How to Get Free Traffic From Pinterest Search
How to Get Free Traffic From Pinterest Search
Co Founder of NP Digital & Owner of Ubersuggest
Jul 30, 2017
14 min read
I am going to come out and say it: Pinterest is the most underrated search engine out there.
Yep, Pinterest is a search engine, not just a social media site.
Pinterest is highly relevant to a variety of industries, including ecommerce and, yes, even digital marketing.
Today, I want to talk about how Pinterest search works and how you can use it to drive traffic to your site — even if you aren’t in the lifestyle or fitness industry!
Don’t think it’s possible?
Take a look at these success stories:
Brian Lang, of Small Business Ideas, used Pinterest to drive nearly 2 million pin views to his e-commerce account.
I use it to drive 10,000 visitors a month to my website.
About.com leveraged Rich Pins and saw a 40% increase in Pinterest traffic in just the first week .
These examples show the results aren’t small increases — they are massive.
If you think Pinterest is nothing more than mid-thirties women pinning diet tips and parenting hacks, you are missing out on a huge traffic driver.
Pinterest can help you create an incredible surge in traffic for free.
If you are willing to put in a bit of work, of course.
How Pinterest search works
Nearly 2 billion searches are performed on Pinterest each month.
Just like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, Pinterest uses an algorithm to determine what pins to show when a user types in a query.
Type in a query into the search bar at the top of the page, and the site will return a variety of results.
However, the way that algorithm works is very different from traditional search engines.
Ben Silbermann, Pinterest’s cofounder and CEO, had this to say about how the search engine functions:
“We often talk about Pinterest as like a human indexing machine. Google built these crawlers that would go out, and these amazing algorithms. We give people tools that let them organize in a way that makes sense to them, and in doing that they organize in a way that makes sense to other people.”
This tells us Pinterest uses a much different search algorithm than Google.
Stephanie Rogers, Software Engineer at Pinterest, confirmed that Pinterest does use machine learning to detect spam, provide recommendations, and predict the Pinnability of a pin.
What does all this mean?
Just like with Google, we don’t know exactly what factors Pinterest uses to determine what Pins it shows to users.
However, we can make a pretty good estimated guess based on the information they do release.
Pinterest search uses a mix of machine learning, deep learning, and user engagement to determine what Pins will rank well.
Which sounds completely useless, but it actually tells us a lot.
Create and organize your Pins in a way that makes it easy for people to find what they are looking for.
How to increase your Pinterest traffic
Step 1: If you haven’t already, you need to create and optimize your business profile.
Go to https://business.pinterest.com/en, then click “Join As a Business.” You will see this form:
Once you have filled this section out, select your interests based on topics your target audience is interested in.
These interests will be used to populate your home feed.
Now it is time to set up your profile, which has four main sections:
- Your picture – Use your logo, but if your logo is very plain create a custom image instead.
- Your business name – This is the title of your account. It should reflect your business.
- Your website URL – Pretty self-explanatory, but make sure it is correct.
- Your description – The “About You” section, this is a one-or two-line description that explains what you do.
Make sure to fill out this section completely and add key terms where they make sense.
Now you can start creating boards, which serve as silos for your content. You can add new boards whenever you want.
Step 2: Use high-quality, optimized photos.
Pinterest is a visual site. If you aren’t using high-quality images you are missing the entire point.
Here are a few tips for optimizing your Pinterest photos.
Use high-quality stock photography if you use stock photos. Add your URL to all photos using editing software and add it as the source of the image when creating the Pin.
Use large, vertical photos. Pinterest gives you a lot of space to work with, so use it.
Step 3: Optimize your Pins so they get found.
To create a pin, log in to your business Pinterest account, then click the plus sign in the upper right-hand corner. You will see three options:
For this example, let’s go with “Upload an Image.” We will add an image and the link ourselves.
Add an actionable, catchy title, and attractive images to your Pin description.
Remember, boards help you organize your Pinterest content, so you want to have one for each type of content you share.
Step 4: Remember it is a social site and be social.
If you want to increase your Pinterest traffic by 67%, you need to spend the time to be social and interact with other users. Follow other Pinners in your industry to increase your own followers.
Pinterest tools & resources
Ready to get started building your Pinterest empire? Pinterest offers several tools for businesses, including:
- Buyable pins feature a price and allow consumers to make a purchase. They are available only to Pinterest Business account users who use certain platforms.
- Promoted pins, which look like regular pins but are shown to more users.
- Rich pins, which allow you to include additional details about your website on your pins.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a free, simple method to drive incredible traffic to your site, it is time to give Pinterest a chance.
478 million people turn to Pinterest each month to find inspiration, education, and information.
Your site could be one of their destinations.