Are you frenzied and frustrated about the slow drip of traffic you’re getting to your real estate blog?
You have probably heard that Pinterest is one of the most powerful tools that professional bloggers like myself use to ignite traffic, sell products, and gain clients.
Have you been trying to do the same for your real estate blog, but feel baffled as to why it isn’t working for you?
Do you feel like throwing your hands up and just saying “fuck it with this platform”?
I don’t blame you, BUT I don’t want to see you do that.
Because the truth is that Pinterest really is an extremely powerful platform to help you grow your blog and your business. It can also play a major role in the growth of your passive income! I don’t know about you, but I love me some free money when I can get it!
You just have to have a clever strategy in place and the help from some handy tools.
Pinterest has changed the lives and businesses of hundreds of thousands of bloggers and it can do the same for you too. All you need is an effective strategy that you can implement simply and quickly.
That is my goal for you today.
If you are ready to create an engaged community, catapult your traffic, build your real estate business, this post is for you!
If you don’t have the time to dedicate to learning the ins and outs of this strategy right now, please make sure you subscribe/share/save it so you can come back later. I don’t believe in starting something you don’t intend to finish, and you shouldn’t either as a business owner yourself!
Keep reading if you are ready to unlock the power of Pinterest and gain a bunch of juicy nuggets of actionable info about developing your very own Pinterest strategy.
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First Things First…
Before you start developing your Pinterest strategy, you need to make sure your real estate blog is up to snuff.
The last thing you want to do is waste a bunch of time trying to drive traffic to your blog if it hasn’t been built to capture and keep subscribers.
If you have already been promoting your blog across various platforms but still aren’t seeing results, the problem is probably the blog itself.
There’s a lot that goes into making a blog profitable and successful. We could spend the next six months together going over every little thing that might be wrong with your blog. But neither you or I have time for that, so here are 3 big basics to a fabulous blog foundation:
1.Click & Shareworthy Content
As you know, I am all about living a legacy. I live every day with the intention of providing as much value in the best interest of others as I possibly can. It’s why I am so successful and why my blog is too.
The biggest reason my blog is crushing it for me is that I fill it with valuable content for you to consume.
If you want your real estate business to stand out, you need to overstuff your blog with value for your readers, prospects, and clients.
Every single blog article that you post needs to serve at least one of these purposes:
Entertainment
Education
Inspiration / Motivation
Help
You will notice that the most popular posts will accomplish more than one of those four principles of value. That’s because those are the types of posts that readers really connect to and spark a bond with you.
When you marry an insanely valuable blog post with a catchy title that grabs attention, you’ve got the ingredients for a viral Pinterest post my friend.
At the end of the day, there are certain types of blog posts that will always do better on Pinterest than others. If you want to gain some serious headway, use these types of articles:
Numbered Lists
Long-form posts at least 2,000 words long
Quick how-to guides that save people time
Answers to common questions/problems
If you are confident that your current Pinterest strategy is on-point, it could very well be that you aren’t using these types of click and shareworthy real estate content.
- A Smart Subscriber Opt-In
One of the most crucial tools you need for gaining subscribers and leads for your real estate business is an opt-in form.
An opt-in form is a collection of fields that asks your blog visitors for their information in exchange for something they want.
The mistakes that most struggling bloggers make is that they fail to:
Keep the form short & easy to fill out
Offer something desirable
Make it obvious enough
If you aren’t smart about your opt-in form, you could end up driving traffic away, rather than growing your subscribers list.
Make sure that you are avoiding the mistakes above so you can build a lucrative email list and optimize your blogging results/profits.
- Commitment To The Community
This one just plain pisses me off.
If you want to create an engaged audience of loyal subscribers to your real estate blog, you need to show them the same courtesies they show you.
What I mean is, if someone is generous enough to read your blog post and leave a comment or question (both help grow your business), have the humility and respect to leave a response.
You don’t need to monitor your blog every hour or anything, just make a genuine attempt to check in quickly each day and respond to comments or questions.
Beware of getting offended by comments or questions you don’t like too. I’ve actually converted critics of my articles into very lucrative referrals sources and clients because I used their criticism as an opportunity to engage with a member of my community.
Your interactions with your readers directly translate into the value and perception of your brand.
How Pinterest Works
You can’t develop a strategy to conquer any platform without first understanding how it works.
Many people waste a shit ton of time by trying to climb the ranks of Pinterest and other platforms without first understanding their inner workings.
So, just in case you don’t already know, let me break Pinterest down for you real quick.
Just like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Pinterest works on a search engine styled algorithm. Pinterest’s algorithm and structure is referred to as the Smart Feed. The Smart Feed calls the shots on the pins that show up in a user’s feed, just like on Facebook.
Every pin is weighted by:
The quality of pin’s image & its description
The user’s interests (who and what boards they follow)
The activity level of the pinner (Pinterest “rewards” users with high-performing pins by placing them in high in the algorithm)
Now that you know how to conquer the content, and understand how Pinterest will rank it, we can dive into the savvy strategy stuff.
Your Pinterest Profile
If you haven’t done so already, start by switching your account over to a business account (its free).
Having a business account rather than a personal one is important because it will allow you to:
Enable rich and promoted pins (think FB page ads)
View your pin analytics
Substitute your personal name for your business or blog name
If you’re serious about using Pinterest to grow your blog and skyrocket your blogging results, having a business account is a must. It will give you access to the features that you need to build a more professional presence on the ultimate blogging platform.
Don’t worry, making the switch is a cinch!
Click here to start the process. Once you add your info, you will have to wait for Pinterest to verify your domain name, which shouldn’t take long. Once that’s complete, you will be recognized as a legit “business,” woohoo!
Pump-Up Your Pinterest Profile
Just like with any platform, your profile is your chance at making an impactful first impression. Obviously, you want to make sure that your Pinterest profile captures attention by explaining who you are, what you do, and most importantly, why they should follow you. Your bio is key for getting people to follow your boards, save your pins, click through to your blog, and become your clients.
Your real estate Pinterest profile should have all of the following:
2–3 sentence bio about you, your biz/blog, and what you do
a branded headshot of you
a short explanation of you and your blog
strategic keywords in your name + bio related to your niche/focus
your real estate blog’s URL
*Pro Tip: Using relevant keywords in your Pinterest name + bio will help you pop up more in Pinterest’s search feed!
Get Yourself Verified
After you have built-out your profile, you need to get it good and verified!
Why?
Getting verified will let Pinterest know that you’re a legit, real deal real estate business and blogger. It means they will find you more trustworthy.
Translation?
Your pins are going to become more popular in the Smart Feeds.
By verifying your account, Pinterest will automatically add your profile picture everything that you pin. It will also give you access to valuable analytics so you can see what people are pinning from your blog and give you insights into which types of posts you should create more or less of.
Getting verified is easy peesy. It’s done by simply entering some code that Pinterest will provide you by going to your account settings and clicking “confirm your website.”
Follow Other Accounts In Your Niche
When it comes to being successful with content marketing, there is one very challenging internal hurdle that you need to get over; the quality of your followers is more important than the quantity.
I know that the higher the numbers of re-pins & follows, the more you feel like you’re killing it.
But the reality is that having the right followers is more important than the most.
You need to start collecting followers that are interested in the same types of content you and your other followers are interested in. For example, if you are a listing agent, you and your target clients will both be interested in pins about staging. If you find a profile that has a board all about staging, its worthy of a follow on your part.
I suggest you run searches for relevant types of pins that appeal to you and your target followers and pin their content with links back to your blog.
Those search results are also a great time to become a creeper and stalk the people following those trending boards.
*Pro Tip: Follow “influential” pinners with a large following and blog readership. Since their pins have high engagement, they’ll be more likely to get repinned from your board, helping you stand out and grow your own Pinterest influence!
Brand Your Profile With Relevant Boards
If you want a truly professional profile that shows of your how amazing you are, you need to create a bunch of boards that are all branded.
At the very least, you should have 15–20 boards with a branded board cover that grabs the eye and explains what types of pins the board contains.
I used Canva to create all of my board covers (I also use it for all of my pin images). See below:
(Follow me on Pinterest here)
When brainstorming what boards you want to have, I think it is helpful to think of boards like different categories you would have on your blog. Try to include a mixture of local stuff, different types of advice, motivation, etc.. For example, an agent in NYC might have a different board for each neighborhood, one for selling tips, one for getting a mortgage, etc..
*Pro-Tip: Create a special board dedicated to your blog to highlight each of your blog posts and place it in the top row of boards on your profile! Pinterest also has a cool slider function that lets you feature up to 5 boards.
Optimize Your Reach With SEO
Okay so this might surprise you but Pinterest is NOT social media.
Let me repeat that. PINTEREST IS NOT SOCIAL MEDIA!
Pinterest is actually a search engine. It is time that you started treating it like one so you can make the most of it.
Just as you need to implement SEO and keywords in order to get found on search engines like Google, you need to get serious about your Pinterest SEO game.
The Smart Feed is all about SEO. That is great news because it means you have all of the power and control necessary to dominate the platform. The keywords you use for your boards and pins are going to determine how popular they become in a very big way.
I know SEO can feel intimidating and overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be that way. In fact, the odds are that you’re already using some SEO best practices without even knowing it (your titles, pin descriptions, alt text, etc.).
The trick to choosing your keywords is figuring out what your target audience would run a search for in order to find content relevant to what you are posting. In fact, those search terms, or keywords, should inspire your future real estate blog posts and pins.
Once you have built a list of strategic keywords that you want to be found for, be sure to add them to all of these places:
Your profile name
Your pin titles
Your pin descriptions
Your image file names
Your profile description
Adding keywords to all of these places will go a very long way to helping you get found and followed my friend.
Pin Persistently
When I found out that you should be pinning at least 10 times per day, my head exploded.
Then I found one of my all time favorite tools that every blogger and pinner needs in their toolbox: Tailwind.
I don’t just love Tailwind. I’m fucking obsessed with Tailwind, and you will be too when you discover it’s power!
In a nutshell, Tailwind allows you to save hours of time and grow your following at super sonic speeds by helping you pre-schedule all of your pins. Amazingly, it is totally free to sign-up for Tailwind! Whoop Whoop!
Once you sign-up for your account, watch the brief tutorial video and you will be well on your way to pinning like a pro in just minutes a month.
There are also analytics and tons of other resources you get with your account to help you grow both your real estate blog and business.
Ready To Step-up Your Pinterest Game?
Okay, I know that was a TON of info and tasks!
I have tons more info I could share with you about building your real estate blog with Pinterest, but I don’t want you to get too overwhelmed with everything you need to learn.
Please be sure to save this post for yourself to come back to as you start implementing everything you just learned. Also, I’d love to have you subscribe to the blog, Youtube channel, or Podcast so you can keep getting all of my pro tips.
If you would like a personalized strategy that is tailored to your specific goals and challenges, I’ve got your back there too! Simply click here and submit my form for a consultation call from me.!