What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a virtual peg board that allows you to sort, share, and view all the beautiful things on the Internet. You can search for something specific, like soup recipes, or , dips and appetizers, or larger categories, like quick and easy weeknight meals, casseroles , and holidays.
How Do I Use Pinterest?
To understand how to use Pinterest, there are a few words you need to know. Most importantly, the word “Pin.” A pin is an image added to Pinterest. So every time you upload an image or add someone else’s image to your board, you’re adding a pin. These pins are then arranged on what are called “boards.” A “board” is a set of pins that share a common theme. For example, you could have a board called “Yummy Sandwiches” and it would be filled with various pins you found on Pinterest or on the Internet. You can have as many boards as you’d like and each one of those boards can have as many pins as you’d like.
Now anyone who comes across Pinterest can view images, but in order to create boards and add your own images, you need to be a member. To become a member, you can request an invitation directly through the Pinterest Web site or, if someone you know is already on Pinterest, they can send you an invitation.
Once you’re a member, you have full range of Pinterest’s tools. You can create boards, upload pins, and follow the boards of other people that you like. For example, I have a Good Soups board of my own, but my friend also has a Good Soups board. Since I’m a Pinterest member, I can follow her board so when she adds new pins to her board they will instantly show up on my Pinterest home page, just like a Facebook newsfeed.
Why Should You Use Pinterest?
Pinterest is one of the easiest and best ways to drive traffic to your blog. Posting recipes you’ve made, crafts you’re working on, and even your plans to renovate your house or make your own wedding invitations are great ways to get people to see images that link back to your blog. It’s also a great inspiration tool, since people are adding pins every day, there’s always something new!
Another great tool Pinterest has is the ability to share your pins on Facebook and Twitter. Once you pin a photo to a board, you will have the option to automatically share your find on these other social media sites, so all your friends who aren’t on Pinterest can see all your cool discoveries. For example, I was browsing around Pinterest and found this great Cake Batter Pancakes.
I thought they looked incredible and I wanted to share my find on Twitter, so I simply placed my mouse on the image and got a drop down menu with three buttons, “repin,” “like,”,and “comment.” I clicked the “repin” button and got this screen. As you can see, there’s a little check box for Twitter. By clicking that, all my Twitter followers will be able to see this recipe I found on Pinterest! I placed this recipe in my “Breakfast Recipes” board, so all of my followers on Pinterest will see it, too.
Pinterest really is one of the best ways to explore the wide variety of crafts, projects, recipes, and ideas on the Internet. It’s all in one place, making it easy to keep your pins organized and to see what your friends are pinning as well!
How Do I Start?
Head on over to www.Pinterest.com. As you can see, you’ll have access to view all the images, but you’ll need to request an invite in order to do everything else.
Once you have the log in, which should take a couple days, you’ll be taken to a front page that looks like this:
You can search for something specific in the search bar in the upper left corner or you can browse around the major categories, found under the “Everything” tab in the top center of your screen. For our purposes, I’m going to click on the Food and Drinks category.
Now I’m only looking at pins that are Food and Drinks. There’s a mouth watering Bacon and Avocado Macaroni Salad recipe! There is also a ton of copycat recipes of your favorite restaurant foods. So you can see just in this small block that there are a wide variety of recipes on Pinterest.
Now, I’m looking for something a little more specific. I’m throwing a going away party for a good friend and I need to find some delicious appetizers for the party, so I’m on the hunt to find something cheesy and easy! I’m going to enter the term “cheese appetizers” in the search bar and see what comes up…
Okay, now I am only looking at “cheese appetizers.” How about this? I love it! Looks incredible! Now we’re going to click on this image that we want to “pin.”
Now I’m looking at a different page. I can see my image in the center, and above it are two buttons, “Like” and “Repin.”. Clicking “Like” will allow me to “like” this image, similar to Facebook. If I click “Repin,” I can place this image on one of my existing boards or if it doesn’t fit on any of my existing boards, I can create a new one. Thankfully, this pin is perfect for my “Party Food Ideas” board so I am going to “pin it” there.
If you look to the left of the screen, you’ll see a small picture grid. This contains all the other pins in this person’s board. If I wanted to, I could click “follow” and I would automatically be notified as soon as another pin was entered into this board. If I click on the image itself, I should be taken to the original source from which this project came…and wouldn’t you know? You can find that very Ham and Cheese Sliders in our Party Food Ideas!
You can also install a "Pin it" button to your browser's toolbar so that you can pin images from anywhere you are on the web. Next time you find a recipe you love on FaveHealthyRecipes you can click the "Pin it" button in your toolbar and you'll get a screen that looks like this:
Simply select the image you want to pin and the same box will pop up that let's you add a caption and select which board you would like to add it to.
It’s as easy as that! Be sure to visit our boards on Pinterest! You can follow all our boards here:
