7 Powerful Pinterest Tips

7 Powerful Pinterest Tips you can't afford to NOT implement! TablerPartyOfTwo.com

In my recent blog post Tips and Takeaways from Social Media Marketing World ’15, I shared the following fact that really has me rethinking the lack of priority I place on Pinterest marketing in my social media mix.

Pinterest Tips

Don’t get me wrong, I pin almost every blog post I write, and I try to create imagery that is pinnable. But in general, I spend much less time focusing on Pinterest than I do on Facebook and Twitter. Yet Pinterest is now often used instead of Google by those searching for information! Given Pinterest’s popularity and the shelf life of a single pin compared to a status update or tweet, I am committed to giving Pinterest marketing just as much — or more — time as I give other social media channels. And if I’m going to make Pinterest a priority, I want to invest my time in Pinterest marketing with the smartest, most results-oriented methods possible! Today I’m sharing seven Pinterest tips I’ve used in the past and a few I’ve just recently discovered.

Pinterest Tips

1. Create images at the optimal size for Pinterest.
Pins in the feed have a width of 238 pixels; the height is adjusted based on the size of the image. The maximum expanded width of a pin is 735 pixels (again, the height adjusts depending on the size of the image), so it makes sense to build images that take full advantage of that maximum width. To assure my pins stand out as much as possible, I create all my images at a width of 735 pixels.

Pinterest Tips2. Take advantage of Pinterest real estate.
Long, skinny images get re-pinned much more often than short or square images. It’s easy to understand why. Take a look at your home feed and notice which pins stand out the most. Typically the larger (i.e., longer) pins catch your eye. Why create short or square pins when Pinterest will gladly give you two or three times as much space on the home feed? I create all my pins longer, and I also try to include at least one vertical image in every blog post. 

Pinterest Tips

3. Include descriptive headlines on your images.
Take a look at your home feed. Which pins grab your attention? On my home feed, the pins that peak my interest are those that are nicely designed with a descriptive headline. Keep in mind that pinners frequently change the words in the description. The descriptive headline in the image obviously can’t be changed, so Pinterest viewers will always know what your pin is about.

Pinterest Tips

4. Brand all images on your blog or website. 
Almost from the beginning, I have been branding my “best” images (the ones I think others might pin) in each blog post. I usually didn’t bother to brand the images I thought people wouldn’t pin. But I recently discovered how to audit which images have been shared from my blog, and guess what? I haven’t always guessed right when it comes to what is being pinned organically. To do a quick check, type https://www.pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com into your browser. This will show you what pins are being organically shared from your website. By doing this, I discovered that one of my most-pinned images, Amp Up Your Instagram, was not branded (simply an oversight in this particular instance).

ampup.jpg

From now on, I plan on branding every image! Here’s the bottom line: Pinning your own content to Pinterest is great, but magic happens when others organically share it!

Pinterest Tips5. Properly label the images on your blog/website. 
Take a few extra minutes to label every image you publish (alt text in WordPress) with information pertinent to a pin. As a result, this information will appear in the description of your pin. The best (albeit time-consuming) practice is to include your URL, blog title and short description within the image name. This description will appear as keywords below your image, thus making your pins easily searchable. Once again, I discovered my mishaps in this area when I did my audit.

Screen Shot2.jpg

 The Punch 1 and Punch 3 labels certainly aren’t doing me any favors! I’ll  going in to fix those so that future pins will be labeled properly.

Pinterest Tips6. Link your pins back to your website.
The obvious reason to do this is to drive traffic to your website. But there are other reasons to make sure you don’t skip this step. First, providing a link to a pin’s original source automatically makes the pin more valued and more pin-worthy. In addition, readers usually go to the source because they want more detailed information. Make it easy for them! 

Pinterest Tips

7. Include calls-to-action in your pins. 
Everyone knows that a basic rule of advertising is to incorporate a call-to-action. Why should it be different on Pinterest? Including click here, comment below or repin this in every caption and/or image has the potential significantly increase traffic to your site. 

Here is the image I created for this post:

7 Powerful Pinterest Tips you should implement today! TablerPartyofTwo.com

 I used PicMonkey to create this image as I do with everything I pin.

Start putting these tips to action today!
Or, pick one tip to begin implementing each week. Then sit back and watch Pinterest devotees pin your content! Do you have other powerful Pinterest tips? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

xoxo,

Andrea Tabler | TablerPartyofTwo.com
 
 

Andrea Tabler

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Comments

  1. WOW! I checked to see how many of my quilting pictures were on pinterest…there were more then I ever imagined! I have no clue how to make my pictures have that lovely pinterest button pop up on them, but then again, I can’t figure out how to put buttons on my blog either! Can you give us more information on how to achieve 4, 5, 6 and 7? Even just links to a site that will walk me through it would be awesome! This is a great post – thank you!!!!!

    • Hi Susan,
      I’d love to provide you with more info! Can you please email me at andrea @ tabler party of two dot com? I’d love to get back to you next week!

  2. Stephanie Keeping says:

    These are great tips! I love pinterest!

  3. Wow! Great tips, I will be checking my Pinterest pics, pinning this to keep these tips at hand. I need to spend more time working on this! Thanks.

  4. This is awesome, thank you! I’m definitely using your advice on the size of Pinterest images; I never even stopped to think about that!

  5. Thanks for the great tips! I have been slowly updating my old pictures and improving on new ones. I have been using pic monkey to make them longer, but I wasn’t sure in the width. Thanks for that info! When I get home I will have to check to see what of my stuff has been pinned, not letting me check from my phone. Pinned, tweeted, googled and FB. Thanks again!

  6. Great tips to optimize Pinterest. Thanks for sharing them.

  7. Thanks for the tips! Though I pin, it actually only comes in third as a traffic source for me…which boggles me because I know other sites claim Pinterest is a MAJOR source of traffic. Definitely going to incorporate these.
    Jennie
    p.s. I found your post via “Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party”
    p.p.s. Going to go see your Pinterest page!

    • Thanks for commenting, Jennie! Pinterest is still way behind FB for traffic sources for me, but that’s because I nurture FB more. But as I spend time on Pinterest, I definitely get dividends!

  8. The call to action is my weakness. Thanks for posting. Hello from Busy Monday.

    • I know… that can be hard. But on Pinterest, your CTA can always be: repin this, click image for recipe, etc. Makes it easier!

  9. Great tips – thanks for sharing. I pinned (your long pin 🙂 ) as this is full of tips I need to remember. Interesting stat about how long a post stays alive on pinterest!
    PS-Stopping over from Worthwhile Wednesday

  10. One of my short-term goals it to improve my use of Pinterest. This post offers me some concrete ways to do just that. It may be the most helpful article I come across today – thank you!
    When you suggest linking a pin to our blog, I am curious. Does this happen automatically with the floating pin button I installed – or how should this be done? Thanks.

    • Thanks for commenting! Yes, when you pin a floating pin button, it does include the source. But I usually create an image that is just for pinterest, and it’s not in my blog post. So I pin it directly into pinterest and must then add a url source.

  11. Great tips. I posted and pinned.

  12. Thank you for posting this- I have a lot to learn and this is certainly helpful!

    I stopped by from Wonderful Wednesday.

  13. SO how long should I make the pictures??

    • I make my 2,000-3,000 pixels long. If you get too long, then they have to click to see the whole thing.

  14. Wow what great information! I have to put this into practice right now. Thanks for sharing this information.

  15. Great tips! I will definitely be looking into this for my pinterest account, I am pinning (!) for future reference! I am visiting from Handmade Hangout today.

  16. Hi there! Love this post! Great images and great information here 🙂 Fantastic job! Really learned alot!

  17. This is really great- thank you for sharing. I am in the middle of a major Pinterest learning curve, so you could not have shared this at a more perfect time.

    I stopped by from Lovely Little Link Party.

  18. These are some great tips! Thanks for sharing! I am always looking for ways to improve my impact on Pinterest. I will have to give these tips a try. 🙂

  19. What wonderful advice. I especially needed 4 and 5! I saw this on the Grace and Good Eats link party. I’m so glad you shared. I’m pinning this so that I can refer back to it — and to share with my blogging friends, too.

  20. Hello gorgeous! Thank you for bringing such great things to our party. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm.. Lou Lou Girls

  21. Thanks for these very helpful tips. I plan on implementing them as soon as I can. By the way I’m stopping by from Duck N’ a Row, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

    Melissa

  22. Just what I needed to use Pinterest properly. This post was a blessing. I pinned all the images of course!

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