7 Ways to Optimize Your Pinterest Profile
Does your business have aΒ Pinterest profile?Β Many business owners focus too much attention on Facebook and Instagram and ignore the potential of niche platforms that can help them reach their target audiences.
Pinterest is estimated to be the 4th largest social network is the US. In many ways it’s not a social network at all, but rather a visual search engine that holds an infinite number of images. The social aspect of it is the option to follow profiles and share pictures posted by others. Pinterest’s “smart feed,” however, includes not only posts from accounts that you follow but those that are similar in visual and description to those you’ve already interacted with. Unlike Facebook, where people browse content from profiles they follow, Pinterest users are looking for inspiration, so they are far more like to explore a brand they’ve never heard of before.
It’s important to note that Pinterest’s most significant advantage for businesses is the fact that every pin includes a link back to a website. That makes it an excellent channel for bringing traffic intoΒ your e-commerce store or blog.
Pinterest is known for a predominantly female user-base and a focus on “female” subjects, like interior design, fashion, food, DIY, crafts, event planning, etc. While this may be true to some extent, Pinterest is a growing platform that covers a wide variety of topics.Β Every brand withΒ sharp product imagesΒ or the ability toΒ create compelling visual contentΒ will benefit from the Pinterest activity.Β
Pinterest is especially popular among US-based Millenials, who use it as a virtual inspiration board and a channel for window shopping. Women do seem to connect more to the visual aspect of the platform, making up the majority of users.Β But with numbers of users on the rise across the world, almost every business should consider adding a Pinterest presence to itsΒ marketing strategy.
Because Pinterest is primarily a search engine, keywords are essential here. Before opening your profile, map out the relevant keywords for your business. It’s easy to do with Pinterest’s internal search tool. Start by typing in the defining words for your product or service and analyze the results. The terms suggested in the top bar above the results are expressions worth including in your descriptions. Don’t overuse keywords and remember toΒ write for humans, but do consistently sprinkle them into all your texts.
Creating a Pinterest profile is very simple and doesn’t require any special skills. But to make sure you’re maximizing its potential as aΒ source of website traffic, you’ll want to make sure you did it right.
Here are seven ways to optimize your Pinterest profile:
- Choose a good profile photo.Β Your logo or a clear picture of you that will be recognizable even when very small will work.
- Enter a name for your profile. You have 65 characters here, so don’t just limit yourself to the official name of your business. Take the opportunity to add a keyword or two that will clarify what you do.
- Write a descriptionΒ that will explain what you’re about and what you offer to the world. Make sure it also contains your most important keywords.
- Set your featured boards. These are the albums (boards in Pinterest lingo) that will be showcased at the top of your profile, so choose the collections that include your most relevant content.
- Make a cover.Β Unlike Facebook, you can not choose an image, and the cover is an automatically created collage from a board of your choice. If you want a signature look, try placing just one pin in the album you choose and see it multiplied in the cover image.
- Connect your Pinterest profile with your websiteΒ using the “Claim” setting. The name of your website will then appear as a clickable link under your profile picture. You will also be able to access data about traffic from Pinterest to your site in Pinterest Analytics
- Try to connect your profile to other social media channels.Β Pinterest is slowly unrolling the option of connecting your Instagram, Youtube, or Etsy. With this feature, you’ll be able to automatically create a Pinterest board with all your previously published images. And if that’s not exciting enough, every time you post, the image will be added to a Pinterest board of your choice.Β
Another advantage of Pinterest we haven’t mentioned yet is its lack of a linear newsfeed. That means that the time of posting and posting frequency is less important here. Although it’s importantΒ to stay active on the platform and interact with others, you are less constrained by the pressure toΒ publish new content. Accordingly, the content you have published remains fresh longer and doesn’t disappear down the feed. For small businesses, this presents an opportunity toΒ build a successful content marketing strategy.