It’s tempting to dismiss Pinterest as just a site for choosing the layout of your dream home and looking for new ways to prepare chicken, but passing over this visual powerhouse is a mistake. Pinterest is more effective than YouTube, LinkedIn or Reddit at driving traffic, according to Social Media Examiner. How can you make the most of this site and use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog? These tips will help.

Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

Optimize Your Blog for Pinterest: Make sure you have buttons on your blog and site that allow users to follow you on Pinterest. Each blog you post, email blast or newsletter you send also needs a ‘Pin’ button and a ‘Follow’ option for Pinterest to ensure your customers can find you.

Pin Selectively: You don’t have to pin everything you post, but you should pin your best blog posts and visuals. A simple search of Pinterest will show you the types of visuals others are posting in your industry and on your specific blog post topic. The most popular pins can give you an idea of the type of images that resonate with pinners. Make sure when you do pin an image that it sends viewers to the correct spot.

Always Write a Pin Description: This text is the chance to connect with your viewers and make your pin even more searchable. You have up to 500 characters to describe your pin; use keywords and hashtags to make your pins more visible and to tempt readers to re-pin and click through to your link. While the pinner can remove your description, most will not, ensuring your pin and attached information stay together.

Create Relevant Boards and Pins: Pin relevant information to your own boards, including your blog posts and other interesting visual content. As you add relevant pieces to each of your Pinterest boards, they become more useful and interesting for followers to view and share.

Follow Others: Pinterest, like Twitter, is a cooperative community; following and interacting with others is the best way to use the sites for your business goals. By following other users, you can boost engagement and your own follower count. The more quality followers and pinners you have, the better, since more copies of your branded pins ensures you receive a steady stream of traffic from Pinterest.

Commit to a Pinterest strategy by incorporating ‘Follow’ and ‘Save’ buttons into your site along with regularly pinning for a few months. You’ll begin to see a steady stream of traffic arriving as your relevant and interesting pins begin to spread across the site.