Pinterest for food bloggers and food lovers

Why Pinterest matters to food lovers and ways for food bloggers to invite them to the table

Are you on Pinterest yet?  If not, and you either write about food or love to eat it, it is time to participate in the visual feast.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Pinterest first came on to my radar when my cousin invited me to join last month.  I ignored it.  I was basking in the glow of Google+ and I didn’t think I could handle yet another social network.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I noticed how many people were coming to my website from Pinterest (it was suddenly my #2 source of visits), that I gave it another thought.

I figured if people were already using it to share my food photos, I would make it easier for them AND see what all the fuss was about.  So, I:

• Accepted my cousin’s original invitation.  ()
• Created a couple of pin boards and pinned a handful of old posts (I to my browser to make the job easier.)
• Added a Pinterest button to my list of social networks on my blog and my weekly newsletter
• Added a “Pin It” button to my ShareBar – a WordPress plugin – using a little code trick I learned from Tom McGuire at Pinwire.  It was the only code I found that actually allowed people to select images from my site from the ShareBar.

Basically, I went through the mechanics.

But, when I started filling up my boards, I realized how much fun it is and how mouth-watering it can be.  Suddenly images of food – gorgeous food! – were popping up, seemingly out of nowhere!  And I wanted to pin them all!

So, why is Pinterest a great resource for food bloggers and food lovers?

For many of the same reasons.

Generally speaking, Pinterest is a visual feast that lets you:

• Marvel (and drool) at people’s edible creations and food photography skills.
• Find great recipes that others have pinned, and re-pin them for yourself.
• Share or keep a record for yourself of food-related blog posts, recipes, websites, and images that you like, want to try, or are inspired by.
• Organize posts into useful categories, like salads and mains, types of cuisine, main ingredient, or diet type.
• Find inspiration for a new dish or a new way to do something with a familiar ingredient.
• Comment on pins that intrigue you and maybe hear back from the pinner.

But, here, the similarities start to diverge.  While all food lovers can use Pinterest to inspire their kitchen life, food bloggers can – and should – dig deeper into ways that Pinterest allows you to share your own content and to be seen as a curator of imagery that supports your blog’s theme and your interests.

7 delicious tips for moving from visual feast to delicious blog bite on Pinterest

1.    Invite people to the table

People are most likely to follow your boards if they know you have a Pinterest account and are open to having them join you.

• Add a to your blog and link it to your account page.

• Link to your Pinterest page from your newsletter and/or email signature.
• Add Pinterest to your social media profiles on other sites.

2.    Feed the source

Give visitors to your site (or viewers of your posts that have been pinned) a reason to share your content and to want to visit your site.  Make it easy for them to share your content.

• Use a pin-worthy image on each blog post – this gives people a reason to pin, and sparks their memory of what your post is about once it’s on their board.
• Use memorable words on your images, if appropriate, to remind them of what the image is and where it came from (a watermark/signature with your blog’s name can be helpful).  The Nester talks about her Pinterest image revelations here.  Based on what she said, I borrowed her blog post title image concept for this post.
• Give people easy ways to Pin your blog’s content by adding “Pin it” buttons to posts or to a sharing plugin. (you can see how I did it at the top of this post)

3.    Plan for the possibility of fishing

Pinterest users search for people and boards that include topics of interest to them.  There are several ways you can help them find you.

• Name your boards clearly and succinctly (you have about 30 characters, or so, for your title).
• Edit your boards. Categorize them under “Food & Dining” if appropriate, and include a description that includes a bit more detail about what pinners can find on them.
• As with Twitter and Google+, consider using hashtags on Pinterest  in the pin or board descriptions.
• Include key words in your profile description that talk about what you pin and blog about.

4.    Contribute to the feast

• Add new content to your boards a couple of times a day, at least during the days that you can.  The content can be your own or from other people’s sites.  Pinning regularly gives you more opportunity to be seen.
• Also, consider adding boards that complement what you do – kitchen supplies, kitchen designs, key ingredients, your pantry staples, cooking resources you use, etc. – as well as boards that round out who you are – what other projects, interests, etc. do you have that might help people relate to you?

5.    Nourish your relationships

• Follow people who follow you (possibly selecting only those boards that interest you).
• Re-pin other people’s images to your own boards.
• Like and comment on other people’s pins.
• Give credit to the source by listing their website URL or site name in the pin description if you know it.
• Actively invite others to the table – you can invite friends by hovering over your image in the upper RH corner of the screen.

6.    Hold a potluck

• Create a board.  Edit the settings to allow other people to pin to it, and then invite them to contribute.  Name and describe your board as a shared one.
• Curate themed or topical boards (lunch-time meals, picnic baskets, Thanksgiving plans, bento boxes) where you pin highly-specific recipes, articles or inspiring food images.  This helps you become seen as a resource for ideas on those topics.

7.    Give potential readers a taste of what else you have to offer

Most pinners are interested in the photo they see.  If they take the time to visit your site, give them a reason to bite so they stay for a while and, perhaps, pin more of your posts or even sign up for your newsletter.  The sample taste might be your blog’s appearance, use of LinkWithin or another visual post suggestor, or an opt-in gift for your newsletter.

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There are probably many other ways to use Pinterest to satisfy your hunger for food imagery and recipes.  But, I’ve already overstepped the bounds of a good multi-course meal.

Please consider sharing your own Pinterest tips, your Pinterest URL, and/or your thoughts on creating blog content that is pinnable in the comments below!