An outdated practice that is KILLING your reach on Pinterest

All About Pinterest

An outdated practice that is KILLING your reach on Pinterest

Are you struggling to get a large reach on Pinterest? Are you participating in re-pin threads in Facebook groups? If you answered yes to both of these questions, keep reading. 

What is a re-pin thread?

Many business-focused Facebook groups like to post daily engagement threads, whether it be an Instagram engagement thread, Facebook engagement thread, OR Pinterest re-pin thread. 

Each of these threads comes with a specific set of rules you must follow if you participate. 

When it comes to re-pin threads, you usually have to re-pin X amount of other pins within the thread if you drop a link to your pin. I pulled the image below from a Facebook group. As you can see, over 400 people have participated in this re-pin thread. 

And it makes you think, “This is really going to help my pin get a push by getting all these re-pins.” 

When in reality, these threads are KILLING your reach and confidence score on Pinterest. 

Here’s why…

Pinterest preaches relevancy. They have said dozens of times they want to see our content saved to relevant boards. This way, the algorithm can pick up on it and push your pin out to users who are searching for keywords specific to your pin. 

So, saving your gluten-free recipe pin to a gluten-free recipes board shows the algorithm your pin should be shown to people searching for gluten-free recipes. 

Make sense? 

When you participate in these threads 99% of the time, your pin is NOT being saved to a relevant board. Most of the users who participate in these threads create boards just for these threads. Saving your pin to a free for all style board filled with TONS of different topics. 

See, the algorithm not only picks up on the SEO of your pin and board, but it picks up on the content within the board. So if your pin is saved to a board with other relevant pins, it will get a MUCH larger push. 

If your pin is being saved to a non-relevant board filled with pins on tons of other topics, it will hurt not only the reach of your pin but your account as well. 

A confidence score is a score you can’t see. But you can tell if you have a low or high score based on your reach. The more your content is saved to relevant boards, the more it will be shown when specific keywords are searched, and the more it will then be pinned to other relevant boards. 

Thus showing Pinterest you create quality content users want to save. Thus helping your account rank at the top under the keywords you want it to rank under. 

Because my account is optimized correctly and my pins are saved to relevant boards, I rank in the top 6 under profiles when you search “Pinterest Marketing.” 

So when your pins are saved OVER AND OVER AND OVER to a non-relevant board, the algorithm isn’t even sure where your content belongs. 

Best Practice

Even if your account only has 10 followers, your pins will perform 10X better being saved to your SEO-optimized relevant boards over a group board or a larger board that is not optimized for SEO and is filled with non-relevant pins. 

These threads are KILLING your reach and overall account performance on Pinterest. I have been working in Pinterest marketing for over 8 years now, and the two common mistakes I see when someone comes to me with a low reach are: 

1. Improper Pinterest SEO 
2. They have spent time participating in re-pin threads 

It is possible to bring your account back! My best advice is to make sure your entire account, from your handle to your boards, are set up and optimized properly for Pinterest SEO. 

Make sure you are up-to-date with current best practices and guidelines. I still see SO many users re-pinning the same pin to multiple boards, and that is NOT ok anymore. Pinterest themselves have said on more than one occasion NOT to do this. 

Pinterest is an insanely powerful way to grow your traffic online… and it only takes about an hour of your time each week, Proper SEO and consistency.

If you want to learn more about proper Pinterest SEO and current best practices and pinning strategies, click HERE!

Happy Pinning!

xo Megan

The 4 factors that make your Pinterest pins searchable!

All About Pinterest

The 4 factors that make your Pinterest pins searchable!

With over 400 million monthly active users, Pinterest is one of the best visual marketing tools on the world wide web. It’s one of the best ways to reach your ideal reader, client, or consumer.

However, learning to use the platform correctly and getting your content in front of the right target audience can pose some challenges.

Pinterest sends me over 100K visitors to my blog every month. This past month ALONE Pinterest sent me over 180K visitors. Pretty cool, right? That is more than any other search engine AND my other social media outlets COMBINED.

With there being SO much mixed information out there on how to use Pinterest properly, I am here to show you what you need to do if you want to make your pins searchable. This way, you can hit the ground running and start generating traffic!

I want to note that Pinterest is a search engine that operates on an algorithm. It takes time for the algorithm to pick up on your pin and keywords. So when your pin isn’t reaching 1,000 users overnight, that is 100% Normal.

Optimizing content properly is the #1 way your content will be found. But here are the 4 factors that come into play when it comes to creating searchable pins.

#1 Pin Design

You want to make sure you are using images that are relevant to your topic or subject matter. So if your pin is about fitness, you would most likely have an image that makes you think “fitness.” 

For example, Almost all of my pins pertain to online marketing. So, my pin images typically have some sort of computer or cell phone mock-up on them. Since you typically use computers or phones when you participate in online marketing. 

The algorithm pulls off of imaging as well. So using the right imaging is very important if you want your pin to end up in the right place.

#2 Proper Pin SEO

Your pins will never be seen if you are not optimizing them correctly. 

99% of the time, when someone comes to me for an account audit due to low reach, the #1 issue is improper Pinterest SEO or no SEO at all. 

Your pin title must have at least one long-tailed keyword sentence. And I recommend adding 2-3 long-tailed keyword sentences into your pin description as well. 

Pinterest has also brought back hashtags! So adding 5-10 relevant hashtags can also help your pin be discovered! The guided search and the Pinterest Trends tool are the top places to look for trending SEO. 

#3 Proper Board SEO

Pin SEO and board SEO work together to tell the algorithm where your content belongs. So, if your Pinterest boards are not set up and optimized correctly, pinning to them isn’t going to help the reach of your pin. 

Make sure you are using trending keywords for your board titles AND adding 2-5 STRONG long-tailed keyword sentences into your board descriptions as well. 

You also want to make sure every pin within your board is relevant to it. Even if your board is optimized correctly but contains pins on multiple topics, it will hurt your pin more than help it. 

DO NOT add hashtags to your board descriptions. Pinterest only pulls hashtags from pin descriptions. 

#4 Best Practices and Guidelines

Remember how I mentioned above there is a TON of mixed and extremely outdated information floating around about Pinterest? 

One of the biggest ones is, pinning strategy. I still see users re-pin the same pin image to MULTIPLE boards. And I sadly still see experts preaching this. 

Pinterest themselves have said on more than one occasion NOT to do this. In fact, this can be a HUGE reason your pins have a low reach. And this very outdated practice can get your account flagged as spam. 

Best practice is to create a pin, upload it to the most relevant board and then NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN. Re-pins from your personal account will drastically impact your confidence score, and it will take a decent amount of time to get your account moving in the right direction again. 

So be sure you are up-to-date on current best practices and guidelines. 

At the end of the day…

Pinterest isn’t as complicated as many make it out to be. Once you understand proper SEO and get a solid pinning strategy down, your content will start to trend, and the traffic will start to roll in. 

My favorite part of this platform is your content is on there for life. I have pins I created SIX years ago that still send me daily traffic. 

The platform is 100% worth learning if you are ready to take your business, blog, or online store to the next level. 

If you are over being confused about Pinterest and spending hours online searching for information on how to use the platform, click HERE. 

And as always, 

Happy Pinning

xo Megan 

What you need to know about your monthly Pinterest views…

All About Pinterest

What you need to know about your monthly Pinterest views…

Let’s chat about Pinterest impressions. Or Pinterest “Monthly Views” 

I have done a few posts on this, but it’s 2023, and worry around Pinterest impressions is still something I see daily in many business-related Facebook groups. 

It’s something users come to me about weekly, frustrated they are doing something wrong and not sure how to fix it. In this post, I will explain what you need to know about Pinterest impressions and metrics and when you should worry. 

Pinterest Monthly Views. 

If you have been a follower of mine for a while, you know there is nothing that gets under my skin more than someone preaching how “they got 1 million monthly Pinterest views.” Why? Because these posts VERY RARELY talk about what percentage of those views converted to clicks. And that is because, most of the time, they don’t. And I don’t know about you, but my goal for using Pinterest is to get more users to my website. 

Monthly Pinterest views consist of how often your pins appear in someone’s home feed. That’s it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even mean they have laid eyes on your pin. It just means that you are reaching X amount of users over a 30-day period. 

And sure, the more users you reach, the higher your chance for someone to see your pin and engage with it, but that doesn’t guarantee it. I had someone come to me just last week with a reach of 2.7 million; only 3% of those views were bringing her traffic. THREE PERCENT. 

Monthly Pinterest views account for your overall account performance. But the performance of individual pins and their metrics affect your monthly views. 

Confused yet? 

You can see here my analytics look like a mountain range. Going up and down every single day. And they fluctuate like this because of individual pin stats. Analytics that look like this, are VERY normal. 

You can see with this pin here that it had a GREAT reach for a few days (my monthly views also went up about 4%), but then my monthly views dropped enough for me to wonder why. So I go to my analytics and look at my top pins. When you click on a pin, you can see the individual pin metrics, but there is also an option to see ” more stats.” That is where this chart shows up telling me hey, this pin was killing it for a few days and then dropped off a lot. 

It went from reaching over 3K users a day to 30. Not because of anything I did but because that is how the algorithm works. Pins pick up traction based on what keywords are trending and then stay at the top based on how much engagement they get. Eventually, that drops off. And the cool thing is, it can pick back up again! This pin is over a year old. I haven’t touched it since I published it. My favorite part about Pinterest is once a pin is on the platform, it’s there for life.

And while it may not have taken off right away, like this pin, it sent me over nearly 12 thousand views to my blog in 30 days. Just from ONE pin. Not bad right? 

So 99% of the time, if you haven’t changed anything with your pinning strategy, and you see a drop, it’s most likely because a popular pin lost traction. And that happens all the time. 

You will never see a continuous uptick in growth. Your numbers are always going to fluctuate. And that’s ok! 

Here are the main factors that affect monthly views

• Pinterest is seasonal. Meaning content trends based on the season we are in and going into. Every user sees a pretty drastic decline in views from the months of March-July because the more significant holidays are over, and we are heading into summer, where Pinterest says that there are up to 40% fewer users on the platform. I like to call it “The Sumer Slump” Because it’s summer, and we all want to be outside! This is usually the time of year people freak out and go into panic mode over the significant drop in views. And while that hit isn’t fun for anyone, it will slowly start to go back up by the end of July when we are getting close to a new school year. 
• A pin that was trending for a while and then lost traction. If you see more significant drops in views, look at your analytics and the individual metrics of your top-performing pins. 99% of the time, you will see that their reach has dropped, thus causing a drop in views. 
• Your pins aren’t being seen as “fresh pins.” Did you know you aren’t supposed to re-pin your own content? While Pinterest announced in late 2021 this was a big no-no, many users are still re-pinning their own content. This outdated practice can drastically impact your reach and set off unwanted spam filters that can flag your account. Once it’s flagged, sadly, it’s tough to recover. So make sure you are up-to-date with CURRENT best practices. 
• You are using improper Pinterest SEO. I still see SO many pins that are optimized with keyword stuffing like this ” Pinterest marketing | Pinterest trends | Pinterest tips | Pinterest for business.” This type of SEO is improper and not how the algorithm pulls keywords. You want to make sure your handle, profile, boards, and pins are optimized properly. If not, your pins will only reach 10-20% of what they could reach if you are up-to-date on Pinterest SEO. 

I have been working in Pinterest marketing since 2015. I have trained over 6,000 students. And my 2 keys to success on Pinterest are very simple. 

1. Stay consistent. Pinterest wants to show users NEW content. The more active you are, the higher your confidence score will go and the more people you will reach. 1-2 new pin images a day is really all you need. MOST accounts do well with just one new pin a day. So it’s not as much work as you may think. 
2. SEO. Pinterest is a search engine. The way the algorithm picks up on SEO is different than other platforms. So learning the right way to optimize the content on Pinterest will be the final key to your success. 

I promise it does not need to be complicated!

So while Pinterest views can stress most of us out, try and focus on what matters, outbound traffic.

If you want to learn more about current Pinterest Marketing tips, strategies, and how to optimize your account and pins for proper Pinterest SEO, click HERE!

As always,

Happy Pinning!

xo Megan

Is Pinterest the Answer for increasing your website traffic?

All About Pinterest

Is Pinterest the Answer for increasing your website traffic?

I can’t believe it’s already 2023! 2022 went by in about 8 minutes. 

I’m Megan, and I have been working in Pinterest marketing since 2015. I have seen this platform change and evolve throughout the years, and while some users get frustrated with changes, Pinterest is still my #1 traffic source. 

• For 2022, Pinterest ranked as the 14th largest platform in the world, beating out Twitter and Reddit. 
• In 2022 Pinterest averaged 459 MILLION monthly active users, which grew 37% from 2021. 
• In 2022 Pinterest said that 60% of the users were women, showing that more and more men are using the platform. 
• Near the end of 2022 it was reported that users watched over 1 BILLION videos a day on Pinterest. Since introducing idea pins.

When it comes to the platform changing and evolving, Pinterest hasn’t made any drastic changes, though some users may feel that way.  

They have to keep up with the times and change and evolve along with other social platforms like Instagram and TikToc. So for many of us OG users who were used to getting 1K impressions on a static pin overnight, the changes made things a tad more challenging. 

But I am here to tell you I still average 2-4 thousand views daily from Pinterest to my website. 

I have 14 clients, some of whom have been with me for 5+ years. All who get a substantial amount of traffic from the platform as well. 

At the end of the day, your success on Pinterest comes down to you and the work you are willing to put into it. And in reality, it’s easier than many make it seem. For example, I spend about 2 hours a week working on my account, creating pins, and scheduling them out. That’s it. 

The two primary keys to success on Pinterest are #1. Consistency and #2 PROPER account setup/Pin optimization. 

Let’s take a deeper look into those. 

Pinterest is a search engine. 

Yes, I am sure you know this. But if you have gotten to this post, I am sure you have read about 15 others with contradicting information on what to do and what not to do on the platform. 

As someone who has been doing this for over eight years now, I am here to break down the basics and what you should and should not do. 

SEO is important. 

This is a factor that can make or break your success. When people come to me for help due to a low reach and conversion 95% of the time, their account, boards, and pins are not optimized correctly or at all. 

Pinterest operates on an algorithm. The algorithm picks up on the SEO of your pin title, description, pin design (images), AND where that pin is being saved to. 

So if your pin lacks SEO or it’s done improperly, AND it’s being pinned to a non-optimized or improperly optimized board, your reach will be minimal if you get one at all. 

The improper use of SEO, or the lack thereof, hurts your overall account performance and reach. 

Here is an A/B test to show you just how crucial proper SEO is: 

Here is a newer pin of mine (properly optimized) and its stats for the last 48 hours. I have reached over 1.1K users, 34 outbound clicks, and 6 saves. 

Here is a pin, also 48 hours old, that I didn’t optimize properly. 35 impressions, 0 saves, and 0 clicks. These pins are on the SAME topic. 

This is a GREAT example of what proper SEO can do. 

The 7 places you need to have proper SEO are: 

1. Pinterest handle
2. Display Name
3. About section
4. Board title
5. Board description
6. Pin Title
7. Pin description. 

The next factor that comes into play with success on Pinterest is Consistency and proper pinning. 

Many users are still following very outdated pinning practices, their accounts are getting flagged, and their reach is plummeting. 

The more consistent you are with pinning, the higher your chance for your content to start ranking under specific keywords. 

The more your pins get engagement, the more the algorithm expands its reach, and soon you are ranking right at the top when your keyword is searched. 

Here I have TWO pins that rank in the second row when someone searches for “Pinterest Virtual Assistant.” These pins got pushed out due to proper SEO (pin AND the board it was saved to), and they got a larger reach and more engagement because of the proper SEO. Thus helping them rank at the VERY top under the exact keywords I wanted them to rank under. 

Now when it comes to consistency and pinning, here is what you want to keep in mind: 

• Do NOT, under any circumstances, pin the same pin image more than once. EVER. Not only will this set off a spam filter, but it will also drastically hurt the reach of the pin. You want to save each new pin you create to the MOST relevant optimized board and then LEAVE it there. 
• You don’t need group boards. If a group board is not niche specific and not optimized properly, that will HURT you more than help you. Focus on setting up your own personal boards the right way. 
• You do NOT need to send out ten pins a day. 99% of accounts will thrive with 1-2 new pin images going out a day. That is it! 
• Try a mix of idea pins and static pins. You do not have to spend much time making fancy idea pins. You can add moving elements and music to the Pinterest app, which will help their reach even more! 
• You can re-purpose your Instagram reels for Pinterest. You just need to remove the watermark. There is a site/app called “SnapInsta” where you can do it very easily! 

Pinterest has a free scheduler you can use for static and video pins. For idea pins, you can schedule them with the Pinterest app. Spend 1-2 hours, one day a week, creating and optimizing your content, and then schedule it out.

This way, you don’t have to be working on Pinterest every day, and you know your content is still posting. 

Keep realistic expectations.

You are not going to see 1,000,000 views overnight. You also will not get hundreds of clicks overnight. 

There are 100’s of articles out there claiming this is possible, and I am here to tell you they are lying. And because of that unrealistic expectation many “experts” set, users tend to give up easily when they don’t get those promised results as fast as they were told they would. 

I am here to tell you, you CAN and WILL get them if you stay consistent and pin correctly. Just not overnight.  

Focus on ensuring your account is set up and optimized correctly. Again, this plays a HUGE role in success. 

Stay up-to-date with current best practices and strategies. Remember, what works for one user will probably not work for you. You have to find out what YOUR audience is responding to and tweak your pin design/wording based on that. 

And lastly, Pinterest doesn’t have to be a lot of work. And as you can see above, consistency pays off. 

If you want to take a deeper dive into proper SEO and advanced pinning strategies, click HERE. 

Happy Pinning! 

xo Megan