Pinterest Marketing for Website Designers
You may have heard that it can be a powerful marketing tool, but is Pinterest good for website designers? And how can we harness it?
As a website designer, I know you might already feel ‘spread thin’ with all the other things on your to-do list, such as client work or posting to Instagram, so I get that adding another content marketing platform (ie. Pinterest) to your efforts can be daunting.
It also doesn’t help that people have a lot of preconceptions of what Pinterest is and what it’s good for. Perhaps from what you’ve heard before, you might consider Pinterest as just a place for:
Wedding inspiration
Home DIY
Recipes
Travel content
So how can it be a platform that helps us to promote our website design businesses?
Table of Contents
What is Pinterest? (and how is it different to Instagram etc.)
The first mistake people make is assuming that Pinterest is another ‘social media’ platform like Instagram. Yes, it appears in our well-rehearsed line-up of social media icons and follow buttons, but it’s actually pretty ‘un-social’ when you think about it!
Pinterest is in fact a search engine. They call themselves a ‘visual discovery’ tool, with over 2 billion searches per month.
Users search for content, similar to how you would search on Google, but instead of just showing you text links to websites, Pinterest shows you images and videos as results instead, which can be clicked on and linked to websites.
Users then ‘pin’ images & videos they like to their ‘Boards’ (like scrapbooks) to save them for later, or click through to find out more about that content.
You do have the ability to leave comments and like pins, but that isn’t really how people use it, so I generally ignore this feature altogether!
So before you start thinking ‘Oh no not another social network for me to be building a community on and engaging on’, remember that with Pinterest you don’t need to worry about ‘building an engaged audience’ etc. What’s more important is making sure your content is on there, is searchable, and is directing people to your website!
Why should website designers use Pinterest in their marketing strategy?
If you’re thinking ‘well I’m already promoting my website design business on Instagram, so I don’t need Pinterest’, I’m here to tell you you’re missing a trick by not adding it to your marketing strategy…
More traffic on your website = More Enquiries & clients
The more relevant traffic (ie. website visitors) we have, the more likely it is that a % of that traffic will ‘convert’ into a lead/enquiry and then a website design client for us. So we want to get as much relevant traffic to our websites as possible!
Pinterest is the PERFECT platform for this, because people are using it specifically to search and then click onto a ‘pin’ that links to your website for more information.
Meanwhile, Instagram - as a ‘social’ platform - encourages users to stay on the platform and keep scrolling. Therefore it’s actually quite difficult to get your audience to leave the app and go onto your website! It’s a good ‘engagement’ platform for you to build a community, but it’s not a very good ‘traffic generation’ platform.
I explain a lot more about this, and the types of content platforms you need in your ‘content marketing funnel’ inside my free Content to Clients Funnel masterclass!
Are my clients actually using Pinterest?
Pinterest has over 450 million active monthly users worldwide, in a huge variety of demographics and niches. The majority of Pinterest’s users are female and between 25 and 34 years old, but other age groups (and men!) are a fast growing user base on the platform.
If your ideal clients happen to be include female millenials, you’re 100% in the right place!
Small business and entrepreneurship as a topic is also really popular on Pinterest, and real life solopreneurs and business owners are genuinely using it as a way to search for helpful information. And guess what - these business owners all need websites!
I’ve had many clients over the years tell me they found me initially through Pinterest, which is why it’s such a great ‘top of funnel’ addition to your content marketing strategy.
How to promote your website design business on Pinterest
Pinterest has changed a bit over the years, which is why I have a specific 3 step strategy for Pinterest marketing in 2024, and an online course all about Pinterest marketing (specifically for designers!) with the most up to date tutorials and strategies too.
However, below is an outline of what you’ll want to do:
Set up & optimise your Pinterest account
Even if you already have a Pinterest account for personal use, you’ll want to follow these steps to optimise everything for using Pinterest as a marketing tool.
Once you’ve prepared your website ready for traffic from Pinterest, you’ll want to set up a business account. The main difference between this and a personal account is that you get to see analytics for your pins (it also gives you access to paid advertising tools, but I don’t use these).
You then need to set up your profile with your business details and branding, and connect your business domain (I talk through all of this in more details inside The Pinterest Traffic Playbook course).
Research your keywords and set up your boards
Much like needing to have search engine optimisation (SEO) for having your website showing up in Google, you also need to optimise your profile, Boards and pins for the search engine that is Pinterest too!
Keyword research is an important part of Pinterest SEO, as it will guide you on what Boards you need to set up on your profile (this is something we cover in-depth inside my course too).
Create content to share on Pinterest
If you’re wondering ‘what can I pin to Pinterest?’, there are plenty of options for website designers! From blog posts to portfolio pages, great, highly relevant content is really the key to success on Pinterest.
Develop an ongoing Pinning strategy
For each piece of content you want to share to Pinterest, you can create multiple pin graphics and videos, and schedule them to post out at different intervals to your different boards. It’s SO much more ‘hands-off’ than being on Instagram all the time, and only really needs to take 30 minutes a week.
You’ll also want to check in on your Pinterest analytics regularly too to refine your strategy further!
You’ll be guided through all of the above in-depth with tutorials, action steps and templates inside my course, The Pinterest Traffic Playbook (the ultimate Pinterest course for website designers!).
Common misconceptions & FAQs about Pinterest marketing
“I don’t have time. How long does it take to get set up on Pinterest?”
I totally understand you’re worried about adding another thing to your to do list, but the best thing about Pinterest is that it is so much lower effort than platforms like Instagram!
The Pinterest strategy I teach you means you can get set up in 1/2 a day with your optimised profile and boards, and design an ongoing content plan that takes less than 1hr a week!
“Do people actually use Pinterest to look for website designers?”
Yes, a few people might use Pinterest to specifically search for website designers, but this is just a small part of your Pinterest marketing strategy.
It’s important to look at your overall content marketing in terms of a funnel (I show you how in my free Content to Clients Funnel masterclass), with Pinterest bringing in people into your audience at the top of the funnel. You then want to direct those people from Pinterest over to other pieces of content, to ‘nurture’ them more before they enquire with you.
Learn more about this system and the different buyer behaviours in my Content to Clients Funnel masterclass.
“What if I have no content to pin?”
If you’re a website designer, I KNOW you have content ready to pin. Even if you don’t have a blog, you probably have an Instagram account where you can repurpose content over to Pinterest, or portfolio pages on your website that you can share to your account.
“How long will it take to see results on Pinterest?”
Because Pinterest is a ‘search engine’, the content on there tends to last longer (in terms of continually getting views and engagement), and can even become MORE popular over time (rather than social media platforms where the lifespan of a post is typically less than 24 hours and becomes less popular over time).
This means your content can increase in value on there, but it can also take a bit longer to get traction. Pinterest is more of a long term game!
From when you very first start getting set up on Pinterest, you might expect to start seeing results (ie. more views and clicks to your website) after around 3 to 6 months, but it can be sooner depending on your pinning strategy. It is WORTH the wait, because one pin that gets traction has the ability to drive traffic to your website for months (and sometimes years) to come.
The best Pinterest marketing course for website designers
Want to learn how to use Pinterest to promote your website design business, from an actual website design who has done it? My course - The Pinterest Traffic Playbook - can help you to attract more traffic, leads and dream clients in just 3 simple steps.
In this online course you will:
✔ Learn how the Pinterest algorithm works so you can set up your profile & Boards for SEO
✔ Prep your ‘Pinterest Funnel’ with content that converts and actually achieves your goals
✔ Start creating engaging, optimised Pins straight away (with time-saving tips & tools to help!)
✔️ Design an ongoing strategy that works for you, requiring less than 1hr a week
^ Set this all up in a day with The Pinterest Traffic Playbook!
