Guest Post: A Freelancer’s Guide to Pinterest

By Jayme Pretzloff

Over the past several months you have unquestionably heard about the new and hot social network, Pinterest. This social media platform engages users through the sharing, or pinning, of content on a virtual board that can be viewed by other users. It is a fantastic way to create and curate interesting content and share it with the world.

Many people didn’t think that Pinterest could drive web traffic, or generate article views, but it has done both to such a degree that other networks are left wondering ways they can capture this market.  Pinterest by nature is very visual but this shouldn’t discourage writers because the site drives a lot of click through traffic. Let’s take a look at how you can get these same results…

Add a “Pin It” Button
It’s a simple step; add the little red “P” logo to your website and on your articles. This is the easiest way to begin to drive traffic to your site and spread your articles’ reach over the Internet. When a user pins your work to a board, it essentially acts as a virtual reminder of “read this later” or “I really liked this”.

Optimize Your Account
This is one of the biggest problems that I have seen with writers—they either set up their profile wrong, or they don’t set it up at all. Big mistake! Describe yourself… who are you and what do you write about? Make sure to fill in your account with rich keywords as this will help with SEO.

Start Pinning!

1. Create boards that users will want to follow—Use creative titles and set the board picture to a stunning  picture.
2. Pin a mixture of content—Use some original content but also make some boards for other content that wasn’t written by you. Create a board that features your favorite writers, articles, books, etc.
3. Don’t yell—You don’t want to use Pinterest to just say “read my blog” or “check out my book”. Engage them and they will want to read it naturally.
4. Use tall pins—If you really want to have your pin seen, try pinning content that is long… it will capture more screen real estate than a normal pin.
5. Add links—make sure to link to your website or blog. Don’t be afraid to add these links in the description box.
6. Use keywords in descriptions—each pin and re-pin creates a back link to your site which is essential for SEO.
7. Use hashtags—just like Twitter, Pinterest organizes content by hashtags which helps with searchability.
8. Comment on others’ boards and pins—This engagement will interest them in your page and they will engage with your content as well.

Don’t You Dare…

1. Don’t be afraid of Pinterest… embrace it! Just like any other social media platform it will take some experimentation to figure out how to get it to work best for you, so have fun with it. Pinterest is a great way to share your content with the world and even get more work!
2. Don’t worry if you’re not initially getting pins from your website. Pinterest is extremely viral; approximately 80% of content transfers are done via re-pins.
3. Don’t quit too early. It’s going to take some time to get your clout up, so keep at it. As long as you post unique, interesting content… people will pin it.