Last updated on August 2nd, 2019 at 09:48 am
My Pinterest is not working, just when I think I figure things out, it stops working. Pinterest has been challenging for me to learn, I’ve bought Pinterest courses and eBooks, but nothing works. I’ve decided to figure out how to use Pinterest to help me improve my blog traffic.
If you’ve been following my Pinterest case study, then you know that I’ve been putting more emphasis on learning how to use Pinterest. My first year of using the platform was a joke.
I never took the time to learn how to use it. I just added pins to Tailwind and eventually Board Booster and let it ride. You know what happened?
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Why Is Pinterest Not Working?
Do you ever feel that other bloggers are able to use the visual search engine a lot better than you? Maybe they are better at creating eye catching pins.
Maybe they’ve learned the art of using keywords on Pinterest. Whatever it is, it seemed like no matter what I do on the social media platform, nothing ever changed.
Nothing, nada, my traffic stayed extremely low. Then I picked up the Pinterest Strategies eBook and started implementing the strategies on January 15, 2018.
At first, I started seeing some amazing improvements and even noticed a difference in my traffic.
As you can see, when I was sharing my popular pins, I was growing. But then I started switching out the pins that I was manually pinning and that’s when things started going downhill.
After about two weeks, I started noticing a slow drop to my traffic. I thought it was just a fluke, so I kept pinning and not changing anything.
Now here I am almost a month into my case study and take a look at my stats as of 2/9/18. If only I would’ve continued sharing my popular pins, maybe my stats wouldn’t have dropped?
That’s the thing about testing things out and trying to figure it out on your own. You’re going to notice increases and decreases, that’s just a part of life.
It’s up to you to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Then you have to make the decision to change it up. That’s one of the best things about being an entrepreneur, you get to make all the calls in your business.
Of course, this also means that it’s up to you to figure things out on your own.
My Pinterest Is Not Working Back to The Drawing Board
It’s time to change things up. Now I won’t be changing up a bunch of things. I am just going to change up the pins that I am sharing because apparently, they are not my popular pins.
The one thing that I have learned about Pinterest is that you want to make sure that you’re continually pinning your popular pins. Heck Pinterest will even tell you which pins of yours are considered popular pins.
You can even use Google Analytics to help you find your popular pins. I’ll show you how to find your popular pins via Pinterest and Google Analytics so you can make sure that you’re pinning them on a regular basis.
When I Started The Case Study
I was pinning my popular pins, but then I changed up my pins. Eventually, I started replacing my popular pins with my new pins. As you know, I am publishing three blog posts per week and this means that I am constantly creating new pins.
So I started eventually replacing the popular pins that I was manually pinning with my new pins. Over time, I started to see my stats drop, but I thought I would give it a little longer to see if they would improve.
As you can see, they didn’t. So this morning, I decided to sit down and come up with a new strategy to see if I can improve the traffic to my blog.
Here’s What I Am Doing
Instead of manually pinning my new pins, I am going to stick them into Board Booster. I’ve set up a campaign just for my new pins. I’ll only be pinning them once and that’s when they first get pinned on Pinterest.
After that, they will go into the Board Booster campaign so I can manually pin the popular pins. Because that’s what I was doing when I first started my case study.
If this strategy starts to work, I’ll create another blog post that shows you how I’ve set up a random camaign to share my new blog posts.
Finding Your Popular Pins
Okay, so how do you find your popular pins? Well, it’s extremely easy and Pinterest and Google will show you how to find your popular pins.
I’m going to show you how to find your popular pins via Pinterest and Google. I’ve heard that the Pinterest Analytics are different than Google Analytics, but I can’t say for sure whether or not they are.
Let’s take a look.
Finding Popular Pins Via Pinterest
When you’re logged into your Pinterest account, click on your Pinterest Analytics. You will need to make sure that you are using a Pinterest Business account if you want to see your analytics. Here’s a tutorial that will show you how to convert your personal account to a business account.
Once you click on that, you will see an overview of how your website is doing on Pinterest. Don’t worry if you don’t understand it right away, it took me awhile to really understand how to read it.
I am still learning new things every day. That’s actually one of the reasons that you need to take the time to learn how to use Pinterest. You can learn a lot just from taking the time to understand the Analytics.
While I am not going to cover everything about the Pinterest Analytics in this post, I am just going to show you how to find your popular pins.
Go to Overview >> Activity from Your Domain
Here you will see your pins with the top pin impressions for the last 30 days. You’ll see the impressions, clicks and saves each pin received.
Here’s What I Am Doing
I will go through each pin on the list and see which one received the most saves. I’ll click on the pin and add the URL to my pinning template so I can add it to my pinning rotation.
Since I am manually pinning 7 pins per day, I went through and grabbed 7 of my most popular pins from the Pinterest Analytics and added them all to my pinning template.
Now instead of pinning my new pins manually, I am pinning my most popular pins. This is the method that I am going to be using to see if I can improve my Pinterest traffic.
I have noticed that it doesn’t take long to see whether the pinning strategy is working or not. After a week of using my new pinning strategy, I should be able to tell whether it is working or not.
If I start to see improvements, then I’ll keep my fingers crossed because maybe I have figured it out. On the other hand, if I notice that my traffic starts to drop, then I’ll have to tweak my strategy again.
Finding Popular Pins Via Google Analytics
Maybe you don’t want to use your Pinterest Analytics to find your popular pins and would rather find them via Google. That’s cool, I don’t think it really matters.
I’ve personally done both and to tell you the truth, I prefer to find my popular pins via Google. It’s easier and I think I read somewhere that using Google Analytics is a lot better than Pinterest Analytics?
Honestly, I am not sure, you just have to find out what works best for you. So let’s find your popular pins via Google.
Log into your Google Analytics account and go to Acquisition >> Social >> Network Referrals
You’re going to see all the blog posts that are driving traffic to your blog via Pinterest. Click on the blog post and then you’ll see the pins that are responsible for driving traffic to your blog.
Highlight those URL’s and make sure that you copy them. These are the exact URL’s that you want to start pinning on Pinterest. Add them to your Pinterest template so that you can keep pinning these URL’s.
Making Manual Pinning Easier
I’ve created a pinning template that will help you stay on track with your Pinning strategy. I know how confusing it can be to understand how to manually pin your pins.
When I first started manually pinning, I had no clue what I was doing. It was so easy to pin the wrong pin at the wrong time.
Once I even checked one of the group boards and saw 4 of my pins all in a row. Talk about embarrassing, the last thing you want to do is flood a group board with a bunch of your pins.
My Pinterest template will walk you through on how to pin properly. Not only that, but you’ll also receive over 300 Pinterest group boards that you can start applying to.
Have you ever received a list of Pinterest boards only to find out that they have closed their doors? I have and let me tell you it sucks.
The thing about Pinterest groups is that they are like revolving doors. They open and close whenever they want. This is why you need to understand how to find your own Pinterest groups without relying on a list. Yes, my list contains over 300 Pinterest groups in several different niches.
But I also show you how to find Pinterest groups just in case you run into a Pinterest group that has closed their doors.
If you’re serious about growing your Pinterest traffic, then you need to give manual pinning a chance. I’ve noticed a difference in my traffic just by tweaking my strategy.
I want to help you stay sane when you start manual pinning. Buy my Manual Pinning Strategy template and look over my shoulder as I show you exactly how to use this template to help you stay on track.
My Pinterest Improvement After A Week of Pinning
Okay, I tweaked my strategy on February 9 and here are my results one week after changing up my strategy. I’ll have to give it some time before I can see if my new strategy starts to work or not.
One thing that I’ve learned from reading the Tailwind blog is that it takes a while to learn how Pinterest works. If you haven’t started using it for your blog, here’s a great article that will help you get started.
Another thing that I’ve learned is that some niches do a lot better than others. That’s why you see some bloggers who have quicker success out the gate than others. Here’s a great article that reveals 27 niches that do great on Pinterest.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t do good on Pinterest. Right now Pinterest is my biggest traffic referrer out of all the social media platforms.
I’m just saying that it’s going to take some time to figure out how to use Pinterest for growing your blog. Whatever you do, don’t give up if you’re starting to see some traffic from the site.
Many bloggers swear up and down that Pinterest is an awesome place to grow your blog.
That’s why I am determined to learn how to use it. I’m just saying that it’s going to take a little bit longer than someone who is blogging in a niche that does extremely well on Pinterest.
So what can you take away from this blog post? Well, it’s easy, make sure that you’re sharing your popular pins on a regular basis if you want to get some love from Pinterest.
I’ve created a Pinterest Daily Pinning Template that helps me stay on track with my pinning strategies. If you’re struggling with a way to stay organized with your manual pinning, then I highly recommend it.
Latest Update
Oh here’s an update to my traffic since I started implementing my new pinning strategy.
My First 500 Page View Day
It’s so exciting when you start to see things falling into place. As bloggers, we all work so hard to grow our blogs. Most of us are lucky if we get past 100 page views per day.
I know my first year of blogging, there were months that I didn’t even reach 100 page views per day. As you know, this year I’ve decided it was time to focus on growing my traffic and followers.
I’m happy to report that my Pinterest strategy is working. (fingers crossed it doesn’t stop working) Yesterday I had my first 500 page view day.
But I think I may actually be figuring it out? But then I am always reading and learning everything that I can about using Pinterest.
With more traffic come more subscribers and affiliate commissions. Of course it depends on whether you’re monetizing your blog correctly and you have your email opt-ins set up to get people to subscribe.
This plugin has helped me grow my email list faster than anything I’ve ever tried. Like I said, I hope that the upward trend for Pinterest continues, if so then I’ll be a happy camper.
Final Take Away
Don’t be scared to test things out on your own and keep testing new strategies. I’ve picked up several Pinterest courses and they have taught me a lot about Pinterest.
But I didn’t actually start seeing growth until I started testing different strategies out on my own. Unfortunately, what works for some people may not necessarily work for you.
I’m sharing my Pinterest strategies with you because I want to help you grow your blog traffic. I truly believe that there’s enough room on the Internet for all of us to have success.
Of course, what I’m doing to grow my Pinterest traffic may not necessarily help you grow your traffic. But I truly believe that it will if you just give it a chance.
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Are you using Pinterest to help you grow your blog? Have you found it easy to get traffic, or did it take you awhile to figure things out? Let me know, I’d love to hear about your Pinterest struggles or successes.
Hey Susan!
This is the life of the blogger. Constant ups and downs. You live and learn.
What is important here is that you are not giving up and you are understanding that if such small setbacks happen, it is part of the process to success. Only the ones who persevere and have this mentality will make it.
Pinterest is a goldmine for free traffic. But, there is a learning curve and you have to take consistent action with everything.
I’m not sure if you read one of my previous comment on your blog here – I have been trying to pin your images for a while now and keep getting the same error. This is only happening on your blog, and I pin images from many different blogs on a daily basis.
There might be some technical issues with your WordPress installation and plugins that might be preventing some people from pinning your content!
Thought I would let you know again, so you can take a look into that.
Thank you for sharing your case study here!
I’m also working on my Pinterest strategy. It’s a work in progress. π
Best regards! π
Hi Freddy,
You’re right, it’s a continual testing process to see what actually works for you.
Pinterest has been a huge learning curve for me, hopefully, this upward trend continues.
Thanks man, I wasn’t aware of the issues as I haven’t been having issues pinning my pins to Pinterest. But then I am always logged into my blog when I pin the images
I’ll have to take a look at that, thanks for the heads up and showing me what you’re seeing. Good luck with your Pinterest strategy.
Have a great day π
Susan
Susan, Iβm sorry to hear your Pinterest traffic has been up and down, but Iβm glad itβs not just us.
We were doing well until a few day ago and he just took a nose dive.
We are on BoardBooster for our pins and repins. We are gonna switch to more manual pinning too. Hopefully this will help.
Will be following your study and using your suggestions. Best of luck! Steve
Hey Steve,
Sorry to hear about your Pinterest woes. I’ve actually been getting the most traffic than I’ve ever gotten from Pinterest this week.
I’m using Board Booster as well, but have been spending time doing some manual pinning. I don’t manual pin a lot, because I don’t have a lot of time.
Good luck with your new Pinterest strategy and let me know if your traffic increases once you start pinning manually.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day π
Susan
This is amazing!! I loooooooooooove reading case studies. So interesting to see. I’ll give it a try, manually pinning my popular pins. Also read the ebook Pinteresting Strategies, but you made it sound so easy and given me the motivation I needed to do that and not just stick with Tailwind & Boardbooster! Thanks!
Hi Sophie,
Glad you enjoyed it. I love writing them.
Let me know how manual pinning goes for you.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day π
Susan
Hi Susan,
Another amazing case study article. The good thing about case study is that they are a motivation to readers. Case study inspires you to want to follow suit and do more of what you’re reading.
I have been using Pinterest for a while, but actually haven’t been active on the platform. Even though I’m getting traction on Pinterest, I still need to map out time to focus on Pinterest.
I have read a lot about ho great Pinterest is in terms of traffic, search, etc. I’m making it a priority now!
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Moss,
Pinterest is funny and to tell you the truth, I am still learning a lot about it. I’ve realized that it definitely takes time to learn how to use it.
But it’s definitely worth the effort. Good luck with your Pinterest strategy.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day π
Susan
Love the case study. Thanks for sharing. I’m in a similar boat – everyone says Pinterest is great, so we’ve tried it for the last year. There’s been some traffic, but nothing to write home about. I’m also using BoardBooster and Tailwind to automate things, but spend time manually pinning things as well when I have a few minutes here and there. Not sure if Pinterest is not liking the automation services right now.
FYI, I tried to pin this article and it said “Sorry! Something went wrong on our end. Please try again.” Weird. Anyway, good luck and thanks again for sharing.
Hi Joe,
Yeah, I’ve been really trying to figure Pinterest out for the last month as well. I’ve been using it for about a year, but really didn’t give it a lot of attention, other than letting the schedulers do all the work.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to tap into some of the traffic that other bloggers rave about.
Yeah, that’s a Pinterest error on their end. Nothing I can do it for it from my end that I know of. I’ve contacted them and hopefully it gets fixed soon.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.
Have a great day π
Susan