Group boards have the potential to become both a great resource for similar topics as well as generating traffic back to your website or blog. This would seem like a win-win right? This isn't always true. Because group boards seemed to positively benefit everyone involved, I decided to start my own. I quickly learned that a group board that isn't well managed can become a free-for-all full of spam, unrelated topics and duplicate pins - resulting in poor user engagement and negatively affected my Pinterest analytics.

I've known for a while that my group board wasn't performing well so I decided it was time to take hold of it and I began the painfully slow and agonizing process of deleting all unrelated content, sending out warnings to those not following the rules and [unfortunately] removing those who were repeat offenders of these rules. I would have saved myself the time and headache if I simply knew the ins and outs of group board management and the proper way to make them a shining success. Please don't think that all group boards will negatively impact your Pinterest account, but with the proper knowledge owning a group board will generate organic traffic, impressions, clicks and repins.

In this post I'll cover the creation process, the best way to invite collaborators and how to actively moderate the content being pinned. Let's jump right in!

Hosting Your Own Pinterest Group Board

The first thing you need to do is decide on a group board niche. My suggestion is to select one closely based on your blogging niche so you can contribute your own content to the board. This could be blogging and business, travel, fashion etc. It can be anything you want, but just be sure to make your title clear so others will know the content your group board consists of.

Once you've done this you can create your board and start inviting others to collaborate. If you have any blogger friends in your niche then inviting them to join will be helpful to all of you. A board with collaborators who know one another will have a better chance of succeeding because everyone will be more willing to support each other.

DO Set Rules for Your Group Board

Outline clear rules for pinning in the board description section. You are the owner and moderator so you have full say in the rules of your board. Below is a screenshot of my group board and the rules I have outlined.

In my description I've included how to join, encourage repinning, what pins are acceptable, and what could happen if you don't follow the rules. Within the last week I've gone through my group board in it's entirety and deleted spam/unrelated pins, made note of repeat offenders, sent out warnings and deleted everyone not following these rules. This honestly took me a full 2 days to complete. The worst part about this was not being able to select multiple pins at once so I could just do a mass delete - I had to select each one individually. Ugh! Then on top of that, I had to send out several warning messages to people just is case they weren't aware they were violating the rules.

Worried about sending a warning? I was too. Be sure to be clear and firm and others will usually understand and respect this.

Here is an example of my warning:

Hello, please only add pins to the '♥Boss Babe Bloggers' group board that are blogging and business related ONLY. Thank you.

You don't have to send out a warning - you can just remove people if you want, but it is nice to give others the benefit of the doubt just in case they are unaware that their content isn't appropriate for this particular board.

Finding Quality Collaborators for Your Board

It's important to add people to your board who have original content, are willing to be active by pinning and repinning and will actually follow your rules. Finding quality non-spammy collaborators is a challenge. There is a ton of spam and people out there just looking for followers and nothing else. Avoid adding these types of people to your group board. They will only hurt your board. You might be wondering where to find honest people to add.

Search for profiles with similar niche or interests. You can visit their pinner profiles and check out their boards and the group boards they're pinning to. It's pretty easy to pick out the spam profiles vs the real ones by their pin content and the number of personal boards they have.
Network with other bloggers in your niche through Pinterest or Facebook groups. There are a ton of great Facebook groups with real people looking to honestly collaborate to a group board. Bloggers Unite is one of my favorite Facebook groups and they are extremely helpful with anything involving Pinterest.
Remember, you don't have to accept all requests and unknown pinners. If you do get a group board request, be sure to do your homework by looking through their profile and see if they have a link to their website.

Monitoring Your Board

You've created your board, outlined your rules and have a small gathering of collaborators. What's next?

A group board moderators job is never done and here (in no particular order) is a list of some of daily duties you should do:

Clean up duplicate pins. Many people will find the same pin useful which is great, but there is really no need to have the same pin several times.
Check for broken links or links those they go to unrelated content. Sometimes a website URL may change resulting in a pin to have a broken link. If you do run across a link that's broken be sure to delete it.
Keep the board active by encourage active quality pins from group members as well as pinning to the board yourself. Want to grow your board? It's best to check in with people who aren't actively pinning or repinning the board's content. I would suggest they pin once a month at the absolute minimum. I would rather replace them with someone who would be interested and more active.
Send out warnings or remove anyone that are harming the board. I've already stated the importance of every member following your rules so be sure to remind them of the appropriate content and anyone not following should definitely be removed.

I'm still extremely new to being a group board moderator but these are some of the tips I've learned myself through trial and error. Don't get me wrong - it is a lot of work, but a well managed group board can broaden your reach on Pinterest as well as generate organic traffic back to your blog. Along with this, it can also help out other bloggers so we can all win and reach our goals together.

If you're interested in joining my ♥Boss Babe Bloggers group board be sure to fill out my group board form for an invite :)

Like this post? Check out these other Pinterest related ones I know you'll love!