When you search for ideas or products on Google, you will most likely get within those results suggestions from Pinterest. These Pinterest results show images that lead to blogs, products, images all sharing information about what you’re searching. Therefore, as a blogger, it is great to be active on Pinterest with a Pinterest profile that is set up for success. A profile and pins that drives traffic to your blog. The more people equates to greater awareness, more sales and more clients.
Many people think Pinterest is a Social Media platform. It isn’t. Pinterest is a search engine. Just like google, bing and yahoo, people use the search bar of Pinterest to search for topics they are looking for. The difference between Pinterest and search engines is Pinterest shares with text and images drawn only from Pinterest. Whereas search engines like google include other platforms like Pinterest in their search results. Therefore as you set up your Pinterest profile you want to use keywords to create an SEO rich profile. Using keywords and SEO is how your profile and Pinterest pins rank in Pinterest’s search.
Pin to read later.
To have a personal or business Pinterest account.
The name personal and business really says it all. Personal is a personal account where you save and share for personal use. Whereas business is for business use. Therefore, if you are using or plan to use Pinterest for a business including to grow your blog into a business, you’ll need a business account.
There are two ways to set up a Pinterest business profile.
- Convert your private profile into a business profile.
- Sign up for a totally new business account, it’s free.
Two benefits of a business account are access to better analytics to help you see what content your audience is enjoying and business branding. Your business logo showing with your pins.
Tip: If setting up a new account be sure to have decided on your business name as your user name shows in your URL. Pinterest.com.au/lifestyleanytime See below for display name which is different to your user name.
If you have a personal account you would like to convert to a business profile, log into your Pinterest account and go to pinterest.com/business/convert/
How to optimize your Pinterest account for your business.
If you have just created your Pinterest account follow the steps to edit your profile. However, if you have already created your profile, access to edit via settings. You can access setting by clicking the three dots in the top right corner … and click on edit settings.
On mobile, the edit profile setting is accessed also via the top right corner via the cog ⬡.
Key points about edit setting.
Photo – The photo you use should be the one that is recognized by your business and used for your blog and across all your social sharing accounts. This maybe your face or your logo depending on your business brand. This is for consistency.
Display Name – In your display name brand yourself and your business using keywords. This will help you display in results under people in the search feed. You need to be creative as for your display name, there is a limit of 30 characters. Your display name is what shows on your profile.
I blog on goal setting and have these keywords written into my display name.
Your display name can be changed if your business focus changes or you go through rebranding.
Username vs display name.
Username can be your business name, personal name or what you choose that represents your business. It is the name shown in your URL.
Your display name can be your business name or words you choose to describe your blog, services or business. It is the name shown on your Pinterest profile.
About your profile.
Write a concise business description in your about your profile section. Use keywords to describe your blog and your services. Do not fill the space with only keywords, integrate the keywords into sentences.
Your Pinterest bio has space for 160 characters or less.
Tip: If you have a short elevator pitch this would be a good place to write it.
An example of a branded Pinterest profile name is Elena Peters she blogs on Midlife and has this in her Pinterest name. If you search midlife in the search area for people, Elena’s image would show in the top results.
An example of a successful Pinterest profile that has gone through rebranding is Jennifer Maker’s profile.
On the two profiles look at the URL, the display name, the website address and the about your profile section.
Tip: Do some research on Pinterest on people in your niche. Research is great for ideas but not for copying.
The important basics in account settings.
The account basics show your email address that you use for this account. This is important as you require your email address to log into your account and also to share when requesting to be added to Pinterest group boards.
As you go through account settings decide on the ways you wish to log into your Pinterest business account. Also, decide if you would like to activate Pinterest messaging. It is worth noting that Pinterest messaging is not like FaceBook and Instagram. It is not a social media platform.
From my experience messaging is used to connect with other Pinterest account holders to join group boards or ask one or two questions, not as a chatting, ‘get to know me’ tool.
Link to your website.
Under claim, you can claim your website. With a business account when you claim your website you get access to analytics and your URL is linked to the pins shared directly from your website. This is the website address that shows on your home page profile.
While in the claimed area also claim your other accounts. When you claim your accounts the pins pinned from those accounts are allocated to the URL of the claimed account. For example; if you claim your Instagram account and an Instagram post is saved from your Instagram feed to Pinterest, this pin will link to your Instagram profile.
The accounts you can claim are Instagram, Etsy and YouTube.
Tip: Even if you don’t plan to use your business on other platforms or social media sites, claim your blog name or business handle for the future. You may one day decide to use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or another platform your audience is on. Claiming your business name now secures it for the future.
A little about rich pins.
Be sure to claim your website prior to setting up rich pins. Read Louise Myers article on rich pins as it steps you through the setup. Rich pins stand out in the Pinterest feed. You also can write more about your Pin using more keywords. The great benefit with rich pins is you write about the pin that is shared from your site.
By claiming your website, social accounts and enabling rich pins, you improve your business branding. This is because your Pinterest name and profile image will link to the Pins saved from your blog, website or social media accounts.
How to check if your Pinterest profile is enabled for search engine results.
One thing to check as you set up your Pinterest profile is the tick box that enables you to be found in search engine results. If you would like your profile to appear in search engine results from Google, Bing and Yahoo ensure you have not ticked this box in privacy settings.
Learn also how to optimize your blogs for search engine results using google as your SEO tool.
Part one of set up your Pinterest profile is complete. The next step is to create and optimize Pinterest boards for your account and get your Pinterest profile checklist.
Thanks for these tips Angie! I definitely need some work wrapping my head around pinterest. Will be checking out the other posts as well. All the best to you!
Thanks, Joy, in this post on setting up Pinterest boards I explain an easy way to get your head around Pinterest. https://lifestyleanytime.com.au/simple-guide-on-how-to-create-pinterest-boards/ All the best to you too.