How To Use Pinterest Trends To Drive Blog Traffic

This post has been updated October 2020 to reflect algorithm changes!

Like many of you – our Pinterest viewership and ‘monthly audience’ dropped drastically after the new algorithm dropped in the Fall of 2020. Pinterest is now favoring fresh content, so old strategies of how to repin content DO NOT WORK. This guide is intended to guide you through the recent algorithm changes and help you increase your referral traffic. We believe that you only rise by lifting others so we have no problem sharing all of our tips and tricks!

Why We Needed A New Plan

Majorly excited to have found this resource! I was watching the Facebook live from Tailwind and they were talking about how to do better keyword research to drive traffic to your blog using Pinterest SEO and the new Pinterest Trends tool.

At this point as a blogger – you know that Google and other search engines are cracking down on SEO. It’s incredibly important at this point to be writing for SEO (without keyphrase sprinkling) and to make sure you’re providing actionable and quality content.

Pinterest algorithm changes have majorly affected so many brands and small businesses ( which is what blogs are).. and it was time for a new approach. There are a few major steps to fully utilize Pinterest’s Trends in your keyword research- and then a bunch of smaller steps.

We’re just bloggers like anyone reading this post – so when we’re telling you these steps – understand it’s what we actually do! These steps may take some time, but if they get you back to creating content and not worried about an algorithm – you’ll be glad you invested the time to learn!

Create a Pinterest Business Account

This is the first step because you’ll get access to so many important tools. ( Especially the Pinterest Story function that was just released in 2020! More on that later!)

Remember that Pinterest drives 3.8x more traffic than your average digital campaign! Content on average lasts 4 months on Pinterest. That’s much longer than almost any campaign!

Not only can you share any digital or physical product, you’re sharing the inspiration behind the why. That why is what drives buying power. Your pins can be in just about any format: Standard Images, Video’s, Shoppable Products, Collections or Story Pins.

You can also metrics like Total Impressions, Engagements, and Total Audience. These are incredibly valuable tools that guide you in what’s working well and what’s not. No more wasting your time on strategies that don’t work!

Your Pinterest profile also takes on a more professional look. This is so important for establishing authority in your branding. The business profile is so much more than your average user’s interface.

If you want to take a look at my Pinterest account – CLICK HERE. I used to have a screen capture here but since our brand is ever evolving – that really doesn’t make much sense. It would be out of date quickly.

Create A Content Plan To Start

The best way to start creating content is to have your niche picked, and subtopics. I like to write for the people like me who’ve never traveled because I think we all need the easy breezy articles! I don’t always want to read for 30 minutes – sometimes I just need a quick and easy actionable plan for my blog posts.

To explode your blog traffic – I would highly suggest using Google and Answer the Public to find content that people need right now. If you’re struggling for travel-related content – please see my post on the Best Blog Posts for 2020 When You Can’t Travel.

Some blog posts that everyone can try:

• Languages You Want to Learn
• Books You’re Reading
• Sharing Your Blogging Knowledge ( Just Like I’m Doing Here!)

Understanding Related Terms from Pinterest Trends

First things first: head to trends.Pinterest.com in a new window while you keep this one open so that I can explain.

Step 2: Type in any topic you’re thinking about writing about.

I chose ‘adventure travel’.

Step 3: Access if people are actually looking for that topic or not!

Take a look at the graph’s green line (or whatever color line pops up for that term) and loook at the trends for the past year. Do you see a trend that will work in your favor?

If you look at the graph above you’ll see the chart for two different terms. One is ‘Beautiful Places to Travel’ and the other is ‘Adventure Travel’. Do you see how much more people are searching for the keywords ‘Adventure Travel’? You should be focusing on the terms with more search volume OR a major trend towards becoming popular.

Step 4: Notice other popular related terms.

If you look at the related terms – do you notice that the keyword ‘Travel Aesthetic’ has a spike in growth towards the time I’m searching for keywords? That means I can plan on using those keywords and perhaps even centering content around it.

Step 5: Create ‘Fresh Pins’

Fresh pins are basically newly designed pins that reflect your existing content and shared in a ‘Pinterest Fall 2020 Algorithm’ friendly way. (That’s a mouthful but it matters!) The changes don’t have to be big – but you can’t repin the same tired pins anymore. You need to create fresh images and update your content. (This includes optimizing pin descriptions, titles, and tags! – Writing a post on optimizing pins soon!)

Save This Post For Later

Pinterest trends aren’t the only things we use to tell me what kinds of content will start performing well – but at least you have a starting point if you’re really struggling for content keywords.

Key Points:

1. Create relevant content.
2. Create fresh pins.
3. Use your keywords throughout your posts and pin descriptions.

Thanks for sharing!