7 proven ways to create viral Pinterest posts

As a lifestyle blogger, I have seen huge traffic from Pinterest in the past six months. I have had multiple posts go “viral,” each receiving anywhere from 1,000 to 35,000-plus pins. These posts have translated to:

For each viral post, I used the same strategies. If you want to see your blog posts get pinned hundreds, if not thousands, of times on Pinterest, consider these seven tips:

Write your post as a list

This is the easiest tip. People love lists. They are easy to read and pinned a lot. Consider writing your post in bulleted or list format.

Use text on your photos, or create a title graphic

This is the single most important thing you can do to stimulate pins and repins. When people pin and repin on Pinterest, they are scanning through a lot of thumbnails. Having text on a photo makes it easier for users to identify what an image is and if they want to pin it.

(It is important to note that if you are using stock photography on your blog, you should check the terms of your contract. Many stock sites do not include rights for a photo to be pinned to Pinterest.)

Add a “Pin It” button beneath the photo you want to be pinned, and write a smart, searchable tag for the caption