Is Facebook just not cutting it? When you own a business, you need to use social media wisely. This might mean trying something new like Pinterest to increase traffic and convert clicks to customers. How do you know if Pinterest is the right choice for you?
Pinterest is image-driven, so it might be obvious need to jump on board (like if you’re a photographer). However, some of the not so obvious businesses can equally benefit. If you sell any product, why not highlight it by sharing unique uses or top-notch photos from your inventory? It’s not hard to get started with Pinterest.
Cover the Basics
Make sure your website has clear links to your Pinterest site on every page. The best way to boost business is by word of mouth, and social media is the virtual equivalent. When your existing customers are pinning your photos on Pinterest, the chance of others finding you increases. Make sure you provide links to your Pinterest page in all marketing communication, including email.
Make sure your Pinterest page is engaging and professional. It needs to be updated regularly, and it’s important to re-pin from others. It’s not quite as easy to foster relationships with others in your industry on Pinterest, but it’s still important. Dedicate just as much time to Pinterest as you do on your other existing social media sites.
One Second for a First Impression
It’s no secret that you have a lot of competition on Pinterest. The good news is that many people re-pin quickly without much thought. It’s an easy way for them to share photos they like and help you out with free advertising and outreach. However, you still need to reel them in and you only have a second to do so.
Your photos need to stand out. Not just anything will do, so put some effort into it. Hire a professional photographer is necessary. Think outside of the box.
From Pinterest to Your Website
Give your pins the best chance they have to show up in the search results for popular keywords related to your company; if you do so, the pins will be easier to find and thus more likely to send you traffic. When you make a pinboard, give it a compelling, keyword rich name, and be sure to do the same with the description of anything you pin – including anything you re-pin.
While it’s not the most attractive solution and could easily change as Pinterest updates its search algorithm, keyword stuffing is actually a really effective way to appear higher in the search results. I’m not advocating writing “cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes” in every description, but if a keyword is really important to you, it doesn’t hurt to use it twice in a natural way in the description.
Get Some Uniformity in Place
There’s nothing more abrasive than falling in love with a pinner only to find the website doesn’t match up. Your site needs to complement your Pinterest posts. If it hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, it’s probably in desperate need of an overhaul. Getting new traffic to your site is great, but not if it results in a higher bounce rate.
Ideally, the same web designer is in charge of your website and social media. That will produce a sense of critical uniformity. It’s an important part of branding and something you need to constantly improve. Think from your customer’s perspective, and give them what they really want.
Use Pinterest’s Tools
Pinterest has a few extras up its sleeve to help you succeed. If you are pinning pictures of your products, be sure to include the price in the description – doing so will lead to your product being listed in Pinterest’s Gifts section, with a flag over the corner indicating the price. This is particularly important around the holidays, but pinners also browse this section at all times of year for birthdays and anniversaries.
Another great Pinterest tool that you may not know about is Source. Source is a simple tool built into Pinterest’s site that lets you see all of the pins that link to your website. Simply type in the address http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomain.com to see what you and others have pinned from your site. For example, here are the Source results for Addme! If you pin an image from this site, it will appear in those results.
About the Author: Adrienne is a blogger and internet marketer for an SEO company. When she’s not blogging about tech and social media, you might find her practicing her French, whipping up some recipes she found on Pinterest, or obsessing over vintage postcards and stamps.
I honestly love Pinterest because it helps me figure out what people want or gravitate towards. It’s good for not only getting traffic back to my site, but also to help develop some really great content.
The article gives a good piece of information about getting traffic from Pinterest. However, I would also consider the possibility to have Pinterest linking back to our website and not viceversa. I discovered this tip as good vector of traffic from the search engines.