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The post How to Use Pinterest to Drive Traffic to Your Blog appeared first on HostGator Blog . Despite Twitter and Facebook being the most popular social media platforms available, Pinterest is still an excellent way to drive traffic to your blog. Consider that Pinterest recently reported that they are getting 250 million unique users a month . You can bring some of those people to your website if you use some smart social marketing skills. We are going to look at 5 ways that you can start getting more traffic to your blog by using Pinterest. 1. Create Pinnable Images Pinterest is all about pictures, so it’s no surprise that creating pinnable images is the first tip to driving traffic to your blog with this social media giant. When people check out your pictures, they are going to want to see something that they’ve never seen before — something unique. Luckily, there are a number of tools available that can help you make custom images that are bound to catch the attention of the average Pinterest user. If your focus is on a picture of a product or relevant image, as opposed to text, PicMonkey is a great tool to start out. The creators offer a free version as well as a paid version with a free trial. You can use this application to take your bland photos and touch them up. There are a variety of templates, options to add backgrounds, and much more. On the other hand, if your image is text-based, Quotes Cover is perfect for image creation.   Need to Hide your Pinnable Images on Your Blog? Creating all of these images has a purpose. It will help draw in traffic from Pinterest to your website. The more images you have on your account, the better chance that someone is going to land on your blog. It’s usually a good idea to make multiple images for each one of your blog posts. Sometimes, you shouldn’t put all of your images on every post. This can make it hard for people to read through your content and it can slow down your website. There is a workaround so you can include the images in your posts, but keep them “hidden” until the person goes to share your pin through your social share buttons. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to quickly hide your images: Write the blog post, add images and image text per usual Change the “visual” tab to “Text” on the top right side of your blog edit screen (if using WordPress) Look for the image code and opening IMG Tag. Once you locate it type before the opening Add after the closing image tag Switch the “Text” tab back to “Visual” and check to make sure your image is “gone” That’s all there is to it. When someone goes to “Pin” your image from your blog post, the hidden images will appear. On that same note, if someone finds the image on Pinterest, they can get to your blog. The traffic flow works both ways.   2. Schedule and Pin Featured Blog Images Once you have your business account set up, click on your name or the name of your business on the top right side of your Pinterest homepage. You’ll see a button with a plus sign that says “Create Board,” click this button to create a board for your featured blog images. As you create content, make sure you are sharing all of the images in your content to this Pinterest board. The Buffer App is a great social media tool that lets you schedule your posts for all of your social media accounts, including Pinterest. It’s possible to set up a schedule with Buffer that posts your images on Pinterest every day, week, or even month. The key to bringing people back to your website is including the link to your articles in every image you share on Pinterest.   3. Allow Your Audience to Pin from Your Blog There’s no doubt that everyone loves engagement. If people see something they like, they want to share it with all their friends. You can use this passion for sharing to bring more traffic to your blog. When you’re developing your website, make sure that you include a social media share plugin that will allow you to put a Pinterest button on all of your images. You want people to see your images, get intrigued, and share what you’ve posted with their friends. You can also add a Pinterest follow button popup to your site and generate more followers to your boards. All it takes is someone with tens of thousands of followers to share your picture and link to set off a chain reaction that brings thousands of people to your blog.   4. Use Pinterest Analytics People who have business Pinterest accounts can take advantage of Pinterest Analytics . This system allows users to analyze their pins in real time . Those who use Pinterest Analytics, especially around the holiday season , are able to gain additional insight about their followers. You can follow the performance of each individual pin. Once you dig deeper into the information you’ll be able to see what your customers like, learn about demographics, and see how many people are going to your website via your Pinterest account. It’s possible to pick through this data and discover what works and use it to your advantage. After you have an understanding of what your followers are looking for, you can post similar content so they keep coming back for more. The more people who like your content, the more traffic you’ll see coming to your website.   5. Use Pinterest Ads Much like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has a social advertising program that users can take advantage of in order to get more people viewing their pins, which drives blog traffic. The only stipulation is that you must have a Pinterest Business account There are plenty of reasons you should consider this route if you want to get more eyes on your website. First, 29% of adults in the United States use Pinterest regularly. Considering the population is about 325 million people, that’s nothing to shake a stick at. There are even more international users, opening the door for millions of people to land on your page. Next, consider that 93% of people on Pinterest go there when they plan on making a purchase. If you have information relative to your product on your blog, there’s a good chance that if someone sees your page, they are on the hunt and looking to buy something. Use this to your advantage when you’re writing your content! The most important stat you should take away from this is that 50% of people who were targeted by a Pinterest ad, made a purchase. That’s big news and proof that building a business ad campaign through Pinterest works. You’ll get plenty of flexibility when you develop your ads. It’s possible to start multiple campaigns with specific pins. While the campaign is running, you can view the statistics and make adjustments throughout the process. As you learn what your followers on Pinterest like, you’ll be able to bring in large amounts of traffic from this one source.   Conclusion There’s no doubt that Pinterest is one of the best ways to promote your blog . Similar to other social media outlets, you’re not going to see a huge boost overnight. It’s going to take time and effort to gain a following. If you follow these simple tips you will notice a nice increase in your traffic over time. If you want the best results, combine your Pinterest marketing with Facebook, Twitter, and a Google Ads campaign . Before you know it, you’ll have more Pinterest followers than you ever imagined! Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →