Let’s keep this simple. Pinterest isn’t magic, and it isn’t for everyone. But if what you sell or share looks good on-screen, it can send you a steady stream of organic traffic.

Quick signal, you’re in the right place

If your business relies on visuals (products, tutorials, before-and-afters, mood boards, recipes, styling, or design), Pinterest can work very well.

Who’s on Pinterest right now?

• Gender split: ~60% women, ~40% men (men are catching up)

• Gen Z: fastest-growing group

• Shopping mindset: about 85% plan purchases on Pinterest, and ~83% have bought something because of a Pin

• Buyer power: users tend to have higher household income than on many other platforms

Niches that tend to win

Strong match

• Home decor and DIY

• Fashion and style

• Food and recipes

• Health and fitness

• Weddings

• Parenting and kids

• Travel

• Beauty and skincare

• Gardening

• Crafts and hobbies

Can work with a plan

• B2B services (make it visual)

• Personal finance (budgets, savings, templates)

• Tech (tutorials, how-tos, infographics)

• Education and learning

• Personal development

• Real estate

• Automotive (care, mods, guides)

• Pet care and training

Usually not worth it

• News and hot takes (Pinterest prefers evergreen)

• Complex B2B software

• Legal services

• Industrial equipment

• Non-visual services with nothing to show

Do a 10-minute reality check

1. Pick your niche.

2. Search it on Pinterest.

3. Open the top accounts and study them.

Ask yourself:

• Are their numbers aligned with your goals?
  Example: if you want 10,000 site visits/month and your average CTR is 2%, you’ll need creators in your niche hitting ~500,000 monthly views to suggest the traffic is there.

• Are they still active? Fresh Pins in the last few weeks are a good sign.

• What topics are they actually targeting? Notice keywords, formats, and recurring themes.

Your goals matter. A high-ticket travel agency can profit from 1,000 highly qualified visits a month. A recipe site running display ads will need far more.

Can your content succeed here?

Run this quick checklist:

• Can I show it visually? Photos, short videos, step-by-steps, and infographics.

• Is it evergreen for months or years?

• Do people search for it? Think “how to…,” “ideas for…,” “tips.”

• Can I produce at least 300+ Pins/month over time? (Batching and light automation help.)

• Do I have a clear way to monetize? Ads, services, products, affiliates, and email list growth.

Score it: If you can tick 3 or more, Pinterest is likely worth your effort.

If you’re in, here’s how to start well

• Warm up the account. Expect a ramp, not a spike.

• Quality first. Strong images, clear headlines, helpful descriptions.

• Track from day one. Saves, CTR, outbound clicks, and which topics actually move people.

Pinterest rewards consistency, useful visuals, and topics people actively search for. Set your targets, watch the data, and keep publishing smart, evergreen content.

Pinterest does not hand traffic to brand-new accounts that look robotic. The goal of your first week isn’t clicks. It’s trust. Warm up the account with human signals so Pinterest believes you’re here to contribute, not spam.

The principle

• New accounts sit in a sandbox. Push links too soon or blast templates, and your reach flatlines.

• Start with image-only pins and genuine engagement. You’re teaching the platform: “I add value. I’m not a bot.”

What to post in Week 1

Post image-only pins. No links. No heavy templates. No CTR bait.
Your first pins should be visually appealing, save-worthy images with short, natural captions. Think inspiration and ideas, not click-throughs.

Why this works:

• Saves and positive session behavior are early trust signals.

• A few early pins that rank help future content travel farther, including your later link pins.

7-Day Warmup Plan

Days 1–3

• Save 2–3 high-quality third-party pins daily to your most relevant boards.

• Browse related pins for a few minutes, open some, scroll, and follow 2–3 boards or creators.

• Publish 1 original image-only pin per day.

• Keep boards tidy: relevant titles, clear descriptions.

Days 4–7

• Publish 1–2 image-only pins per day.

• Continue 3–5 thoughtful saves from credible creators.

• Still no links. Vary boards and posting times a bit to feel human, not scheduled to the minute.

Quick rule: if you’re unsure, do less but do it consistently.

What to avoid

• Mass follow/unfollow or rapid-fire pin floods.

• Duplicating the same design across multiple boards at once.

• Adding links in week one.

• Template-heavy “click now” designs. Save those for after the sandbox.

Good vs. bad starting pins

Good: a clean image that clearly communicates an idea, short caption, no link.
Bad: a templated banner shouting “READ NOW” with a big URL slapped on top.

If it looks like an ad, Pinterest treats it like one. In week one, you’re not advertising. You’re fitting in.

“But what if my image-only pins rank? I won’t get clicks.”

Correct, and that’s fine. Early ranking pins buy you credibility. That credibility lifts your next pins, including the ones with links, when you start adding them in week two.

Warmup checklist

• Relevant boards set up with concise descriptions

• 5–10 image-only pins published (no links)

• Daily human activity: saves, opens, light follows

• Varied posting times and boards

• Zero mass actions, zero link drops

After the warmup: how to ramp

Once you’ve finished Days 1–7:

1. Start introducing links sparingly on new pins. Keep quality high.

2. Mix formats: standard images, idea pins, then tasteful templates.

3. Maintain daily human activity. Don’t switch from “neighbor” to “billboard.”

TL;DR

• Week one is about trust, not traffic.

• Publish image-only pins and engage lightly every day.

• Don’t post links yet. Don’t spam.

• A few save-worthy pins now make your future link pins perform better.

Simple daily script you can literally copy

Morning: Save 2 quality pins to a relevant board.
Afternoon: Browse 3–5 related pins, follow 1–2 good boards.
Evening: Publish 1 original image-only pin.

That’s it. Calm, consistent, human.

You can read about our month one stats here.

Things slowed down a bit this month compared to last. I didn’t have the same team power to keep pushing out content at the same pace, so production definitely dipped a bit.

Right now the site sits at about 80 blog posts total, which is a little less than what we managed earlier on the first month.

On the traffic side, this second month we were riding pretty high, traffic-wise, hitting around 2K sessions.

Things have dropped off quite a bit though. I think we got one of the pins to go viral, and so our traffic dipped back down.

There are still positives though.

The email list has been steadily growing and we’re now at 55+ subscribers, which averages out to close to one new sign-up per day.

Instead of writing content, I actually had my writer go back in and add CTAs for several fitness freebies we created, which has definitely helped boost our opt-ins.

Next step to do would be to add the right tripwire page after the freebie opt-in, and we could probably start producing some small revenue.

But, well, I just don’t have the time to implement that right now, lol.

On the monetization side, I’m still waiting to hear back from Journey on approval, which has been slow going.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about whether I’ll keep building this out or potentially sell the site.

Since it started as more of an experiment, I might lean toward selling so my team and I can focus on other projects. If anyone here is interested in picking it up, feel free to reach out, haha.

Either way, an overall quieter month but still making progress in a few areas. Will update you guys next month to let you know what happens!

So I've been secretly working with someone to build out a Pinterest automation tool - basically a tool that would generate all your pins for you (so you would only need to focus on your site while this software took care of Pinterest marketing for you). 

It's currently at a stage where we need real user feedback on how easy it is to use, what features you would want added, etc.

We're looking to get 3-5 users to help us beta-test the tool for us, so if you're interested drop a comment below. All you need is a website and a Pinterest account to test it out.

And if you've used another Pinterest automation tool and liked certain features in it, feel free to drop them below as well, so we can see if we can replicate it inside our tool.

Thanks!

Also, the AI images that I used in the beginning of AI, were kind of crapy anyway, I can imagine it turning people AWAY from some of those blog posts, they were horrible, lol.

That being said: I recently started checking my top 50 pins on Pinterest, with the most outbound clicks to my website. And I was surprised. People claim they don't like AI in my niche, YET they CLICK ON LINKS FROM THOSE AI PICTURES THE MOST! 

Of the top 50 pins with outbound clicks, there are maybe 3 or 4 non-AI images!

Summarized: I will use MORE AI images on Pinterest, but not on my blog. So far, Pinterest isn't against it at all.

But, I will try to make sure to only use real looking images, and not some clearly crappy AI images. At the same still use regular pictures, as an abundance of AI in my niche, I don't think will work for it in the long run. Wish I'd seen this before, time to check your top pins guys!
Lizzy

If you haven't seen it yet, here is our month 1 update of the Fitness Site. 

https://www.loom.com/share/628d0e514db242d88d72bb7d09411a57

1. Intro

The main tool I rely on is PinClicks, a keyword research tool specifically geared toward Pinterest. While Pinterest itself has “idea pages” showing how many people are searching for topics, PinClicks compiles this data and makes it searchable so you can find high-traffic opportunities quickly.

2. Finding Keywords with PinClicks

1. Search a niche keyword

   • Example: fitness

   • PinClicks shows related search terms like “fitness plans,” “fitness inspo,” “fitness vision board,” etc.

   • Each comes with the monthly search volume.

2. Choose subtopics

   • Example: Searching Pilates brings up “wall Pilates workout” with 174,000 monthly searches.

   • These become the content pieces you can target.

3. Creating Content from Keywords

1. Pick a keyword (e.g., wall Pilates workout).

2. Write an article or guide around that topic.

3. Create a Pinterest pin for the article.

4. Publish it and optimize for the keyword.

5. Get traffic back to your site through Pinterest rankings.

4. Example: The Pizza Niche

• Base keyword: pizza (3M searches/month).

• Sub-keywords: pizza dough recipes, fruit pizza, sourdough pizza, breakfast pizza, etc.

• Narrow further: pepperoni pizza rolls (common trending subtopic).

• Strategy:

  • Create a real recipe with photos or video.

  • Use keyword-rich titles/descriptions without stuffing.

  • Add related ideas (from PinClicks’ “related interests” feature), like pizza sandwich or pizza wraps.

5. Using Pinterest’s Back-End (Annotated Interests)

Pinterest automatically tags content with extra keywords (“annotated interests”) based on titles, descriptions, and images.

• PinClicks reveals these tags, which you can then naturally include in your own content.

• Example: A pizza roll post might get annotated with “party food,” “easy lunch ideas,” and “recipes using pizza slices.”

6. Avoiding AI Image Pitfalls

• Pinterest now flags AI-generated pins with an “AI modified” tag.

• Some users filter these out.

• To maximize reach, mix in real photos (especially for food, crafts, etc.) rather than relying entirely on AI images.

7. Updating & Pruning Content

If you already have a site:

1. Search your existing articles’ topics in PinClicks.

2. Check if they align with high-traffic Pinterest keywords.

   • If yes → update and relaunch pins.

   • If no → consider removing or rewriting.

3. Example: On one of my sites, I pruned over 400 underperforming articles.

8. Applying to Other Niches

• Bullet Journaling: Instead of just “bullet journal for travel,” target “travel bullet journal ideas” or “journal spreads” since those are what Pinterest users actually search.

• Entertainment: Build a fan page (e.g., Leonardo DiCaprio keywords like 90s photos, Titanic, hairstyles).

• Parenting: Subtopics like gentle parenting, bad parenting quotes, co-parenting tips, or parenting teenagers can each be standalone content pieces.

9. The Formula (Step-by-Step)

1. Pick a niche.

2. Use PinClicks Keyword Explorer to find traffic-rich subtopics.

3. Choose one keyword → create an article/resource around it.

4. Make a Pinterest pin tied to that keyword.

5. Publish, track, and repeat with more subtopics.

6. Update or remove underperforming content.

10. Final Notes

• Start with a free trial of PinClicks to test it.

• Think of Pinterest as an “ideas & inspiration” platform, not just search.

• Visuals matter — compelling, authentic images and clear pins perform best.

• Long-term, this method can build niche sites around almost anything (fitness, food, parenting, journaling, etc.).

The very next day, July 1st, I had my team start publishing content. We published about three posts a day for five days straight. We sort of worked on this site (publishing content) for one week, then worked on our other sites, and then continue to work on this. My hope was to get around around 15–20 solid articles live on the site before we even thought about doing anything on Pinterest. Topics ranged from simple workout routines and stretching guides to a few “Pilates" posts that my wife thought had potential for Pinterest.

So, for the first couple of weeks, the site wasn't really doing anything - just sitting there. But on July 16th, we kicked things into gear and started pinning. At the beginning, it was around five to seven pins a day - we just kept a spreadsheet of the URLs, and then would just go down the list and create a new pin for each URL. If new content was added that day, then you'd work on creating pins for those first.

We’ve since scaled that up to about ten daily pins (7 days a week), which is growing the account fairly nicely.

Obvioulsy, the growth was not immediate. For the first two weeks, impressions were basically flat—almost nothing. But then, right around August 7th, things started to click.

Our impressions began to climb, and traffic followed. By August 14th (30 days into pinning), we’d already logged 800 sessions.

And now, just a few days after that milestone, we crossed the 1,000 session mark, which means we’ve gone ahead and applied to Journey by Mediavine, which requires a minimum of 1,000 sessions.

I’m excited to see if we get approved and can start layering in ad revenue this early on.

What I love about this project is how straightforward it feels. There are no complicated marketing funnels or growth hacks here. It’s literally:

• Write quality content around Pinterest interests/keywords.

• Pin consistently (and experiment with visuals that stand out).

• Let Pinterest do its thing (i.e. rank your content) over time.

The cool part is that this has all been done on a relatively small amount of content and with very manageable effort. We’re sitting at ~55 posts total on the site at the 30-day mark, and we’ve still managed to hit 1,000 sessions in just over a month of getting traffic. That’s encouraging, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t have the time (or energy) to crank out hundreds of posts before seeing results.

I am a little surprised at how quickly it took, since I wasn't expecting to get this far along within a month. But even if you space this out over 3-6 months, it's not terribly hard to see the same results.

If you create an article each day, that's ~2 months to get to ~50 posts. Create only 2 articles a week, and that's 25 weeks (~6 months) to get to ~50 posts. 

Then all you need to do is start pinning, and let Pinterest rank you.

Pinterest, in my opinion, is still a huge underutilized traffic source. Unlike Google - which seems like you can never quite trust what will happen to you - Pinterest has always worked for most of the sites I run. I'm half-tempted to try creating a site in the MMO niche just to show that it can be done. 

Lord-willing, in the next couple of days, I’ll share a more detailed step-by-step breakdown of how we’re finding keywords, creating content, and getting it to rank on Pinterest.

But for now, I just wanted to document these early results as proof that a simple, focused system can get traction surprisingly quickly.

If you’re on the fence about trying Pinterest, my advice is: go for it. Even if you’re brand new, a few pins a day is manageable, and the potential upside (as I’ve just seen firsthand) is absolutely worth it.

Fast-forward six months, and not only were we breaking even on writers and Pinterest management, but we were also netting real, passive income.

We've been netting passive income the past few months now.

That success got me thinking though - why not try the same idea in a completely different niche?

So on July 16th, I created an all-new fitness site. I got one of my go-to writers knocking out articles in her spare moments, covering anything from quick HIIT routines to beginner Pilate guides.

Meanwhile, our Pinterest manager has been creating three to seven pins every single day, each one pointing back to those articles.

Again, our process is simple - No fancy marketing tricks, just steady, thoughtful pinning paired with solid on-site content.

This morning I checked Google Analytics and found that we've already racked up 107 sessions in under a month!

The beauty of Pinterest is that it’s still this massive, relatively untapped traffic highway if you approach it with consistency and good visuals, unlike Google, which I hardly rely on.

And we’re only at around 10% of the 1,000-session threshold needed to apply for Journey by Mediavine. So my hope and expectation is to be able to apply within the next 2-3 months (if not sooner).

What I love about this experiment is how low-effort it feels right now - we only have 49 articles on the site, which isn’t a huge amount, and pinning a handful of times a day is totally doable.

If you’re curious about dipping your toes into Pinterest-driven traffic, I’d say go for it. It's the quickest way I've seen to grow site. 

Feel free to ask any questions about my process, tools, or the way we manage content and pinning. I’m happy to share what I can.

Not however when you pull it through Canva first, then there's no label:

Just something I wanted to let you know. I'm not sure yet if this will have any consequences on your views or outbound clicks, so far it doesn't look like it has, like more on the contrary. But you really do need images that really look real.

Watching Nic's video on Pinterest accounts getting (shadow)banned ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiUw0jmPGP4 ), ( I know, he's sometimes hard to understand lol) , it could happen that too many people get angry that someone is using AI for their niche, and so they report pins.

Ugh, I really think that in my niche people get upset about AI images. So although I don't seem to have a shadowban, luckily, I am being VERY careful in using AI images, only ones that look very real. Just to avoid this reporting stuff. So far so good. I had been going down in the last months, but it looks a normal volatility, and I had to create better pins overall, got too lazy I think. But it's slowly getting back up! 

And one of his other tips was to delete underperforming pins, lots of people see a traffic rise if they do that. Just like in the old days of SEO - remove if not performing! - lol

Just my 2 cents and what I've been up to

Lizzy