All About Pinterest Part 2!

Welcome to part 2 of our All About Pinterest series!  In part 1 we discussed why Pinterest is beneficial to bloggers, how to get started, how to pin new content and quick tips for Pinterest-blog harmony.  Click here to check out Part 1!

The next step after pinning content is the repin.

So let's talk about re-pinning.  Besides pinning from your own blog or other websites you like, you can also repin from your news feed.  Repinning is a very easy way to save pins you love, but you should keep in mind that not all pins are what they appear to be!  Sometimes you repin something that looks really great, like a recipe or an outfit or a how to.  Later you go back to check out that pin only to find the site is spam, or has no directions, just pictures.  Here are some tips from our Pinterest expert, Ellie, on how to avoid "repin disappointment":

1. Always click on the pin! Sometimes pages aren’t there anymore, the link is wrong, or it simply isn’t as described. Just take two seconds, click, and if it works and it looks like something you want to hang on to, REPIN.

2. If it is a recipe, click on the pin and check the COMMENTS section of the post. If there are no comments, then it is a gamble but usually there are and they can be super helpful and honest. If 20 people write and say they just can’t get that no-knead bread to rise, chances are it is not a great recipe. There may also be tips on how to make the recipe better or more healthy so it is a win-win.

3. If it is something you would like to buy, click the link to see if it goes to a store, if it is still available, and if it is in your price range. Sometimes I will just repin something because I like the photo or just want something similar BUT if it is something I am pinning because I would really like to own that exact thing, I click first.

Quick and easy- how to repin:

Step 1: Click the pin you want to repin from your news feed.  It will open up in this screen and you click "Pin It."  There is also an option to "like" a pin, but that does not allow you to organize it in your boards, nor does it show up in your feed.  Therefore, the pin itself will not get more traffic, which is counterproductive if you are trying to help a friend out by repinning their content.

Step 2:  Choose the board you want your pin to go to.  Then check the description to see if it says something helpful to you.  You can change the original description if you want.  Then, click Pin It, and there you have it!

Now we know all the basic things to do on Pinterest so let's get a little more advanced!

How to add the pin it button to your blog.

This is different than the pin it button you added to your web tool bar!  Adding the pin it button to your blog allows people to pin directly from your blog, even if they don't have the pin it button in their own toolbar.  This can be beneficial to you for getting more pins to your blog!

The most simple way to add this is to use the Pinterest Widget Builder. Which looks like this:

As you can see, from the widget builder screen I can build a pin it button, follow button and profile widgets.  The pin, profile and board widgets are great to show off a pin or board in your blog posts or you can add them to your sidebar to show off your profile!

Here is another tutorial on how to add a pin it button to your blog posts.  This one discusses how to add coding to your blog so the pin it button shows up in every post.  There are several other tutorials out there, let us know if you find a good one that worked for you!  Just in case that one doesn't work for you here is another option!  This blog also reminds us to back up our blogs before making any changes to our HTML codes- great tip!

If you don't understand any of this or don't want to deal with HTML coding, you can also hire a blog designer to add a custom pin button for you!  Generally (from what I've seen) they charge $15-$25 to add a custom pin it button to a blogger blog.

Pinterest Reminders for good pins:

1. Make sure you blog post has clear, original images or graphics that are attractive.

2. Add a description that is catchy, relevant and useful.

3. Make sure your link works!  Be sure to link directly to the post, not the main URL of your blog.  If people click through from Pinterest to your blog, they want to see the content they are clicking on from Pinterest, not just your blog in general.

Last but not least, I will leave you with this infographic with some helpful Pinterest statistics:

Happy Pinning Everyone!!