5 Popular Pinterest Tips You Should Just Ignore
Yes, there’s SO much information about Pinterest out there. Do this tip, don’t do that tip. The this-worked-for-me-once-so-now-I’ll-write-a-post-about-it tip.
I get it.
I also get that you don’t want to waste umpteen hours reading posts with Pinterest tips. So let me keep you from going down a rabbit hole! Why should you listen? Well, I co-teach a course on how to use Pinterest to drive traffic. Plus, I work with Pinterest directly for my day job and get to hear things straight from the source.
Consider this post your myth-busting go-to post for Pinterest.
The following are some of the most popular Pinterest tips I see floating around the interwebz that you should completely ignore.
1. Followers will help you get more traffic from Pinterest.
The gist: More followers = more people seeing your pins.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Followers don’t really matter on Pinterest.
My fave story highlighting this is from Anna, instructor of our Pinning Perfect course. Someone named Silvia pinned a post of hers that was repinned (saved) over 140,000 times.
Silvia had 52 followers.
Followers may matter to brands, but they don’t matter when it comes to bringing you traffic. Sure, more followers won’t hurt, but don’t spend time following x number of people each day in hopes they’ll follow you back. For users, Pinterest is about finding ideas, not finding people to follow.
As you gain more traffic, you’ll naturally gain more followers anyway.
2. Your Pinterest bio is your first impression so get it right.
The gist: There are entire blog posts devoted to writing your Pinterest bio, so obviously it’s important and you should spend time on it.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
No one visits your profile! As a blogger or website owner, you might visit profiles a little more than the average Pinterest user. But the vast majority of Pinterest users aren’t bloggers that go around following people.
As you’ve probably heard 1,000 times, Pinterest is more like a search engine than a social media network. Having a great bio doesn’t matter like it might on Instagram or Twitter. And what about the advice to put a link in your bio with a call-to-action?
It doesn’t work. The first strike against it is that a URL in your bio isn’t clickable. Nothing other than your verified website is clickable, so someone has to copy and paste it into a browser to get a “click.” Second strike? Pinterest isn’t designed to help people network and gain followers, so again people aren’t going to your profile.
To prove the point, I’ve had a link in my bio for over two years. It’s gotten NINETEEN “CLICKS.” See those last two blue bars? Those are the TWO big clicks I’ve gotten in 2017.
Put a link there if you want, but don’t expect anything exciting from it.
3. Board covers can really enhance your Pinterest profile.
The gist: Pretty board covers that are matchy-matchy mean your profile page looks professional and well-branded.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Just like no one’s looking at your profile, no one is looking at your board covers. No oohing or aahing at those beauties that you spend hours designed and uploading to each board.
In fact, Pinterest said that fewer than 5% of people find pins through boards. WHAT?! Instead, people find pins through search and looking through their home feed.
So I beg you not to spend hours creating pretty little designs for these when no one looks at them. As bloggers, it’s easy to get caught up in making things pretty and organized. Sometimes it’s helpful to your goals; in this case, it’s a big time sink and you’re WAY better off focusing on better pinnable images and descriptions.
4. Deleting old or underperforming pins helps other pins perform better.
The gist: Pins that aren’t getting repins/saves on Pinterest should be deleted because they’re lowering your ranking on Pinterest’s algorithm.
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Because Pinterest themselves have said NOT to delete pins. Not only have I been told them directly from Pinterest, I know many others who’ve spoken with Pinterest peeps at conferences and what not who have told them the same.
Why? A pin’s performance does NOT affect the other pins on that board, so it doesn’t make sense to spend time deleting them.
Plus, pins that have been “dormant” can take OFF and go viral. And those holiday pins? They often do better the next year anyway. You’re leaving money on the table so to speak if you delete old pins.
Pinterest wants you to focus on compelling images and good pin descriptions that will get you the most return for your efforts.
Psst… we’ll be covering how to create great images and descriptions in a Pinterest Summer Challenge starting July 10!
Click to register and you’ll get all the deets emailed to you.
5. Pin over 100+ times a day to drive the most traffic.
The gist: More pins = more chances your pins get seen
Why You Should Ignore This Tip
Even if you use a scheduler, pinning over 100 times a day is just crazy town. Good news is that you don’t have to do it.
Think quality over quantity. In Pinning Perfect, we recommend about 30 times a day instead. Any more hasn’t been proven to see any significant increase in traffic. Use that extra time you get back in your week to create better content, promote something, or whatever else.
Join Our Pinterest Summer Challenge!
Want to get a jump on fall traffic NOW? We’re hosting a FREE 5-day challenge starting July 10!
For 5 days, we’ll have Facebook Live lessons (replays available through July 18!) along with a workbook for you to fill in with your newfound knowledge. Click the image to join the challenge!
Any of these surprise you?
I know I know. SO many people might be spouting out these truths about Pinterest. Any of these surprise you at all?
