With social media being all that it is, it is no wonder that it is the highest driving force to many blogs. For The Multi Taskin’ Mom, one of our biggest sources is Pinterest. Who isn’t on Pinterest these days? It is a great place to gather ideas for home decor projects, DIY projects, homeschool lessons, and sooo much more! So, what does that have to do with you? Well, if you are a blogger is has everything to do with you. Pinterest is a virtual pin board full of info-graphics and pretty pictures. The problem is that the competition for Pins is high! To solve this, and gain traffic, you have to ensure that your images are worthy of being pinned!
How do you make them pin worthy? Well lets discuss that now!
How to create images worth pinning:
- The first thing you want to do, no matter where you are designing your images (more on that in a bit) is to decide the size of the images and stick to it! You want them to be consistent throughout your blog. This doesn’t mean that each image within that post must be that size, it means that the “featured image” of the post – the one that will be pinned – is the same size in each post. I try to keep my images square 500×500 or a rectangle of 400×600.
- Now that you have your size figured out, lets talk about where you are designing these images. I, personally, use Photoshop. I use it because it is what I own and use for work. Now, don’t go stressing out thinking that you have to go drop a ton of cash to design your images. There are free and cheap ways to create your graphics out there. The most popular right now is PicMonkey.
- Here comes the fun! Designing!!! You want to make sure that your image stands apart from the rest. Take a moment to decide how you want your pinnable image to be. Do you want to use a photo you took yourself? Do you want to use a stock photo? How about using clipart or only text? Each of those options are fine! Just be sure that if using a photo that you found online that you have express permission to use that image. Some great places to find free stock images are: Pixabay, Canva, Fotor, and Morgue File. (please be sure to read all of the terms of each website before using an image. I cannot stress that enough)
- You know the size you want the image to be. You know what image you want to use. Now you need to put some text on that image. There is no hard rule for this. Some people put the title of the post on the image. Some people put a quote. It really doesn’t matter. The important part is that it showcases what the blog post is about. Personally, I try to make the text on my pinnable image the same as the title of the blog post. Some things to keep in mind – use a max of 3 different fonts, make sure that the fonts you are using flow well together, HAVE FUN! Some great sources for fonts are Font Squirrel, Dafont.com, and Kevin and Amanda. Again, make sure that you check the terms of use before downloading and using any of the fonts from the internet.
- Protect your image: add a URL or watermark to your image so that it cannot be stolen and used on other blogs. This may sound crazy but trust me, it happens a lot.
Still need help? I create pinnable images all the time for various clients. I am happy to create your images for you for a small fee. Contact me today and we can discuss rates!
