Move Over Pinterest: How Flipboard Supercharges Blog Traffic with Less Effort
I Discovered That Often Overlooked Flipboard is Better than Pinterest for Driving Traffic to Your Blog
If you’re a blogger, you know the struggle of trying to get traffic to your site. There are countless social platforms and tools out there claiming to be the key to unlocking your blog’s potential. Pinterest is often hailed as a go-to platform for driving traffic, especially for visually-driven content. However, I recently discovered that Flipboard, an often overlooked platform, can outperform Pinterest in surprising ways when it comes to generating traffic. Here’s why.
Flipboard is Free and Operates at Scale
First off, let’s talk about cost. Flipboard is completely free to use, which is always a plus for bloggers. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned content creator, minimizing costs while maximizing exposure is a huge win. On top of that, Flipboard operates at scale, meaning it has a wide, diverse user base. This offers great potential for niche bloggers looking to target specific audiences or generalists trying to reach a broad audience.
Flipboard’s Magazine Format: A Content Tailor’s Dream
One of the standout features of Flipboard is its “Magazine” format, which is incredibly useful for organizing and curating content. You can create magazines tailored to specific topics, themes, or interests. This is a game changer compared to Pinterest, where content is often categorized through boards that are less customizable. If you blog about multiple topics, Flipboard allows you to create several magazines, each focused on a specific topic, making it easier for your readers to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Effortless Content Curation via RSS Feeds
Another feature I love about Flipboard is its ability to populate magazines manually or through RSS feeds. With tools like RSS.app or Feedly, you can automatically feed content from multiple sources into your Flipboard magazine. You no longer have to worry about constantly adding new content to stay relevant, as the RSS feed takes care of it for you.
Pinterest, on the other hand, requires continual updates. To stay visible on Pinterest, you have to constantly pin fresh content — even if it’s the same content you’ve shared before. That ongoing need for fresh pins can be exhausting and time-consuming, especially if you’re trying to manage multiple platforms.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Flipboard Drives More Traffic
Here’s where things get really interesting. I decided to run a small case study to see how Flipboard stacked up against Pinterest in terms of driving traffic. Even after using Pinterest-specific tools like BlogtoPin or Tailwind to automate and optimize my pins, the results were disappointing. My outbound link clicks only increased by a mere 5%. (It doesn’t even show up on my monthly reports)
In contrast, after setting up an RSS feed on Flipboard, my outbound clicks shot up by 26%. That’s a significant jump for minimal effort. It’s clear that once you get your Flipboard magazines set up, they can passively drive traffic, which is a huge advantage over Pinterest’s constant demand for fresh content.
Set It and Forget It: The Beauty of Passive Content Population
The passive nature of Flipboard’s RSS feed functionality is what really sets it apart. Once you’ve set up your feeds, there’s no need to continually update or edit your magazines. In contrast, Pinterest requires you to stay on top of things, updating content regularly to stay relevant in the platform’s algorithms. Flipboard allows you to set it and forget it — perfect for busy bloggers who don’t have the time to constantly babysit their social media accounts.
Flipboard Isn’t Perfect: The Drawbacks
Of course, no platform is perfect, and Flipboard is no exception. One of its main drawbacks is that sharing content on Flipboard doesn’t seem to provide “link juice” — meaning that it doesn’t show up in Google Search Console as a linked site. So while Flipboard might drive traffic to your site, it doesn’t seem to improve your SEO rankings directly.
Additionally, to get the most out of Flipboard’s RSS feed functionality, you need to use a utility like RSS.app or Feedly, which often requires a paid subscription to aggregate multiple RSS feeds into one source. This might be a minor inconvenience for some, but it’s worth noting.
Lastly, Flipboard’s analytics are rather weak. Unlike Pinterest, which provides detailed insights into engagement and audience behavior, Flipboard’s analytics lack depth. You won’t get the same granular level of detail that you might be used to with other platforms.
Conclusion: Is Flipboard Worth It?
So, is Flipboard better than Pinterest for driving traffic to your blog? In my experience, the answer is yes — especially if you’re looking for a low-maintenance, high-reward strategy. With its free-to-use platform, the ability to curate tailored content via magazines, and the ease of RSS feed integration, Flipboard can become a powerful tool in your blogging toolkit.
If you’re tired of Pinterest’s constant demands for fresh content and are looking for a more passive way to keep traffic flowing to your blog, give Flipboard a try. The numbers speak for themselves: less effort, more traffic. That’s a win in my book.
What’s your experience with Flipboard or Pinterest for driving blog traffic? Let me know in the comments!
