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