6 Reasons Why I Love Pinterest

This week, I’m joining Ruth Snyder and other writers for a social media blog hop discussing our favourite social media channel and why. Right away, I knew I’d write about Pinterest. I was a relative latecomer to Pinterest, as I only started using images on my blog about two years ago. Now, Pinterest drives 45% of my blog traffic.

Here are 6 reasons why I love Pinterest.

1. It’s user-friendly.

Pinterest is, in my opinion, the easiest social media platform to figure out. It doesn’t change daily like Facebook and Google+ and it doesn’t use hashtags or abbreviations like Twitter. Pictures are quicker and easier to scan than words, making it easier to look at 100 pins than 100 tweets or 100 Facebook status updates.

2. It bookmarks.

Pinterest is the only social media site that allows you to create links back to posts and articles you liked, so you can read them again later (or save them to read at a better time). All the other social media sites are time-sensitive, meaning that something you see today will be gone from your newsfeed tomorrow (unless you share it, but even then, if you share a lot of stuff, it’s hard to find one article again—and don’t even try to find that article you liked a week or a month ago).

3. It’s a search engine.

Pinterest is more than just social media; it’s also a search engine. I use it just as often as I use Google; in fact, if I’m looking up recipes, crafts, or homeschooling ideas, I’m more likely to go to Pinterest than to Google. Pinterest also has handy search suggestions, making it easy to narrow your search (if you aren’t sure exactly what you’re looking for) or to target your own pin descriptions (by seeing what’s popular with other Pinterest users).

4. It’s evergreen.

Share something on Facebook or Twitter and it’s gone within a day or two; if you want more traffic from those sites, you’ll have to reshare your content. Because Pinterest is a search engine and a bookmarking site, pins are more likely to get steady traffic over a long period of time. For example, last year I wrote and pinned a post on Valentine’s Day Ideas for Him. It went viral on Pinterest and this year in January, that same pin began driving traffic back to my blog before I’d even done anything.

5. It’s not just crafts and recipes.

Pinterest has a bit of a reputation as a hangout for DIYers and cooks, but it’s so much more. All you need for Pinterest is good visuals, and those are easy to create using photo editing programs like PicMonkey. My biggest board is Food Inspiration, but it’s followed immediately by Blogging, then Desserts & Sweets, Fantastic Fiction, and Marriage. I’ve also used it to look for maternity picture ideas, research a heroine for my novel, and save birthday party ideas.

6. It’s flexible.

On Pinterest, you can rearrange your boards, putting seasonal boards or those most important to you near the top of your page. For example, in February, I moved my Valentine’s Day board to the top of my page; now, I have my Easter board up there. I always keep my blog board in first place. You can also move pins from one board to another, either one at a time or in groups. If you have a pin that fits several boards, you can pin it to multiple boards, making it easier to find later. The sky’s the limit with possible board topics; name them whatever you want (in keeping with your branding).

What’s your favourite social media channel? Do you love Pinterest too?

I’m always looking for more pinners to follow. If you’re on Pinterest, leave your link in the comments below and I’ll drop by to follow you. I’d love it if you followed me too!

I highly recommend taking the Blog Clarity Perfect Pinning course (that’s my affiliate link). I enrolled in it this January after hearing rave reviews about it from other bloggers and I’m so glad I took it! I learned so much in that course and it was all so easy to apply! Instructor Anna Luther gave us up-to-date information about using Pinterest via videos, blog posts and printable worksheets. I need to keep reviewing her material and working on it but I like knowing I have a strategy for Pinterest and am not just using it randomly (and then wondering why it works or doesn’t work).