Put a Pin in It: 10 Beginner’s Tips for Pinterest

As simple as Pinterest’s interface seems, whether it is a business or personal account, not everyone has quite grasped what they should be pinning, how exactly they should organize their pins and boards, and what it is that drives traffic to their Pinterest profile.  If you have never used Pinterest before, it is a social network that is filled with endless categories to sift through for the ideas that most “interest” you so that you can “put a pin in it”, essentially saving the idea to come back to when you are ready to start that project, buy a product, or return to a recipe. Once people have, for example, completed a project or made a recipe, they will usually return to comment on their experience and reveal whether or not they would recommend it to others. This is one reason (of many) that Pinterest is an important tool for many businesses. That is, if you make an idea appealing enough for people to want to try it and the idea consistently generates the expected result then the resultant word of mouth will drive more business toward you.

Anyway, we want to make sure that you are at the top of your game. Since pinning=winning, here are 10 Pinterest tips to bring you from beginner to pro:

#1: Check out the category “popular” for trending pins. The search results will be a compilation of all the pins that currently boast the most likes, repins, and/or comments. Thus, when you also like, repin, or comment on some of these popular pins, it gives your profile more visibility. However, avoid posting generic comments like “That’s cool” or “Great idea” because it may give the impression that you are not attempting genuine engagement. Something important to remember is to not post more than 2-3 comments in a single day or Pinterest may suspend your account for “spamming”, even if that’s not your intention.

#2: Pin and share photos. Just as on other social media networks, colorful photos and attention getting graphics receive the most likes and repins. Subsequently, to make your boards more appealing, they should have attractive cover photos to get more clicks and remember to change out these photos every once in a while.

#3: Detail what your pin is about. Provide rich content descriptions for each pin that tells the viewer exactly what the pin is all about. Remember, the more key words and hashtags that you use, the more easily it will appear in the correct search.

#4: Avoid pinning generic ideas. Generic ideas are boring and unnecessary; you want pins that are innovative and exciting. For example, if you pin a stock photo of a birthday cake to your “Birthday Parties” board, with the description of “make sure to have a birthday party”, it is going to be meaningless to your followers because that is such a regular idea that you don’t need to save it for later to remember. Instead, you want to pin ideas that will not just be useful for every day events but that will actually elevate them. Therefore, for your “Birthday Parties” board it is much more beneficial for both you and your followers too if you were to post an idea regarding how to set up the food table in the best way or pin some unique cake decorating ideas.

#5: Know what you’re pinning. Don’t pin anything that is offensive or conflicts with your brand or statement you want to make. Likewise, don’t pin things that are not interesting to you or your followers or really, what’s the point? So, make sure to click and review all content before repining so that you are aware of what that pin says about you.

#6: Follow people with similar interests. Not only will those with similar interests be more likely to follow you back but by doing this you make yourself available to the great content flowing from their boards and you can be the first to pass it on to your own followers.

#7: Make your boards be specific and the title appropriate. When you name a board something like “Outdoors”, the viewer doesn’t know exactly what to expect if they click on your board. “Outdoors” could be ideas for yard landscaping, activities to try outside, or even camping equipment. So, it is a good idea to make your title specific and to only include pins that are relevant to that title. For example, if you have a board titled “Party Ideas for Little Boys” then do not pin wine party ideas to that board (yes, we are exaggerating here to make a point).  Additionally, don’t be afraid to have a little fun with your titles to make them stand out, but refrain from making it so abstract that a new visitor won’t know what they are clicking on (or they won’t click at all).

#8: Multiple boards are preferred.  This is the aspect of Pinterest that lets you go be wild and free and make a board for everything that interests you. The more boards you have, the more opportunities for your pin and profile to be brought up by someone’s search. So, the minimalist in you has no need to compact all your ideas into the least amount of boards because more people prefer to have a diverse selection of material to look at. Therefore, if you have a board that is named “Style”, you could separate it into multiple specific boards like makeup, nails, jackets, shirts, shoes, and so on.

#9: Fill your boards up. As previously stated, you are more likely to attract followers if you have a variety of boards to look at but making sure those boards are filled with lots of content that the title promises is just as important. If you were a follower, you wouldn’t waste your time following someone who only had 2 pins located on one single board because you know that you aren’t going to be getting very much content to pass along to your followers from them.

#10: Reorder your boards. The boards that receive the most likes or repins should be organized in the top row of your profile so that they are the first ones viewed upon visiting your page. If you are just beginning, place the boards that are more important to you or that you predict will generate the most interest first.  Also, for your boards to appear in someone’s categories search, you need to categorize your boards correctly when you create a new board (i.e., just choose the category most relevant to your board from the drop-down menu and if your category isn’t listen select “other”).

*BONUS TIP: If you have a business account, remember to link and verify your website address when setting up your profile so that people know that it isn’t a fake, which makes you more trustworthy.

We covered some of the most important tips that will get you revamping your profile or starting one off right. Happy pinning!  

Did we leave something out that led to your Pinterest success? Share your comments below, we love to hear from you!