HOW I GOT 1 MILLION PAGE VIEWS MY FIRST YEAR BLOGGING: Get Blog Traffic From Pinterest in 2023

Summary

In this video, Mia from shoedreamsallday.com shares her journey of growing her blog to over 200,000 monthly page views in her first year. She emphasizes the importance of consistency, daily action, and planning in achieving success. Mia credits Pinterest as the key driver of her blog traffic, advocating for Pinterest SEO, creating attractive pins, and focusing on relevancy and engagement. She invites viewers to join her 'Start Your Dream Blog Challenge' for introverts and offers tips on optimizing pins for maximum impact.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Mia runs a blog called Shoedreamsallday.com aimed at empowering introverts to start blogs and chase their dreams.
• 👶 Mia took a 4-month break from publishing videos due to the birth of her baby.
• 📈 She grew her blog to over 200,000 page views a month and one million total page views in her first year of blogging.
• 🗓 Mia started her blog on August 12, 2018, and attributes her success to determination, daily action, and planning ahead.
• 💡 Mia's initial exposure to blogging came from Pinterest pins about starting a blog and making money online.
• 🛠 Mia had some experience with websites as a child, learning to code and HTML from running a fan page at the age of 11.
• 🧐 Mia emphasizes the importance of focusing on one traffic source at a time, and for her, that was Pinterest.
• 🔍 Pinterest is described as a visual search engine where people go to improve their lives, making it an ideal platform for driving blog traffic.
• 📝 Mia recommends learning Pinterest SEO to optimize content and pins for search, aiming for pins to appear in relevant search results.
• 🎨 Creating visually appealing and high-quality pins is crucial for Pinterest's visual search engine, with the goal of increasing clicks to the blog.
• 🔑 Mia suggests using a scheduler like Tailwind to manage pinning and to pay attention to analytics to see what works and what doesn't.
• 🔄 Pinterest now favors fresh pins over duplicates, so Mia recommends continuously creating new pins with different images for the same content.

Q & A

Who is the speaker in the video and what is the name of her blog?

The speaker in the video is Mia, and she runs a blog called 'shoodreamsallday.com'.

What is the main purpose of Mia's blog and channel?

The main purpose of Mia's blog and channel is to empower introverts to start blogs, shine online, and chase their dreams.

Why did Mia take a break from publishing videos?

Mia took a break from publishing videos because she had a baby and needed time for diaper changes, nursing, and dealing with sleepless nights.

What was the significant milestone Mia achieved in her first year of blogging?

In her first year of blogging, Mia achieved over 200,000 page views a month and one million page views in total.

What was the initial motivation for Mia to start her blog?

Mia started her blog as a way to create something extraordinary for herself, feeling stuck and lost in her life at the time, and wanting to be free.

What platform did Mia primarily use to grow her blog traffic?

Mia primarily used Pinterest to grow her blog traffic, referring to it as a magical marketing machine for her blog.

Why is Pinterest considered a valuable traffic source for bloggers according to Mia?

Pinterest is considered valuable because it is a visual search engine where users go to improve their lives, and it is designed for users to click on pins and land on specific blog posts, driving traffic away from the platform to the blog.

What is the recommended approach for new bloggers to drive traffic from Pinterest?

The recommended approach is to focus on one traffic source at a time, learn Pinterest SEO, create beautiful and relevant pins, and continuously publish fresh pins to drive free organic traffic.

How many boards does Mia suggest creating for a blog on Pinterest?

Mia suggests creating 20 to 30 boards that are relevant to the blog and the topics that will be written about.

What is the significance of creating multiple pins for a single blog post according to Mia?

Creating multiple pins for a single blog post allows Mia to see what resonates with her audience and what gets the most clicks, and it aligns with Pinterest's favoring of fresh pins over duplicate pins.

What tool does Mia recommend for scheduling pins on Pinterest?

Mia recommends using a scheduler like Tailwind, which is a Pinterest approved partner and offers analytics to help bloggers see what's working and what's not.

What is the equation for Pinterest traffic that Mia suggests focusing on?

The equation for Pinterest traffic is beautiful pins plus a new image plus relevance to keywords being searched for plus high engagement equals blog traffic.

What is the ultimate goal of blogging according to Mia's perspective in the video?

The ultimate goal of blogging is to write blog posts and create content that resonates with the ideal audience, focusing on solving their problems and making their lives better.

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Welcome Back and Blog Growth Strategies

Mia, the host of the channel and blogger at shoedreamsallday.com, warmly welcomes viewers back after a four-month hiatus due to the birth of her child. She expresses her excitement to return and share strategies that helped her blog grow rapidly to over 200,000 page views a month and a total of one million page views in her first year of vlogging. Mia emphasizes the importance of showing up, taking action, and planning ahead as key to her blogging success. She also invites viewers to join her free 'Start Your Dream Blog Challenge' for introverts and dreamers, which aims to teach how to set up, drive traffic to, and monetize a blog.

05:00

🌟 Leveraging Pinterest for Blog Traffic

In this segment, Mia credits Pinterest as the primary traffic source for her blog and explains why it's an invaluable tool for bloggers. She describes Pinterest as a visual search engine where users seek to improve their lives, making it an ideal platform for driving organic traffic to blogs. Mia details the importance of creating boards relevant to blog topics and the significance of Pinterest SEO in optimizing content for search visibility. She stresses that the goal is to attract readers to the blog, not to gain Pinterest followers, and suggests using keyword research and optimization for pins and account to increase the chances of appearing in search results.

10:02

🎨 Designing Effective Pinterest Pins

Mia provides a comprehensive guide on creating visually appealing and effective Pinterest pins, highlighting the platform's preference for high-quality images from sources like unsplash.com. She advises using readable fonts and clear text overlays to convey what readers can expect from the linked blog post. Mia emphasizes the importance of experimenting with different pin designs to resonate with the audience and staying relevant by linking pins to appropriate content. She also discusses Pinterest's preference for fresh pins over duplicate pins and suggests using a scheduler like Tailwind to optimize pinning times and track analytics.

15:02

✍️ Crafting Clickable Pins and Understanding Blogging Purpose

The final paragraph focuses on creating clickable headlines and descriptions for pins without resorting to clickbait. Mia suggests incorporating targeted keywords, numbers, and power words to spark emotion and drive clicks. She recommends using a scheduler to find optimal pinning times and emphasizes the importance of manually pinning to maintain authenticity. Mia concludes by reiterating that blogging is about the audience and solving their problems, urging viewers to create content that resonates with their ideal audience. She invites questions in the comments and encourages subscription for more content.

Keywords

💡Introverts

Introverts are individuals who tend to be more focused on their inner thoughts and feelings rather than seeking external stimulation. In the video, the speaker aims to empower introverts to start blogs and shine online, indicating that introversion is not a barrier to online success and can be leveraged to create meaningful content.

💡Blogging

Blogging is the act of regularly sharing written content online on a specific topic or theme. The video's theme revolves around the personal journey and strategies of growing a blog, emphasizing the importance of blogging as a platform for self-expression and audience engagement.

💡Page Views

Page views refer to the number of visits or sessions on a webpage. In the context of the video, the speaker highlights achieving over 200,000 page views a month as a measure of success for their blog, showcasing the impact of effective blogging strategies.

💡Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual search engine and social media platform where users can discover and save ideas. The video emphasizes Pinterest as a critical traffic source for blogs, illustrating its role as a marketing machine that drives organic traffic to the speaker's blog.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the process of improving a website's visibility in search engine results. The video discusses the importance of Pinterest SEO for bloggers, explaining that optimizing pins and content for search can lead to increased visibility and traffic.

💡Evergreen Content

Evergreen content refers to material that remains relevant and valuable over time. The script mentions that Pinterest content has a long lifespan, with evergreen pins continuing to drive traffic long after their initial publication, which is a key advantage for bloggers.

💡Pin Design

Pin design pertains to the visual creation of content on Pinterest. The video stresses the importance of creating visually appealing pins with high-quality images and readable fonts to attract clicks and drive traffic to the blog.

💡Keyword Research

Keyword research involves identifying the terms that users enter into search engines when looking for information online. The video explains that using keyword research for blog content and pin creation helps to optimize for search and attract the right audience.

💡Traffic Sources

Traffic sources are the channels through which visitors arrive at a website. The script advises focusing on one traffic source at a time for better results, using Pinterest as an example of a successful traffic source for the speaker's blog.

💡Actionable Tips

Actionable tips are practical advice or steps that viewers can take to achieve a goal. The video provides several actionable tips for blog traffic, such as using Pinterest SEO, creating beautiful pins, and focusing on one traffic source at a time.

💡Relevancy

Relevancy in the context of the video refers to ensuring that the content shared on Pinterest is directly related to the topic and keywords being searched for by users. The speaker advises maintaining relevancy to improve the chances of ranking in Pinterest search results and attracting blog traffic.

Highlights

Introduction to Mia's channel and her blog, Shoedreamsallday.com, aimed at empowering introverts to start blogs and chase their dreams.

Mia's return to content creation after a four-month break due to the birth of her baby.

Strategies shared for growing a blog to over 200,000 page views a month and one million total page views in the first year.

Background on starting the blog in 2018 and the initial motivation from Pinterest.

Mia's early experience with website coding and the newness of the online business world to her in 2018.

The importance of determination and daily action in growing a blog, as emphasized by Mia's routine.

Invitation to join Mia's free challenge for introverts and dreamers to start their blogs.

Focusing on one traffic source at a time, particularly Pinterest as Mia's primary traffic driver.

Pinterest as a visual search engine and its role in driving free organic traffic to blogs.

The significance of Pinterest SEO in optimizing content for search and driving traffic to blogs.

Tips on creating beautiful and effective pins, including the use of high-quality images and readable fonts.

The recommendation to create multiple pins per blog post to see what resonates with the audience.

The importance of sharing fresh pins with new images to gain traction on Pinterest.

The need to stay relevant with pin content and board topics to match search intent.

Creating clickable headlines and descriptions to increase engagement and traffic.

Using a scheduler like Tailwind to optimize pinning times and track analytics.

The equation for Pinterest traffic: beautiful pins + new images + relevant keywords + high engagement.

The ultimate goal of blogging: understanding the audience and creating content that resonates with them.

Transcripts

let's go hello lovely people welcome

back to my channel

i'm mia and i run a blog called

shoedreamsallday.com

where i strive to empower introverts to

start blogs

shine online and chase their dreams so

if you're brand new here i would

seriously love it if you would want to

subscribe

and to my fellow subs is that a thing is

that a word is that what we're going

with

to those of you who have already

subscribed i love you and i appreciate

you

and welcome back so i haven't published

a video in a long time

in four months to be exact the reason

being

is that i had a baby yep i had a little

baby so i had to take a little break so

you know in between

diaper changes nursing hoop a lot of

poop

sleepless nights and spit up there

hasn't really been a time for me to sit

down and do a video for you guys

so but now i'm back i'm very excited to

be back to film some youtube videos some

content

right yeah we are she's over there so in

today's video i want to share with you

the exact strategies that i use to grow

my blog so quickly

to over 200 and thousand page views a

month

and one million page views in total my

first

year vlogging that's right we're getting

into all the things

and at one point there were 108 people

on my blog at the same time i nearly

fell of my chair when i saw that so i

had to take a little screenshot

insert screenshot right here so before

we get into the good stuff the blog

traffic tips and all of that

i want to share some background

information so i started my blog

back in 2018 on august 12th to be exact

and let me tell you starting a blog has

been the best thing that i've ever

done for myself but i started my blog on

a whim

but on a really good whim i was hanging

out on pinterest as we all do and i came

across a few pins titled how to start a

blog

how to become your own boss how to make

money online and for me this was a whole

new world but i was drawn into this new

world

and it felt exciting so i just lied in

my youtube video

no but seriously blogging was new to me

that world of making money online and

starting a blog and all that was new

but if i'm going to be completely

transparent with you and honest

and yes i want to be transparent and

honest with you guys i

did own americate and ashley

fan page when i was about 11. so i did

learn how to code and i learned html

from that period of my life and no it

does not exist

the site i don't know i don't even

remember what it's called

i did have a little experience with

websites as a kid

the world of online business was brand

new to me

and at the time in 2018 i was at a point

in my life where i was feeling stuck

i was a bit lost i didn't know what was

next for me i just knew that i wanted to

create something

i knew that i was meant to be free and i

knew that i wanted to create something

extraordinary

for myself and a blog seemed to be it it

was the answer so i started one and here

i am

two and a half years later how did i

grow my blog so quickly

well first of all i was super determined

the minute that i signed up for web

hosting

and started my blog i wanted to make

this thing work

and i was prepared to do the work

necessary to put

in the action so i would get up really

early in the morning and work on my blog

every single day and there hasn't been a

day when i haven't worked on my blog

in some way or another i took some

action every single

day and it's moved me forward because

taking some kind of action every day

even if it's just for two minutes it's

gonna accumulate over time and add

up so just by improving your blog one

percent

every day well you do the math you and

your blog are going to be at a

completely

different place in one year so if you

want to know the real secret behind my

blogging success if i'm allowed to say

that or how i grew it so quickly in the

beginning

the answer is i showed up i took action

and i planned ahead that's it

but i know you want more i know you want

the deets the strategies

the how-to's and i'm going to give you

that in this video and we're going to

get into that

next but before we do that i want to

invite you to join my free

challenge start your dream blog

challenge for introverts and dreamers so

if you haven't yet started your blog

it's time you start one and this free

challenge is gonna teach you

all the things how to set up your blog

how to drive traffic to your blog how to

make money

with your new blog and everything so

just click the link in the description

below

you can get started today and launch

your blog this week okay

so traffic let's talk blog traffic how

did i drive

200 000 page views a month in my first

year blogging

well the very first tip i have for you

is to go after one traffic source at a

time

don't go after all the things all the

google all the pinterest all the youtube

facebook

there's so many sources of traffic that

you could potentially go after but

if your focus is so spread out you're

not gonna see results

not at the speed of which we want at

least and for me

this traffic source was pinterest

honestly without pinterest i wouldn't be

where i am today with my blog i am so

thankful to that platform and it is what

we're gonna talk about

in this video so pinterest i salute you

so i know you haven't been living under

a rock and you're probably

already familiar with pinterest and what

it is you've been there you've looked

for inspiration maybe

you landed on a few blog posts but as a

blogger

pinterest is the most magical marketing

machine

for your blog i'm telling you it's

amazing

if you want to drive free organic

traffic to your blog

pinterest is it get on there get on

there now

and you know why pinterest is actually a

search

engine most people see it as a social

media platform

it's not really it's a search engine

it's a visual

search engine people go on pinterest to

improve their life in some way

to enhance their life to solve their

problems

enter your content so it's kind of like

google in that sense

and it has been referred to as the dumb

google which i think is quite accurate

but it's much prettier than google and

a lot more visually appealing and it's

not like instagram or youtube where it's

easy to just stay on the platform and

binge watch content

pinterest is designed for users to click

on pins

and for them to land on that specific

blog post behind the pin

it's designed for the user to leave

the platform this is why it's great for

traffic

because the goal is to get eyeballs to

your blog right it's to get that click

from pinterest and to your blog

so as a new blogger you're gonna have a

pretty good chance of ranking in search

results

from the get-go and experiencing your

first

big search and traffic due to a pin

going

viral for example this happens when

another pinner with a bigger following

than you

share your pin to their board or when

pinterest

shows your pin in search results and the

great thing about pinterest and the

content that's being shared on the

platform it's it's pretty much

all evergreen meaning pins have a really

long

lifespan on pinterest so you're going to

be able to generate traffic for months

and

months after you published the original

pin which is amazing for example i still

get

thousands of daily views to my blog post

nine things to do on a sunday for an

amazing week i think it's called

i published that blog post in 2018

and it's still driving traffic from

pinterest that's because it

shows up in search when people search

for example what to do

on sundays sunday routines and it's been

shared

thousands of times on the platform it's

not like with

instagram where you publish a post and

then you know it disappears in the feed

on pinterest your content will continue

to exist and drive traffic to your blog

months and years even after you publish

that original blog post

of course as long as people are actually

searching for your content

that's key okay okay okay so how do you

get started with pinterest for your blog

i hear ya

let's get into it to get the eyeballs to

your blog you first need to sign up for

pinterest

sign up for a business account you can

also convert your personal account to a

business account

so go ahead and do that now once your

blog and pinterest account has been

approved by pinterest

let the board creation begin i suggest

that you

create 20 to 30 boards that are relevant

to your blog and the topics that you are

gonna

write about so the boards are where your

pins are going to

live so the boards are essentially the

house and

your pins are the people in the house so

that's how it works

so let's get into the traffic tips my

number one

and best tip that i have for you i'm

gonna start with the best tip

learn pinterest seo this is the best

way for you to leverage pinterest and

start

driving free organic traffic to your

blog it's by learning and

implementing pinterest seo seo meaning

optimizing your content and your pins so

that they can be found in search

so your goal should be for your pins to

appear in the search results

when someone searches for something in

your

niche the goal here isn't to get

followers the goal is to get people to

your blog

i want you to understand that followers

on pinterest that's not a thing and it's

not something you should be focused on

pinterest is a marketing tool for you

and your blog

it's not like instagram it's the goal is

not followers

does anyone else feel relieved the way

you get your pins to show up in search

is to use keyword research when you're

looking for

content ideas and targeting specific

keywords when you're writing your blog

posts

and creating your pins you also want to

optimize your account

your boards and your pins and optimizing

these things

is going to help you to show up in

search results and

on the home feed of pinterest let's say

that someone searches for

productivity tips and your pin shows up

in search results on the first page

this is what we want this is the goal

this is leveraging pinterest seo

so i personally think that pinterest seo

is the best

and the winning strategy if you're

looking for a long-term plan

a long-term strategy to drive free

organic traffic to your blog

it's also how you're gonna let pinterest

know what your blog is about

what you're writing content on so they

can send the right people

to your blog another tip for blog

traffic using

pinterest is to create beautiful pins

a strong pin design is really important

because pinterest is a visual search

engine

so your paint's got to be visually

appealing and remember the goal is to

get people to click

on your pen they're not gonna do that if

your pen is dull looking

and really boring and it doesn't stand

out in search results it's gotta stand

out

super important so here are some tips

for a strong pin design

first of all use high quality images so

use something like unsplash.com

using professional images is really

important

you don't want to use bad quality images

use readable fonts

no matter how beautiful that squiggly

font looks

it's not going to be readable your text

needs to pop so make sure that you

choose a readable

font and use text overlay

make it clear in the text on your pin

what the reader can expect to

to learn when they click on over to your

blog post and deliver on that promise on

your pin

so make sure that you add result-based

text

on your pin but also in the pin

description think about it the text

on the image on the pin i mean is the

first

thing that they're gonna see it's your

chance to make a great first impression

and your only shot at getting them to

click on your pin

and then continue the journey to your

blog post and experiment with different

fonts bold certain words for emphasis

maybe

underline use italics try different

designs you don't know what's going to

resonate with your ideal audience

until you try it constantly try out

different pin designs

and i love and use canva.com for all my

pin designs

but they do have some pretty cool

templates that you can use and you can

replace the colors with your branding

so it's really good to spark some

inspiration if you're feeling a little

stuck creatively

so a question i get asked a lot when it

comes to pinterest and driving traffic

to your blog

is how many pins do i create per blog

post and honestly

create as many as you can so i typically

create 10 plus pins

per blog post because i want to see

what's resonating with my audience

what's getting the most clicks so

recently

i'm filming this in february 2021

pinterest has come out and said that

they are shining a light on fresh pins

as opposed to duplicate pins so by

sharing fresh pins you're more likely to

get traction with your content

on pinterest so what does this mean you

ask

well fresh pins means a pen with a brand

new image

it can be the same url it can be the

same blog post i mean

it can even have the same text the same

title and the same description

the only thing that needs to change in

order for it to be considered as a fresh

pin

is the actual image and by sharing a

duplicate pin

it means you're sharing the same pin the

same

image more than once so let's say you're

sharing a pin to one board and you're

sharing that exact same pin

with the same image to a different board

that's sharing duplicate

pins and that's what we want to avoid

focus on creating fresh

pins my friends this is why i say there

is no set number of pins you should be

creating per blog post

because you should continuously publish

fresh

pins another thing that pinterest is now

favoring

is relevancy gotta stay relevant that

means you want to publish

pins to a board that is relevant to that

pin but also you want to make sure that

you're linking out to content that's

being promised

on your pin so for example if your pin

says

how to be more productive working from

home you definitely don't want to link

out to a blog post that's about

something entirely different

so stay relevant with all your pinning

and here's the tip

save a fresh pin to the most relevant

board

once and if you have several boards

within that same category

create a new pin with a new image

and save it to a different board the

more your pins and the keywords being

searched for

on pinterest match and people are

engaging well with your content the more

likely pinterest is to rank your content

in search but also in the home feed of

its users

that's what we want so the next tip that

i have for you is to make it

clickable create clickable headlines

and descriptions for your pins but avoid

clickbait

nobody likes a click baiter so this

means you want to add the keyword that

you're targeting

in your headline so if you're targeting

the keyword

productivity tips your headline could be

something like

12 productivity tips to improve your

life

or something like that another tip for

you is to add

numbers and use power words to spark

emotion

for the reader anyway this is to say

that amazing headlines equal

more clicks more traffic to your blog so

now the big question is

how many pins do i pin a day the truth

is there is no magic number my friend

but what i do suggest you do

is you use a scheduler something like

tailwind for example

and if you use tailwind they will

actually suggest times to pin

when your audience is more likely to

engage with your content so that's

really great

plus they are a pinterest approved

partner and they have a really helpful

analytics section as well

because you want to continuously see

what's working and what's not

working so it's really important that

you pay attention to those

analytics as well and tailwind is great

for that but i do want to say though

that you should

also spend time on the platform on

pinterest and

manually pin some of the time so right

now

i pin one to two pins a day and it seems

to be working for me at the moment

experiment see what's working for you

and your audience

and your niche so to sum up this video

this is the equation for pinterest

traffic

beautiful pins plus a new image plus

relevant to keywords being searched for

plus high engagement equals blog traffic

that's it that's what i want you to

focus on those

things the bottom line is you need to

understand what blogging is really about

because it's not about you it ain't

about you it's about your audience

and solving their problems and making

their lives better so you need to write

blog posts and create content

that resonate with your ideal audience

that's it

that's the secret guys and it starts on

pinterest because that's where you're

gonna find

your audience alright guys i hope you

enjoyed this video and that was helpful

for you

if you have any more questions about

pinterest and blog traffic

leave them in the comments below and i

will answer them and if you haven't done

so already

i would really appreciate it if you did

want to subscribe to my channel and i

will see you in the next one

bye for now