If the social media scene were a high school, Facebook would be the popular jock. Twitter would be the cheerleader. Tumblr would be the hipster. YouTube would be the drama kid. LinkedIn would be the straight-A student. Instagram would be the artist. FourSquare would be the party animal. Reddit would be the geek. Google+ would be the loner, and Pinterest would be the new kid in town. And of course, being the new kid, everyone is interested in what Pinterest has to offer.
The good thing with Pinterest is that what you see is what you get. The principle behind this latest social media site is simple and straightforward: it serves as a virtual cork board for all your favorite things on the Internet. The act of sharing -- referred to as pinning -- takes one or two clicks, and it can be done in a matter of seconds. Pinning is so fast and easy that it's no wonder Pinterest gained traction in no time at all.
Another interesting aspect of Pinterest is the visual nature of its content, which are called pins. Each pin has a photo, and when you arrange several of them on the board, you'll get pretty impressive imagery.
Pins are also traffic drivers because they link back to the source site. If pins linking back to your website get popular, your backlinks will increase, and so will your traffic. If you're serious about promoting your website, you should utilize Pinterest to attract more visitors. To do so, here are some tips:
1) Create boards that are related to your blog or website.
Let's say your business is about traveling on a budget. You can create a board that features must-see places or little-known tourist destinations. If your business is about baking, you can make a board about delicious desserts. On Pinterest, people usually follow boards because of the topic, not because of the source site. Thus, your boards don’t have to be about your website; it’s better to categorize your entries according to subject matter.
2) Choose interesting images for your posts.
Because Pinterest is more visual than textual, a beautiful photo can go a long way. So, for a board featuring must-see places, you can post pins of popular tourist destinations that you’ve already visited. For a board featuring desserts, you can post images of decorated cupcakes you’ve baked. Always make sure that you use interesting images when you’re pinning your website’s posts on a board. It’s best if you can use your own photos so that when your pins become popular, you can get credit for the pictures as well.
3) Write catchy captions for your pins.
Although photos are the first thing people notice on Pinterest, accompanying texts can pique curiosity, too. Write something that will make users want to read more, and therefore, drop by your website for a visit. Just remember to keep captions short because Pinterest is not the place for long blog posts. Let the photos do the talking.
4) Follow, comment and repost.
Once you have your pins on their boards, your next goal is to get them re-pinned. If your pins are interesting enough, they're bound to be shared, but only if users know that they exist. A great way to let your presence known on Interest is to follow other boards, comment on pins, and repost other pins. In this aspect, Pinterest is really not that much different from other social media sites where give-and-take relationships work best.