What is Pinterest? Why use Pinterest

Disclosure- Hello there! Before you get started just wanted to be transparent and let you know that Blogging Unplugged is a blog that makes most of its income from affiliate commissions meaning some of the links on this page are affiliate links and if you purchase a product using our link we will make a small commission. Also, the product purchased will not cost you anything extra and in some cases you might get a decent discount using our links. Thank You for listening and Have a good day.

What is Pinterest

“Pinterest”. When I heard first about this website my reaction was this is just another image sharing platform  that is trying to compete with social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And little did I know I was wrong in speculating the future and strength of this website.

Pinterest is one of the best platform that can drive quality traffic to your website. And if you are not familiar with this platform, then you have come to the right place.

In this article we will be discussing

• What exactly is Pinterest
• Interesting facts about this website
• Why do you need to include Pinterest in your marketing strategy
• Common terms used
• Getting started the right way

So without further ado, lets dive into the article.

What exactly is Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the largest image sharing / social networking / visual search engine where you can share images, videos and info-graphics related to any topic of your interest.

The word Pinterest is made up of 2 words, Pin + Interest. And is the essence of the platform.

Remember the good old days of childhood when we used to attach images that liked on cork board using pins. And that is the basic concept behind Pinterest.

The only difference is we are now doing it digitally.

Lets understand more about Pinterest with the help of an example.

I’m sure at some point of time in your life you have visited a library. When you visit a library, the first thing you notice is all the books are organized based on categories. Now, if you want to read a novel, then you will have to go to the section with all the novels.

You won’t find it in any other section.

Similarly in Pinterest, there are boards where you can pin images based on certain topic or interest. This helps organize your content and makes it easier for people to discover it on the platform.

Now, some of you may be thinking if a website allows you to share images, it is called an images sharing site.

Then,

How is Pinterest a visual search engine?

Let me begin this answer by saying search exists because people are searching for something and people are creating content around what is being searched.

The world’s largest search engine runs on this principal. And that is what is happening here.

Also, content on Pinterest has a longer shelf life as compared to other social networking sites. If your content is good and is getting engagement then it will stay on top of search results.

According to Pinterest

More than 2 billion searches happen on Pinterest every month

The next question is

What about Pinterest being a social network?

Pinterest is very different than your traditional social networks like Facebook or Twitter. However, there is a feature that adds the social component to this platform and that is a group board.

If you are familiar with what a group board is then let me tell you, it is a Pinterest board where multiple creators with the same interest or topic share pins.

And to be a part of such a board you often have to get in touch with the owner of the board. Let them know about you and your site. Also, how can you add value to the group.

Once you are a part of the group and start pinning, you will notice other publishers will share your work and you doing the same as well.

And this is the social side to Pinterest.

Having said that,

Pinterest is a website that you shouldn’t take lightly, if you are looking to drive traffic or generate sales. On all my time on this platform, I have rarely come across spam and frequently found share worthy content.

Why should you use Pinterest

Now that you now what is Pinterest, let me share a few important statistics before discussing why do you need to use Pinterest.

• Pinterest currently has 335 million monthly active users worldwide.
• It is the third largest social network in the U.S.A
• For 48% of Pinterest users, shopping is the top priority.
• 97% of searches on Pinterest are unbranded.
• 28% of marketers worldwide are already using Pinterest.

As you can see the numbers this site is putting are impressive and if you are using Pinterest correctly and consistently then I m sure this platform has the potential to drive a decent amount of traffic to your blog or website.

Also, here are a few more reasons why it is important to include Pinterest in your marketing strategy.

Easy to optimize

When it comes to optimizing your pins, website, and profile for Pinterest SEO, it is fairly simple as compared to Google. You can use tools like Tasty Pins and Tailwind to help you with the optimization and scheduling.

Free to use

Just like any other social media platform, you can create an account on Pinterest for free. As you know, social media platforms like Facebook have become more commercial and it is difficult to increase your reach until you pay. But with Pinterest, if you are consistent then you can use drive a good amount of traffic to your site without having to pay for ads.

Content shelf life

If you are an active Twitter or Facebook user, you already know how quickly the content dies on these platforms. However, with Pinterest, this is not the case. As discussed before Pinterest at its core is a search engine and if you are publishing quality content on a regular basis then you will be rewarded and it will continuously send traffic your way.

Easy conversions

Do you know Pinterest has a special type of pin for e-commerce sites known as the product pin. These pins have all the information related to the product on them such as pricing and availability.

Now, when the user clicks a product pin, it will take them directly to the product landing page or pricing page were the final step is to purchase.

It is important to keep in mind as discussed above, there are more people looking to purchase on Pinterest than on any other platform and in comparison to other platforms Pinterest has reduced the steps leading to purchase.

Targeted Traffic

Just like product pins, there are 2 other types of rich pins on Pinterest. And these are article pins and recipe pins.

The pins display all the meta data on the pin itself making it easier for users to decide if they want to read the complete article/ recipe based on the information provided or not.

What this does is it only sends target traffic to your site. Also , it is important to keep in mind as every pin links back to the source, it helps boosting reach

SEO

These days often I have seen pins ranking on search engines for low competition keywords. If your pin is receiving decent engagement on the platform then there are chances that your pin can rank on search thus driving bonus traffic to your site.

Stay in tune with the trends

When you create an account on Pinterest, often you will receive emails regarding what’s trending on the platform. Using this information you can create content around those topics.

When you write on a trending topic chances are high that you will get more exposure on the platform and this may lead to more conversions.

These are some incredibly compelling reasons of using Pinterest and I think anyone who is starting out must use this platform to their advantage as within a small time you can see your site getting traffic.

Common terms related to Pinterest

Before you dive into creating a Pinterest account for yourself and start pinning, it is important for you to be familiar with the Pinterest Terminology. Below I have briefly explained the mostly commonly used ones

Home Feed

Pinterest home feed is the collection of all the pins from boards, users and topics you are following.The pins are displayed in a chronological order just like you see on a blog and at times it may contain promoted pins.

Recently, Pinterest has released “Today” tab that displays trending pins and topics.

Pins

Pins are the images that you share/ pin on Pinterest. Keep in mind for pins to perform well on this platform the aspect ratio has to 2:3 and the ideal pin size is 1000 x 1500 px.

Board

Pinterest boards is where you save your pins. Boards are basically used for organizing your content on the platform so that people can easily find what they are looking for.

Group Boards

Group boards are a type of Pinterest board where multiple publishers collaborate and share their pins on a common topic of interest. These boards can be on both single and multiple topics.

Rich Pins

While browsing Pinterest you will commonly find pins that have additional information or meta data on them. This data helps the user decide if they want to visit the link or not. And the pin is known as rich pins.

Repin

When you share an existing pin on Pinterest, it is known as repin.

Tasty Pins

Tasty Pins is a tool that will help you optimize your site and pins for Pinterest. It is a must-have plugin if you want to properly optimize various elements contributing to Pinterest SEO.

Recommended Read- What is Tasty Pins

Tailwind

Manual pinning can be time consuming and painful. And to save precious time you need a scheduler like Tailwind. This tool has tons of features that will help you boost your reach on the platform.

Tailwind offers a 30 day Free trial with no credit card required. Why not give this tool a try.

And with that said

I hope that you have found this post helpful and are able to understand What is WordPress.org. If you have any queries related to this feel free to let me know and I will be happy to answer them.

Also, don’t forget to share this post on social media and Join our Facebook group

Before you leave, feel free to check the best deals and discounts on Blogging tools. Also, to stay up to date with our content, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media.