Want to Know How to Get More Traffic from Pinterest? It Starts with the right Pinterest images!
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Many of you have heard that testing new Pinterest images, copy and call to actions is a great way to drive more traffic to your website from Pinterest.
BUT…
What decisions should you make before designing that pin image?
Here’s the quick process I go through before I create new Pinterest Images: 3 Tips…
1. Go to Pinterest Analytics
- Once you are in your analytics, scroll to the Top Pins section and select ‘link clicks’ from the drop-down menu.
- In the left menu, go to Claimed Accounts and select your website address.
- Now scroll back down and take a look at your top pins which are displayed based on link clicks over the past 30 days.
- IMPORTANT! Take note of the Link Click Rate (percentage in brackets) which shows the number of clicks compared to total impressions. THIS will give you a general sense of what pins are performing best.
- Looks for your highest Link Click Rates and see if there are any similarities between the top-performing pins.
Do they have similar copy, i.e. FREE?
Is there a similarity in the pin designs? Same fonts or background colours?
Take note of what is working and this is how you should plan your next pin design.
*To begin tracking your Pinterest metrics, download these FREE printable Pinterest metrics & optimization worksheets…
Related:
Pinterest Analytics Metrics to Track Every Month + Free Pinterest Worksheets
How to Design High Performing Pins
2020 Pinterest Planner & Strategy Guide
2. Test Two different Pin Designs (A/B Testing)
You’ve already taken note of the type of design you are going to create. Once you create this pin, design a second pin with a different element.
You might decide to change the image, change the colour of the fonts, or change the fonts completely.
Make this change on your 2nd pin – and make sure you are only switching out 1 element.
Here’s an example from my lifestyle site of simple A/B testing:
This is what you call A/B testing and it’s important to try this once in a while to understand how to create a high performing pin.
You’ll notice that I changed the main image and yes I made a minor 2nd change of the script text so it matches the image, but that’s it.
Which one do you think performs best?!
Would you be surprised to hear that one of them has a 67% click-thru rate while the other has a horrible CTR of 8%?!
But which one? Tell me what you think in the comments below 🙂
Want some help designing Pinterest Images?
Download my Free Pin templates which are super easy to edit in Canva!
✅ I also offer DIY Pinterest templates and custom-designed Pinterest templates in my shop!
3. Test Your Own Theories with Your Pin Designs
You may have heard from others before that certain colours don’t work on Pinterest or images of faces don’t work, but try this out for yourself then you will KNOW what works for your content.
Of course, I’m happy to share how I make pins perform well, so you can check out this article for that.
No matter what, understand how certain designs work for YOUR content.
Sure, it’s great to get advice from others, but what works for some topics can be completely different for other topics.
For Example: A pin about managing productivity is very different than a chicken pot pie pin. The audience if different, the topic is completely different and the pin image designs are different. Therefore what makes a person click through can also be different.
So test, test, test and make your own conclusions.
Bonus Tip: How Many Pins Should You Create?
The sky is the limit! Seriously.
If you have a blog post that performs really well, keep designing new pins for that content to ensure you can make it last for as long as possible.
Other reasons you want to create multiple Pinterest images for blog posts:
- You want to drive more traffic to underperforming posts
- Pinterest LOVES new content and new content doesn’t have to be a new blog post. It is simply a new pin design
- New pins can also drive traffic to old posts that may not have performed very well in the beginning. (You know those ugly pins we all created when we first started blogging?! Time to refresh!)
Now, I DO NOT recommend you add all of these pin images to your blog post. It’s fine to add 2 or 3, but more than that is too much. For all new pins, you can upload directly to Pinterest.
Have questions about Designing Pinterest Pins?
Let me know in the comments below and I’ll help you out 🙂
Before designing new Pinterest images, do these 3 things... #pinterestmarketing #pinteresttips Click To Tweet
Related Pinterest Articles & Resources:
- How to Get More Pinterest Followers in 10 Steps
- 25 Pinterest Templates – Editable in Canva
- Pinterest Account Audit – Custom Analysis
- Best Pinterest Group Boards to Join, By Niche
- How to Get Accepted to Pinterest Group Boards – 5 Tips
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Pin design is such a struggle for me! I find a design I like, make all my pins look like that for a while, then decide I hate it and start all over again. And the pins I love are the ones that never get clicks while the ones I hate seem to get all the views. I don’t get it, lol. And out of the two pins you have above, I like the right one better but I bet the left one gets more clicks. But I could be wrong, since I don’t seem to have a clue about what Pinterest wants these days!
Hi Rebecca! When it comes to pin designs I say it’s all trial and error. A certain design may work but then it may be a strong call to action or hot topic that’s also driving clicks. So it is definitely a good idea to create multiple pins with different designs for each post! See what works and keep trying new things 🙂
Terrific suggestions. Since I am designing my future pins this is very helpful and timely. Thanks.
Great to hear Joyce! ope it was helpful 🙂
Great tips! This is super helpful, I am still trying to figure Pinterest out. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Heather, There is a lot to learn from Pinterest so just take one step at a time. If you ever have questions let me know!
Such great tips! What time frame do you look at when looking at these numbers? Just that week as it is defaulted to or the past 90 days? And your bonus tip is very helpful. I make a bunch of pins right away but never thought of rolling them out slowly so pinterest sees that I have new content. Smart!
Hi Adriane! Thanks 🙂 I usually look at the past 30 days, however sometimes I look deeper at the last week. Yes, Pinterest is all about consistency so publishing new pins over time is best. Thanks for your feedback!
I am still working to master the art of pins. These are great tips. Thanks!
Glad these Pinterest tips are helpful Niki!
Great blog post! Somehow I always forget to check the analytics as I’m determined publish the pins.
Hi Kyra – thanks! Pinterest Analytics are gold! There is such valuable information in there that can really help you optimize your account and Pinterest marketing focus.
I would bet the underperforming pin is the one with the girl drinking coffee. I’ve heard that putting faces in pins lowers the engagement rate. Great tip on the split testing too. I wasn’t sure if it was ok to use the same text with two different images, or if Pinterest would think it’s the same image. Thanks for clarifying!
Hi Jen! It’s funny you say that as nope – the woman with the coffee is the top performing pin! That’s why I always say to test your own theories. I always heard that showing faces in pins doesn’t work, and yet it performs great for certain types of content 🙂 And yes! You can absolutely do a test with the same text and different images!
I really enjoyed the part about A/B testing, such a small thing but I can definitely see how it would make a difference!
Hi Tracy! Glad you enjoyed it. A/B testing is such a great way to understand how to improve pin performance. It’s pretty interesting to see the results too as a lot of the time they are completely different than you’d expect!
Thank you so much for sharing these tips! I have only been blogging for a little over a month now, so it is still quite the learning process. This post was helpful and straight to the point. I plan on implementing your tips right away!
Hi Heather – you’re welcome! Welcome to the blogging world and so happy this was helpful to you. Thanks for the message!