A Hands-Off Approach To Driving Blog Traffic

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Traffic to your blog is a must if you want to monetize.  Even if you don’t want to monetize, you will probably want readers to keep you writing and motivated!

Traffic is the hardest part.  The internet is a big place.  How do you get people to notice you in a saturated market?

You promote your blog.

Blog promotion can be done in many ways.  You can make sure your blog is SEO friendly so Google can see it.  Facebook is a huge promotional tool.  Instagram can draw in readers.  Twitter can also help, though remember, tweet power doesn’t last long.

And then there is Pinterest.

Pinterest really isn’t a social media tool, even though we consider it so.  It’s a visual web search engine.

Think about it.  You go to Pinterest, and you SEARCH for things:

“Peach Cobbler Recipes”, “Keto Diet”, “How to Blog” – and then we get several results that are visual depictions of what we might want to see.

(If you want to become an expert on Pinterest, I’d suggest the very affordable e-book Pin Signals by PotPieGirl.  It has some serious aha! moments.)

Pinterest is the #1 traffic driver for my blog.  It continually gets better and better as the pins gain time and traction.  I’ve been told Pinterest is a long game.  And it’s true.  Pinterest, again being an actual search engine, is going to show you quality pins with repins, clicks, likes, and comments.  My visitors are climbing every day – and consistently!

However, I work full time.  I can’t just pin to Pinterest all day long, but for Pinterest to be successful you need followers and activity on your account.

This is where automation comes in.  This is the absolute best decision I made for my blog.

Automating Your Blog Promotion

I use Tailwind.  Tailwind is an automated tool that will generate a “smart schedule” for you that knows when to post your pins at the most perfect time for your viewers and the highest traffic times.

Tailwind is a Pinterest approved partner so you do not have to be concerned about breaking any rules or policies.  Even better, every pin posted via Tailwind is considered a fresh pin which is highly looked upon by Pinterest.

Tailwind is very easy to use, and I’m going to show you the basics of setting up your automated pin schedule.

When you have the annual Plus plan (which is what I have), you can schedule an unlimited number of pins with Tailwind.

How To Schedule a Pin in Tailwind

Download the Tailwind Browser extension for your browser to make things even easier.  I personally use the Safari extension.  You can see the icon in my toolbar – it looks like a little wind icon.

Now, the pin can be scheduled in different ways:

1.) You can directly upload the pin to Tailwind.

2.) My preferred method is to use my Safari extension to pin from my blog.  I find this to be fast and easy.  When I use the extension, as I hover over the picture I want to pin, the wind icon appears over it with the word “Schedule” beside it.  I simply click it, and I’m led to Tailwind immediately.

Bulk Scheduling

Once I started using Tailwind, I sat down on a weekend and scheduled my pins in bulk.  Then, once I had scheduled pins I would add a new pin that I made for an old post or a new post at the time it was published.  After I did that, I shuffle the pins using Tailwind’s “shuffle queue” button.

Tailwind’s Board Lists

Board Lists gives you the option to pin ONE pin to several different boards at one time.  This is the best shortcut way to pin!  Often, when I pin I want it to be pinned to several boards that fit its description.  Tailwind makes this SO fast and easy.

Create lists to organize boards (1) in the same category, (2) into sets of group boards you pin to often, or (3) even boards you promote to when you have new content.

Once I pin to several boards, this is where the “shuffle queue” I mentioned earlier comes into play again.  It mixes them up so the same pin isn’t being posted over and over in a row.  This keeps you from being flagged as spam.  It also keeps your Pinterest viewers from being bombarded by the same pin.

What if you want to shuffle your queue, but you love the position one or two pins are already in?  Maybe I really like that my “Peach Cobbler Recipe” is set to post at 10 am to my Dessert board.  Tailwind has thought of that, too.  Before you hit shuffle, you can lock a pin into place and it won’t be moved!

I also use this to ensure that when I schedule to pin from other group members, it stays in place.  Several of my group boards want 1:1 pinning.  This allows me to make sure I’m following the group rules!

Change Your Smart Schedule in Tailwind

The beauty of Tailwind is that it will suggest times to post based on your Pinterest account.  It knows when your pins get the most views and clicks, and it offers that to you as a time slot.

Once your smart schedule is up and running, you can alter that schedule at any time.  You can add slots or remove slots.  It will continually suggest new smart times for you to use based on the performance of your pins.  It constantly evolves.

The green buttons are the scheduled time slots, suggested times are the white with green lettering.  If you click on the white suggested time slot, it will turn green and into a scheduled time.  If you want to add your own time slot, you can click the blue “Add Time Slot” tab.  The grey time is a personally added time slot.  You can also click “Generate New Smart Schedule” for all new times.

If you click on a time slot, you can edit it.  If you want to delete that time slot, just hit the red trash can in the corner.

 

Tailwind’s Other Features

These are just the basics of getting started with Tailwind.  There are so many other features in this powerful tool right at your fingertips.

Tailwind Tribes are another great way to add traffic to your pins.  (You don’t even have to be a paid Tailwind member to utilize Tribes.  It is a free option, so I would highly suggest you embrace it!)

There is a SmartLoop feature in beta testing that will be available soon.

The Tailwind Analytics give you insight to your pins that perform well.  (Personally, I have found I’m part of one group board that seems to be my biggest asset.)

This is just grazing the surface.  Even if you do nothing more than use Tailwind for automation, it’s well worth the investment.

That’s the Tailwind Basics

You need traffic.  Let Tailwind do the work for you.

My Pinterest time is only used to refill my queue now once I’ve made a new pin or post.  I average about 1-2 hours a week at most working on Pinterest promotion.  This allows me to focus on creating good content and other blogging tasks rather than Pinterest.  It also keeps my traffic numbers from falling on busy work weeks.

Still not sure? —> Maybe a free trial would help you decide. <—(I started with a free trial myself!)