How to Optimize Your Blog Posts for Pinterest
Pinterest and blogging go together like Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson, Lorelai and Rory, Jake Peralta and Charles Boyle…
You get the picture.
They’re good alone, but they’re best when they’re together.
If you’re reading this post, you probably already know that blogging for your business is incredibly valuable.
✅ It improves your SEO
✅ It establishes your credibility
✅ It helps educate others! Yay!
However, after chatting with some of my clients, I realized that many creatives aren’t thinking about Pinterest when they write their blog posts. They FIRST write their blog and THEN think about ways to promote it on Pinterest. But what if we thought about Pinterest first?
What if we used Pinterest to inform our blogs and then optimized our blog posts for Pinterest?
Read on to discover just how to do that!
Use Pinterest to Find Your Blog Topic
If you struggle to come up with ideas for your blog, you’re not alone. Here are three easy ideas that you can use to generate some ideas for your blog!
1. Search on Pinterest trends
If you haven’t checked out Pinterest Trends, you’re missing out. This section of Pinterest tells you what content is trending yearly, seasonally, monthly, or right now.
This past winter, the term “old money wedding invitations” was trending. I suggested that my client create a real wedding post featuring a timeless letterpress invitation suite she created. We marketed the suite using that keyword, and those pins have already gotten a lot of engagement.
You can easily do this, too! Head to Pinterest Trends to see what’s trending yearly, monthly, or right now.
Spring bouquet? Make a roundup post of your favorite spring bouquets.
Crochet summer tops? Now’s a great time to finish that WIP and share it with the world!
2. look at top pins
Pinterest doesn’t just have to inspire its users; it can inspire YOU, too! As you’re searching for keywords on Pinterest, take note. What content is appearing at the top of your searches? Click on the pins. What kind of blog posts do they lead to? Do you have work that could answer questions that pinners are asking? Are there any gaps that you could fill?
3. Look at related interests
Related interests are suggestions that come up when you search a pin on Pinterest. They show you more ideas for what’s popular on Pinterest. Just as you can click around and look at top pins, you can also check out related interests for more inspiration!
When people search for “wedding invitation etiquette”, now you know they also want to learn more about “wedding invitation wording examples” or “wedding invitation timeline”. Those are two more blog posts you could write!
KEY TAKEAWAY: When you know what content is already doing well on Pinterest, use it to your advantage and blog about it!
Ways to Make Your Blog Posts more Pinterest Friendly
Now that you have a topic to blog about that you know will do well on Pinterest, you’ll want to optimize your blog so it increases your chances of getting found! There are a few things that you can do to make your blog posts more Pinterest friendly.
1. Choose your keyword(s) strategically
If you know what’s trending or working well on Pinterest, use those keywords as your main blog keyword. If “spring bouquet” is trending, then your blog title can be Romantic Spring Bouquet Inspiration. If you search “wedding signage” and a ton of pins similar to your images come up, then your blog title can be Wedding Signage Ideas.
2. Optimize your post for that keyword
Once you’ve chosen a focus keyword, optimize your blog with that keyword. Make sure to include it in your title, URL slug, meta description, alt. text, throughout your post...everywhere you can!
PSST! Need more help with your keywords? Here’s information on where to find keywords and where to use keywords.
3. enable the Pinterest save button on your site
Enabling the save button on your site means that each time someone hovers over one of your images, a Pinterest button will appear. This encourages readers to save your pins!
Each website platform does this differently, so your best bet is to search Google for instructions. Squarespace (my platform) makes it easy. Check out the tutorial.
4. Add pin(s) directly to your blog
To encourage readers to save your pin to Pinterest, make sure to add images to each post. A pin right at the top of your page after the introduction can remind users to save the post for later. Encourage readers to “save this post for later” for best results.
PRO TIP: Don’t forget to compress your images using a site like TinyPNG. Bigger images lead to slower load times, which people (and Google) hate.
And there you have it! Pinterest and blogging... the ultimate BFFs. They’re good alone, but they’re even better when they’re working hand-in-hand to drive traffic to your site.
As you can see, Pinterest isn’t just a place to promote your blog. Instead of making it an afterthought, use it from the start. FIRST use Pinterest to inform your blog. THEN optimize your blog posts specifically for Pinterest.
If you’d rather spend your time on other things instead of figuring out Pinterest strategy, I’ve got you! Reach out today and let’s get you FOUND!
