5 Top 2019 Posts from Pinterest and What You Can Learn from Them

A couple of days ago I shared my top posts of 2019 ~ sort of. As I explained, when I looked at the list of most popular posts, one thing was so clear: more than half weren’t even published in 2019. Those posts had some things in common and that’s why I want to share with you my 5 top 2019 posts from Pinterest and what you can learn from them.

I have to share first that in the big scheme of things, I am a newbie to Pinterest. I first got on Pinterest in April of 2015. (Please don’t gasp or faint for those of you who were on Pinterest from day 1.) My older daughter had been after me for a few years to convert my monthly cooking newsletter (At least, I was an early user of email marketing.) to a blog. I really had no idea what a blog was, so she suggested I get on Pinterest to find out.

Oh, my goodness!! That was a blog!! Articles about all sorts of topics and pretty pictures. I had no idea. Well, I thought, I can do that. Five months later, my original blog, Bluesky Kitchen was launched. Two years later, I switched to Bluesky at Home. It was almost like starting over, but changing my blog name and domain was the best thing I ever did. Here’s the back story if you need help making a similar decision.

I immediately fell in love with Pinterest. In 2019, I have tried to really focus on Pinterest as a way to grow my blog traffic. Let’s face it: Google is a beast, a monster, and it’s hard to understand. Even though I do everything I can to make my site as SEO~friendly as possible, it’s a struggle. But Pinterest? That’s a fairy godmother that I can understand and hug and snuggle up to. Pinterest makes sense to me in a way that Google Analytics just does not. Anyone with me here?

So let me share with you the beauty of Pinterest and why I was actually happy that most of my most popular posts from 2019 were older posts that came from Pinterest. I’m not going to go into an in~depth description of what I did in this post, but just give you an overview of my 5 top 2019 posts from Pinterest and what you can learn from them.

5 Top 2019 Posts from Pinterest and What You Can Learn from Them

The first thing I did after looking at my top 2019 posts was to analyse them. I’m not an analytical person by any stretch, but I do like to figure things out. What did these posts/Pins have in common? Not a single one had been published in 2019, yet they were at the top of my most popular posts, driving a ton of traffic to my site. And they all came from Pinterest. Why would they drive so much traffic to my site when they were 1 ~ 2 years old? All were from 2018 and 2017 ~ ancient in blogger time. But on closer examination, I realized that I shouldn’t be surprised.

Reason 1

All these posts are evergreen. They all contain content that is always useful and relevant. Whether a DIY project or a makeover, they have a long shelf life. It doesn’t matter that they were written and published 1, 2 or 5 years ago, they will still benefit readers who find them on the web. Even if seasonal (backyard makeover for summer, Christmas tablescape, Valentine party), they will find readership ~ as long as summer and Christmas never go out of style

Reason 2

All these posts fit my niche. If you are a DIY or home decor enthusiast and use Pinterest for ideas and inspiration, then hopefully, your search will lead you at some point to one of my posts. If you search paint projects or Cricut projects or tablescapes, I will pop up, you’ll scroll through through the feed that Pinterest provides, see my Pin, click on to SAVE or even better, click through to the post. Maybe you’ll repin my post and others will find it ~ thank you very much! You’ll know exactly what my focus/niche is and what to expect from my blog.

Reason 3

All these posts were beneficial to readers. Of course, we hope that all our content is beneficial to all our readers. Every one of these posts had a useful purpose for readers. In other words, they contained quality content, which is both Pinterest and Google’s main criteria for giving our posts authority. Even better, a few had opt~ins which added loyal subscribers to my email list.

Reason 4

Most of these posts had been updated or upgraded in some way. Here is where the magic of Pinterest happens. I’ll save the details for a later post, but suffice it to say that upgrading quality content extends the life of the post. If it was good to begin with, you can improve on it in several ways.

Reason 5

All these posts had been reposted or repinned. Just because you Pinned a post 2, 5 or 8 years ago doesn’t mean it has to just sit there as is forever. Pinterest is a long term game and there are ways to help it help you. After you have upgraded the content (Reason 4), you need to give it a little boost. Put it out in the dating world again. Republish the post or repin it; Pinterest thinks it’s new, fresh content (if you update it correctly). It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

5 Top 2019 Posts from Pinterest

I decided to just share the top 5 posts from Pinterest because the point I’m trying to make is that this is a good thing for bringing traffic to your site. So what were the 5 most popular posts from Pinterest on Bluesky at Home for 2019?

As you’ll see from the images I share, several are prime for updating. I have some work cut out for me.

NOTE: Posts prior to September, 2017 were under the BlueskyKitchen.net domain.

Laundry Room Countertop

In July, 2017, as we were deep into the update of our laundry room, I shared How to Install a Laundry Room Countertop. This project was a big deal for Sweet Shark and me. Although I love repainting and updating furniture and DIY projects, Sweet Shark will be the first to admit that he is not a handyman. He would much rather hire someone to do a project around the house and go play golf or shake a cocktail shaker and make you a drink. But I talked him into doing this entire project ourselves and I think he was actually very proud of himself for his contribution.

I thought about going ahead and updating the Pinnable image, but decided to let you see the original as it is now. As you can see, this post desperately needs a brand new Pinnable image. It’s dull and Pinterest likes color. I’m guessing that the headline was enticing enough that people clicked on the image in spite of it. Boy, I have learned a lot in 2 1/2 years.

At some point, I did update all the images in the post with my new watermark ~ a lot of time, but worth it.

I think this post resonates with people because it makes the process clear. It’s a project that just about anyone (Ask Sweet Shark.) can do.

Best Way to Clean Grout in Your Bathroom

OK, this post is a little unusual in that it really isn’t exactly in my niche, but who doesn’t search for the best way to clean the grout in your bathroom? This post from May, 2018 was a sponsored post in collaboration with HomeRight (they were bought out by Wagner) continues to resonate. I did notice that my watermark is in a font that I don’t use anymore. Also, since this was a sponsored post from a company that was bought out, I won’t spend the time to do any updating.

Everyone Loves Vinyl Decals

75 Ways to Use Vinyl Decals ~ the publish date on this post is July, 2018, but I know that I originally wrote it in 2017, which means I’ve updated it. However, I noticed that the Pinnable image has not been updated to my more current style and it’s not exactly the right Pinnable size. So, guess what? I’ll create a new image for it and repin it. Pinterest will think it’s new content and I bet I get new traffic from it. People who love Cricut love it and so I want to make sure that it is as good as it can be.

The Vinyl Tutorial

This is the post that just keeps on giving. How to Make Vinyl Decals using my new Cricut skills in 2017 was a labor of love. Its opt~in has brought me more email subscribers than any other. Not a week goes by that I don’t get new subscribers through it. Like the previous post, I will update the Pinnable image pronto.

Most Popular Post of 2019

Almost 3 years ago, in the spring of 2017, when we were getting ready to update our laundry room, I collected 13 Laundry Room Ideas for Inspiration that I found on Pinterest. I did update the Pinnable image for this one and it continues to bring in great traffic. I love this post. It’s evergreen, informational, inspirational, and fun to read ~ I think. When I created a new Laundry Room Board on Pinterest, I Pinned it there and to a couple of my Tailwind tribes.

Most importantly for traffic and Pinterest juice, I did a few updates for this post:

• updated the Pinnable image
• created a second Pinnable image
• created a PIN for Later image (which I’ve used many times since)
• updated the images with the Bluesky at Home watermark ~ all my posts prior to September, 2017 had the Bluesky Kitchen watermark. Does it matter? To me, it does. I’ve slowly, but somewhat systematically, gone back and changed the watermark to Bluesky at Home. It’s time consuming, but, I think, important for branding and a professional look to the blog.

NOTE: When I am writing a new post or updating an old one that can link back to early posts, I update those older posts: the watermark, if necessary, Pinnable images, Pinterest descriptions (and now Pinterest titles, but I’m getting ahead of myself), SEO, keywords, typos (Gosh, I hate those.), or copywriting. I’ll share in future posts that process.

Even though this post is 2 1/2 years old, I think the updates have given it a fresh and current look.

I hope that this post has been informative and enlightening for you. I learn something new everyday about how to utilize the power of Pinterest.  I’m grateful for the resources that I’ve discovered this year that have helped me do that. Next week, I’ll share a few with you.

And, I hope that you will PIN these 5 top posts to your own boards.

Also, on Monday in my Monday Memo, I’ll share the new link party that I will be joining as a hostess starting next week. I am so excited to be joining some very talented ladies each week.