Crazy to think…I remember when I received an invitation to be a beta tester for this site called Pinterest. It truly came at the perfect time. I was over Tumblr and really wanted a platform that directed me to the source of the image. Pinterest solved that problem. They have grown into a global phenomena. If you ever get a chance, read Ben the founder story.
Pinterest is a high traffic site for all types of bloggers from the food industry to lifestyle. I have discovered fashion and home décor bloggers on this platform, all because of an image that was pinned of them. Rachel of Pink Peonies can truly say Pinterest blew up her brand, we all know her Denim on Denim look, Cool Mom Style Bump, and her Cloffice that has bloggers redesigning their homes. You can see that images do wonders for small businesses. To give you a better example, when you search food on Pinterest, I am pretty sure Chungah of Damn Delicious has popped on your feed several times over. From her Chicken recipes to her Thai food. So, don’t think this is only for bloggers.
Creating a free blog graphic to pin on Pinterest is fairly simple. We’re going to use PicMonkey (a free tool); you can always upgrade to the paid version.
Determine The Size of An Image
Real estate on Pinterest is pretty straight out. You want long vertical images not landscape images. If you’ve noticed on Imperfect Concepts Pinterest there are two images. The lead image at the top that is landscape and a more Pinterest friendly image that is vertical. Mines are 600 x 776 in size for images.
The Background Of An Image
If you don’t have your own images you can use styled stock photography or regular stock photography. Our lead image is styled stocked and the second is just a solid background. Most people will say you will get more pins with a pretty image in the background. Pinterest is all about visually appealing backgrounds. However, my site receives traction with the images I use. I would suggest staying away from black as the background color. It’s a little “too dark” for Pinterest’s style.
The Wording On An Image
Make sure you use fun playful fonts on the graphics you create. This is definitely not a job for Times or New Roman. PicMonkey has a plethora of options. One great thing about PicMonkey is you can change the color and font of your text. Mixing and Matching. For example, I used Great Vibes and Playfair Display for this graphic.
The Placing of Your Blog Name
So, There are a couple of options you can go with. As you see, I just do Imperfect Concepts or the IC in a circle. Very simple. Damn Delicious uses her website address. Either way is perfect. The important thing is making sure it’s there.
Be Consistent
When adding images to your blog for pinning to Pinterest, be consistent in your sizing and style. A/B test this out to see what you like in terms of the visual images on your site. You always want your brand cohesive, so that your audience can always connect and relate to you.
If you are new to creating your own graphics, just know at first, there will be more errors than grand slam homerun moments. I highly suggest investing in two or three fonts that you love. That will help with consistency through out your brand. In addition, set aside maybe 2 hours a week to practice. Adding graphics to your blog that people can pin to Pinterest will help increase traffic down the line.
