If you don’t know so already, Pinterest is like the holy grail for bloggers. If used correctly, bloggers can increase their traffic dramatically! However, there are many Pinterest mistakes new and experienced bloggers make that impact their traffic potential.
There are so many reasons bloggers should use Pinterest, even aside from the obvious traffic potential. It can be used to help bloggers gain insight into what their readers are interested in, and get inspiration for future posts.
But in order for this to happen, bloggers need to make sure they are using Pinterest correctly! There are tons of easy mistakes that can be made, that will sacrifice all that Pinterest has to offer you!
Take some time to review your Pinterest account, and make sure you are not making any of these very common Pinterest mistakes. Many of these fixes will only take a few minutes, so your Pinterest will be optimized in no time!
If you have yet to begin your Pinterest journey, these tips will give you a guide of what not to do, which will save you tons of time in the long run!
Many of these tips won’t be a quick fix. With Pinterest, consistency is key! Some strategies will take weeks to months to work, meaning you will need to be patient!
Give your Pinterest account some love and attention, and you will be rewarded with plenty more traffic!
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Need help with Pinterest? The QBB Course, Perfecting Pinterest, will provide you with all the strategies you need to know to boost your Pinterest traffic! Click here, or the image below to learn more!
Not Being consistent
One of the worst and most common Pinterest mistakes is not being consistent. Many people go into blogging thinking it is not as much work as it actually is. You can read more about this and other blogging myths here!
With the amount of work, especially in the beginning, that Pinterest and blogging takes, it is easy to understand why many bloggers stop after awhile. Especially without seeing results immediately, it can seem like all your hard work is for nothing! Don’t let this drive you to blogging burnout– be patient and good things will come.
I like to think of this as Pinterest testing your efforts and commitment (don’t quote me on this, just a mindset I like to keep when things get tough!)
Starting from scratch, it can take months for your Pinterest to catch and start to take off. For some bloggers, it could take up to a year to get a viral pin that starts to explode your traffic. Talk about patience!
However, the more effort and energy you put into making it work, the quicker it should happen! One of the best things you can do for your Pinterest account is to stay consistent.
There are tons of Pinterest strategies out there that all claim to work (and they probably do!) but that doesn’t mean they will all work for you and your audience.
Many bloggers pick one strategy, try it for a week or two, then give up on it because it “wasn’t working.” A couple of weeks is not enough time to judge your experiment on- aim for strict consistency for at least 3 months before trying a new strategy.
Think of it like any other habit: If you were trying to lose weight, and you changed your diet routine every other day or you weren’t consistent with it, it most likely wouldn’t work to its fullest potential.
It is difficult. It takes a lot of time. You will become frustrated and maybe a little hopeless. But keep up what you are doing. Eventually, it will work!
Having no strategy
Expanding on the previous point, you will need to have a strategy or game plan in order to stay consistent. One of the most common Pinterest mistakes I see bloggers making is having no strategy.
Without a strategy, you might be pinning whenever you feel like it to random boards, and not keeping track of if it’s working or not.
Many bloggers start out this way on Pinterest because, well, you might not have a strategy yet! This is ok in the beginning, but it is advised to quickly choose a strategy– any strategy!
You might see all over the internet the “best” Pinterest strategy “guaranteed” to give you the highest rate of traffic. While this is not necessarily wrong, it still might not work- for you at least.
Just because one bloggers Pinterest strategy is bringing in thousands of page views, doesn’t mean that the same outcome will happen for you. You will most likely need to play around with different strategies until you find one that works for you.
Without a strategy, you will have no way of analyzing if what you are doing is working or not!
Keep in mind, you will need to stick it out for at least a month or two with one strategy, to assess if it is giving you the outcomes you want!
Leaving descriptions blank
Believe it or not, there is a concept in the blogging world known as Pinterest SEO. The term SEO can be quite scary, especially for new bloggers, but it is essential to your success as a blogger to understand at least the general concept.
One of the easiest ways to help get your pins noticed is to fill out the description section when posting a pin. While most users don’t necessarily read this part, Pinterest does.
In the descriptions section, make sure to use lots of keywords and phrases related to your post. You can find ideas of popular searches related to your post through Pinterest like so:
Pretend as though you are searching for your own post. What would you search? What kind of terms and language would you use to find a post related to your topic?
Then, take these search queries and incorporate them into your description. For example, for this post, I would want to use key phrases such as the ones listed above in my pin description. This will help Pinterest figure out what your pin is about, so they can recommend it to the appropriate users!
Pinterest used to want us to put hashtags in our descriptions. However, hashtags are fading out and are not as beneficial as they once were. You don’t need to delete the hashtags in your old pins, but don’t put them in your new ones.
Don’t worry so much on how your description flows, as most users don’t read it. Try to fit the keywords together as best as you can so it does not look like keyword stuffing, but this is mostly for Pinterest anyway!
Pinning to irrelevant boards
Another common Pinterest mistake new bloggers make is pinning to irrelevant boards. The boards you pin to tell Pinterest a little more about the content of your post.
For example, if I were to pin this post to a board titled “Pinterest for Bloggers”, that would be a great indication to Pinterest that this post is about bloggers using Pinterest.
However, if I pinned this post to a board titled “Traveling the World”, Pinterest might be a bit confused now, about what my post is really about.
When choosing boards to pin to, it is important to look at the description of the board. The higher quality description of the board, the better. You want boards that have descriptions rich with keywords related to your post.
The same goes for your own boards. Fill your descriptions with relevant keywords and phrases, so Pinterest knows what the content of your board is about.
Additionally, it is important to note that you should always post a new pin to your own relevant board first. This ensures the first board you post a new pin to is keyword rich, so Pinterest has an immediate understanding of what your pin is about!
Posting too much/too little
Especially as a new blogger, it is difficult to find the correct number of times to post each day. I wish I could tell you, “you have to post X amount of times per day for the best results”, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
Just like developing your own Pinterest strategy, you will need to find your own sweet spot of number of pins per day, that works for you.
Pinterest used to reward users who posted 50+ times a day- even up to 100 per day! However, now it seems like they reward quality over quantity. Instead of pinning the same handful of pins multiple times throughout the day, they now favor new pins.
Right now, I post around 10-12 pins a day, plus 1 video pin. All 12 of these pins are fresh, and I no longer re-pin ANY pins. This might work for you, or it might not! You will need to try it out for yourself!
It is important to note that Pinterest will suspend your account for pinning too much, so keep an eye on how much you are pinning throughout the day. If you get suspended, you can always amend it and they usually approve, but it is a pain!
Whatever number you choose, make sure you are consistent. Meaning, don’t post 5 one day, then 20 the next. Find a number that is reasonable for you, and that you can make time for in your everyday life. Give it a month or two to see if you need to adjust the number at all!
Posting everything at once
Another of the most common Pinterest mistakes I see is posting everything at once. In the previous point, I mentioned choosing a number of pins per day to post. This does not mean, however, to post all 10 or 20 posts at once!
In fact, by doing this, you up your chances of getting flagged as spam by Pinterest, and potentially getting your account suspended.
Instead, spread out your posting throughout the day. If you are too busy throughout the day, you can always use Tailwind to help schedule your pins! This is a huge lifesaver for those who work full-time jobs or have families to care for.
I try to post only one-two pins per hour throughout the day. This helps me keep track of when I last pinned, and also provides new pins and content throughout the whole day.
You might find your audience is bigger at a certain time of the day (mine is usually around 7pm and later). It might be a good idea to pin more around this time, rather than during hours where your engagement is low.
You can find this data in your Pinterest analytics or Google Analytics.
Additionally, I know it can be tempting to want to immediately publish and pin a new post once it’s finished. You feel accomplished, and want your readers to see it!
However, try to keep a schedule of when you post new content. For example, if you decide to post 1-3 times a week, choose specific days when you will promote them. Pinterest rewards consistent, brand new content, so you will want to have a consistent schedule!
Not spending time creating pins
This is one mistake that I completely understand. Creating dozens of brand new pins every week is exhausting! It takes a lot of time and effort, and is very tedious.
However, your pin is the face of your post. While we all try to say not to judge a book by its cover, we all do!
Your pin image is your readers first impression of your post. You could have the most amazing post ever written, but if your pin is poor, it won’t matter, and it won’t get clicked on.
Spend some time each week creating new pins for your most popular posts. Canva is my favorite way to create pins. You can even make a few while watching Netflix at the end of the day, so it doesn’t feel like such a chore!
Try to change up the font, colors, and images in your pins each time you recreate them. I have a set of templates I rotate between, which helps speed the process along.
You can get our pack of 200 templates for only $14.99 here!
Additionally, each week try to create a new template, especially for your most popular posts. This helps your pin images stay fresh and unique, instead of all looking exactly the same.
Read more about how to create pins that get clicks!
Contact me!
Like always, if you have any questions about your blog, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can find my contact information in the menu, or you can leave a comment below!
My hope is to help all bloggers reach their goals both professionally and personally, so feel free to reach out at any time!
What a fabulous guide! I really started exploring Pinterest and my goal, for now, is to work on my consistency!
Great tips!! Pinterst is such a great tool to use for spacing out your pins and pinning at the right times. Also saves you so much time!
Great tips especially starting with a strategy. That should help drive the actions you suggested in all of the other tips.
These are some great pointers. I totalling agree that consistency is key when it comes to posting on pinterest, my biggest downfall
This is great! I always make sure to write a description, but I don’t add hashtags. I will be doing so going forward. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for this awesome information! As a new blogger and new to Pinterest this is gold!