Pinterest as a driver to your website or blog. Visitors can then access your social media links in your blog back to the other platforms. 

Using Pinterest isn’t rocket science. The platform has a shallow learning curve and once you’re up and running, managing and maintaining your profile is simple.

Here’s a quickfire overview of how to get started on Pinterest as a blogger.