Over the past few weeks I've shared how to set up your Pinterest for Business account and how to optimize your blog posts. But those steps are only the foundation.

I first increased my Pinterest referral traffic (doubled my traffic, actually!) by updating my blog post images, but the next step is to get strategic. How can I reach more of my audience on Pinterest? When is my tribe looking for information?

Whether you're just getting started or already have an audience, a little strategic planning and analysis can go a long way.

What you’ll learn in this post:

What to consider for the best days and times to Pin to Pinterest
Types of content that do best on each day of the week
What is the Pinterest Smart Feed?

Pinterest for Business: How to Find the Best Days & Times to Pin

When are the Best Days & Times to Pin for Business?

Is there really a 'best time' to pin?

There has been a lot of speculation on when is the right time to pin. A things to consider:

Pinterest's Smart Feed
Time zones that your audience is in
The content of your pin

Rule of thumb- use these tips as a guideline, but test things for yourself!

1 | Focus on Quality Pins

Pinterest Smart Feed now prevents the newest pins from showing first on the feed.

Now, only the best pins show first depending on their quality, amount of interaction (repins and click through) and URL locations. You can do certain things to help your ranking such as only upload high quality pins, use keyword rich descriptions and calls to action to ensure the maximum potential for repins and clicks.

See more tips on optimizing your blog post images for Pinterest here.

2 | Know Your Audience's schedule

Time Zones. Understanding your audience helps too. By knowing the time zone the majority of your audience is in, you can pin content at high traffic, appropriate times.

When is your audience not only online, but using Pinterest?

If you're a food blogger, your audience might be searching for dinner recipes on their lunch break or in the early evening hours. Or if your audience participates in Sunday Food Prep or weekly meal planning, the weekend will have higher traffic.

If you have a product, it might be beneficial to think in broader terms, like seasons.

One client of mine designs and sells Healthy Tote, all-in-one durable tote bags for busy women.

Some of her bags are pre-printed with decals for "Baseball Mom" and teacher-themes.

So for these pre-printed bags, she has to consider the seasons more than days and times. For example, at the end of the school year she could pin content for teacher gift ideas. At the end of summer, she can pin content related to back-to-school and gearing up for football season.

3 | Consider Your Content Category

The Content of your Pin also makes a difference.

We touched on some of this above, but In general, pin business related pins during the weekdays and work hours. Lifestyle pins do better during the weekend and weekday evening hours.

Also keep in mind holidays and the seasons. The summer is great for lifestyle related pins but there may not be as much activity due to people traveling.

According to stats from Pinterest, different categories are more popular on certain days of the week.