Yes, there's SO much information about Pinterest out there. Do this tip, don't do that tip. The this-worked-for-me-once-so-now-I'll-write-a-post-about-it tip.
I get it.
I also get that you don't want to waste umpteen hours reading posts with Pinterest tips. So let me keep you from going down a rabbit hole! Why should you listen? Well, I co-teach a course on how to use Pinterest to drive traffic. Plus, I work with Pinterest directly for my day job and get to hear things straight from the source.
Consider this post your myth-busting go-to post for Pinterest.
The following are some of the most popular Pinterest tips I see floating around the interwebz that you should completely ignore.
1. Followers will help you get more traffic from Pinterest.
The gist: More followers = more people seeing your pins.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Followers don't really matter on Pinterest.
My fave story highlighting this is from Anna, instructor of our Pinning Perfect course. Someone named Silvia pinned a post of hers that was repinned (saved) over 140,000 times.
Silvia had 52 followers.
Followers may matter to brands, but they don't matter when it comes to bringing you traffic. Sure, more followers won't hurt, but don't spend time following x number of people each day in hopes they'll follow you back. For users, Pinterest is about finding ideas, not finding people to follow.
As you gain more traffic, you'll naturally gain more followers anyway.
2.Your Pinterest bio is your first impression so get it right.
The gist: There are entire blog posts devoted to writing your Pinterest bio, so obviously it's important and you should spend time on it.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
No one visits your profile! As a blogger or website owner, you might visit profiles a little more than the average Pinterest user. But the vast majority of Pinterest users aren't bloggers that go around following people.
As you've probably heard 1,000 times, Pinterest is more like a search engine than a social media network. Having a great bio doesn't matter like it might on Instagram or Twitter. And what about the advice to put a link in your bio with a call-to-action?
It doesn't work. The first strike against it is that a URL in your bio isn't clickable. Nothing other than your verified website is clickable, so someone has to copy and paste it into a browser to get a “click.” Second strike? Pinterest isn't designed to help people network and gain followers, so again people aren't going to your profile.
To prove the point, I've had a link in my bio for over two years. It's gotten NINETEEN “CLICKS.” See those last two blue bars? Those are the TWO big clicks I've gotten in 2017.
Put a link there if you want, but don't expect anything exciting from it.
3. Board covers can really enhance your Pinterest profile.
The gist: Pretty board covers that are matchy-matchy mean your profile page looks professional and well-branded.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Just like no one's looking at your profile, no one is looking at your board covers. No oohing or aahing at those beauties that you spend hours designed and uploading to each board.
In fact, Pinterest said that fewer than 5% of people find pins through boards. WHAT?! Instead, people find pins through search and looking through their home feed.
So I beg you not to spend hours creating pretty little designs for these when no one looks at them. As bloggers, it's easy to get caught up in making things pretty and organized. Sometimes it's helpful to your goals; in this case, it's a big time sink and you're WAY better off focusing on better pinnable images and descriptions.
4. Deleting old or underperforming pins helps other pins perform better.
The gist: Pins that aren't getting repins/saves on Pinterest should be deleted because they're lowering your ranking on Pinterest's algorithm.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Because Pinterest themselves have said NOT to delete pins. Not only have I been told them directly from Pinterest, I know many others who've spoken with Pinterest peeps at conferences and what not who have told them the same.
Why? A pin's performance does NOT affect the other pins on that board, so it doesn't make sense to spend time deleting them.
Plus, pins that have been “dormant” can take OFF and go viral. And those holiday pins? They often do better the next year anyway. You're leaving money on the table so to speak if you delete old pins.
Pinterest wants you to focus on compelling images and good pin descriptions that will get you the most return for your efforts.
5. Pin over 100+ times a day to drive the most traffic.
The gist: More pins = more chances your pins get seen
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Even if you use a scheduler, pinning over 100 times a day is just crazy town. Good news is that you don't have to do it.
Think quality over quantity. In Pinning Perfect, we recommend about 30 times a day instead. Any more hasn't been proven to see any significant increase in traffic. Use that extra time you get back in your week to create better content, promote something, or whatever else.
Any of these surprise you?
I know I know. SO many people might be spouting out these truths about Pinterest. Any of these surprise you at all?
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Hey- I'm Melissa! I'm a mom, side hustler, online course instructor, and brand marketer. I run a 6-figure blog helping online biz owners find their a-ha moments with can-do tips, tutorials, and online courses. I also work at Burt's Bees as the assistant manager of Brand Engagement (yep, it's as cool as it sounds). Jump start your biz productivity with my free worksheet!
These are super helpful thank you! I’ve seen the board covers all over the place but I don’t have the time to create them for myself – happy to know this isn’t a big deal!
Yes, not a big deal! In fact, I’d say it’s one of the biggest timewasters for bloggers ever (though they do look pretty).
Great tips! I am so looking forward to July 10th and the Pinterest Summer Challenge!
Hmm I can’t agreed my experience has been different.
I’d love to know what’s been different for you!
Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for this information. I have been so overwhelmed trying to do everything, that I feel like I have accomplished nothing! Whew! What a relief to know about these tips!
As a Pinterest user, I don’t like board covers. I DO visit profiles and look at people’s boards (though I know it’s hard to separate what I do as a blogger and what I do for personal reasons). I think board covers are distracting. I want to see what the board is about –meaning, I want to see the pictures! Instead of seeing a “branded” look, I want to be enticed into the board. I’ve seen suggested boards in my feed also. You definitely want to be enticing to people who happen to see your board in their feed–not just informative.
Thank you for the tips. It’s good to know what matters and what doesn’t.
Thank you for these. I was thinking along the same lines but it’s good to hear that I’m right. I do look at boards a lot when I search but I don’t care to see a board cover and I’m not seeing all your boards all at once either. I used to spend lots of time rearranging the order of my boards as well but I don’t bother now.
Melissa, I got the Pinning Perfect course about two weeks ago and am blown away by what I have learned so far. The strategies on the course are so counter to what I have found on blogs and even courses (in a good way). Before buying the course, without knowing what I was doing, I implemented some of the things you teach. Now, I realized why those things worked so well and am replicating per the course’s advice. I am eager to finish the course (I am implementing as I go)! Thanks!
Thank you for these super helpful tips! As a new blogger, I am trying to navigate the land of Pinterest and I spend a LOT of time researching and practicing strategies. As someone who has followed Pinterest and many bloggers since 2011, I wondered why profiles and board covers are being shared as critically important to blog growth, when I know as a reader I never paid any attention to them! Also, I appreciate your thoughts on the number of pins I should be pinning each day. My blog is one month old (yesterday) and I am pinning 25-35 pins a day and seeing great growth (or, I guess what I consider great growth :-)) on my traffic numbers. Some bloggers report they pin 150+ pins per day and I have been wondering if that is necessary? Your advice here has been so helpful- thank you!
As a Pinterest expert, I can tell you these are true, but you should consider deleting underperforming pins if you need the space since there are pin limits and secret pins do count.
For those people who had gone gangbusters and pinned way too much– yep, they may need to delete some! But the limit’s 200k pins so at about 30 a day it’ll take 18 years to run out! They’d just want to make sure they aren’t basing deletion on repins alone because a pin could be driving clicks but not repins/saves.
Yeah, I find it useful to go through them sometimes because I have saved things that I’m not interested in anymore. That limit also includes secret pins, a lot of people don’t understand that.
Totally love your practical tips. I’ve got almost everything wrong thanks to random info floating around regarding Pinterest. Would love to join the course
This all makes so much sense!!! It’s actually very good news and just made me go *whewwwwwww*
Thanks for the clarification as most of the people use too for #5 and its very bad trick and must be ignored.
This post makes me feel alot better because I can’t seem to get followers.
I couldn’t agree more with just pinning 30 pins a day……
Whoaa!
Seriously, you are awesomeness.
Wow. I’ll do this. ? ?