Creating a Business Account and Using Rich Pins
Remember when moms used Pinterest to find snack ideas for Halloween parties that would make all the other moms feel bad about what they brought?
Now, you can create dozens of boards with subjects as varied as fashion, travel, parenting, crafting, household decor, and “Halloween snacks that will make other parents feel bad about what they brought to the party.”
How do you, as a mommy blogger, connect with the millions of Pinterest users to increase the viewership of your blog? Here is part one of our series on how to use Pinterest. In it, we will discuss the importance of creating a business account and using rich pins. We will also start a discussion on the importance of developing a Pinterest niche.
Create a business account.
Even if you are getting started as a mommy blogger, take the extra step to create a Pinterest business account. Look under the settings menu to see how to complete this step.
The benefit of having a business account is that you have access to Pinterest analytics, but more importantly, you can create Rich Pins for your articles.
Learn about Rich Pins
Rich pins make your pin stand out from regular pins. The title appears in bold, and you can include extra information above and below the image. Besides getting more attention visually, the additional text above and below your picture will mean that the text can include keywords that will help users find your content while searching.
Rich pins have the extra benefit of being automatically updated when the linked page receives updates. Rich pins also allow you to include a follow button and brand your pin with your profile image.
Perhaps you think that those small details wouldn’t affect the amount of traffic your pin would get for your blog. Studies have shown that rich pins receive 36% more traffic than regular pins. Target noticed a considerable jump in clicks when they began to utilize rich pins on their content. And if it’s good enough for Target . . .
Learn the benefits of using an “article” rich pin.
As a mommy blogger, we know that you aren’t probably selling particular products like Target. Or at least you are selling products in a less “salesy” way. But rich pins aren’t just for selling items. There are six types of rich pins: movie, recipe, article, place, app, and product.
As a mommy blogger, you will be using the article rich pin.
Article pins tell readers the title, the author’s name, a description of the piece, and the link to your website.
Learn how to create a rich pin for your mommy blog.
Once you have your business account, you can edit your original pins so they are rich pins. Here’s how to do it if you are using WordPress.
First, add the Yoast SEO Plugin to WordPress.
Go to the SOCIAL tab in the Yoast settings, and click on the FACEBOOK tab.
Under the FACEBOOK tab, you will see the text that says, “Open Graph Meta Data.” Click ENABLE.
From there, you will go to this Pinterest page. Copy your site’s URL and paste it into the box that is provided. Click VALIDATE.
That’s it! Please note that it will take a few days for the process to be complete. Don’t expect your pins to change and the touch of a button.
Develop a Pinterest Niche
You may try to be everything to everybody in your mommy blog, but to receive loyal followers on Pinterest, you should consider developing a finely-tuned niche.
Maybe you write one article a week on how to get your picky kids to eat healthy foods. Perhaps this could be the focus of your identity on Pinterest. Your blog can still be about any random topics that you want to write about, but one of your Pinterest boards should be about #pickyeaters or #kidsnutrition or #hidingvegetables.
Tighten up your Pinterest bio
While you are waiting for your rich pins to be activated, tighten up the copy on your bio. Make sure it has focus and is rich in keywords.
Use an attractive profile image. Some bloggers swear that you should use photographs instead of a logo, but there doesn’t seem to be any real data that proves this strategy is effective.
We will continue this discussion on how to use Pinterest to promote your mommy blog in the next few weeks. With the right niche and the use of rich pins, we think your readership will quickly grow.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.