How to Up Your Pinterest Game in 6 Easy Steps

Are you ready to jump start your business or blog with Pinterest?  Pinterest is not just a mobile platform for creating your dream wedding or home.  This mobile platform has become a huge resource for driving traffic to your website and making sales.  Pinterest is a free service that has become one of the easiest ways to build relationships with potential customers.  Get ready to maximize your Pinterest power as I share the six top things you can be doing right now to boost your posting game!

Set Goals

First, it’s time to set some goals. These are different for everybody.  It is a good idea to have some broad goals to set you down the right path.  Some goals you might consider are:

1. Strengthen your brand's identity

2. Set yourself up as the best in your field or sector.

3. Get people over to your website so they can engage with products and services.

4. To share content outside of your other social media feeds.

Brilliant Boards

One of the main reasons people use Pinterest is for organizing interests and ideas into boards.  These boards are reminiscent of push pin cork boards which were a  great way to collect ideas and compile inspiration for projects, designs, and dreams.  The best way to start is by using the 5 + 5 + 2 board method.

Start by making 5 boards that your audience loves.  This could be your core business products or the most important ideas you want to share.  The next 5 boards are the ones that your audience has a hard time finding.  Remember to use easy keywords when describing your boards.  This helps put the boards front and center in the search bar (more on this later). The last to 2 boards should be centered about your company.  This could be goodwill outside the company participates in or employee pictures.  Help people see the real you.  Pinterest is all about relatability!

Pin Consistently

The most important thing you can do today is to start posting consistently 3 to 5 times a day.  Most successful Pinterest accounts succeed by keeping content streaming throughout the day.  Get your posts ready before each posting day and have a schedule.  Spread out each post during the day so that your content is available throughout the day hitting all your potential viewers.  There are a couple of services that can help with scheduling.  Some of those include “Sproutsocial” and “Tailwind”.

Properly sized images

So now that we have scheduling and boards ready to go it’s time to start building pins.  Properly sized images are very important so that your content stands out in the search feed.  Although Pinterest is a social media platform it is based on the impact of visuals.  The best aspect ratio for Pinterest currently is 2:3 which could be 600 pixels wide by 1260 pixels tall or 600 pixels by 1500 pixels tall.  It is important to note that taller photos work better than wider photos.  Pinterest may cut off your content if it does not fit their image ratios so its best to make a template or use a template from an external site like Canva.  The most popular content creation program is Adobe Photoshop.

Keyword Specific Descriptions and “Rich Pins”

Make sure when titling a Pin to use phrases that can be easily searched.  Try using different words to net different readers. Get precise control over which searches your Pin appears in by using phrases or exact matches to narrow in on specific viewers. Use a broad term to reach a wider audience.

Rich Pins is a feature on business Pinterest accounts that allows you to add more information to your pins.  These Rich Pins can help drive traffic and engage followers. There are four types of Rich Pins: Product Pins, Recipe Pins, Movie Pins, and Article Pins.  Bait the reader with a great title and image then watch as they click the post and start reading the good stuff on your website.  These Pins also include your brand's logo.

Monitor Progress and Utilize Analytics

So now you have pinned your heart out and it is very important to monitor your progress.  I highly recommend changing to a business account so you can track your analytics.  This will help you focus on what's trending over time and help change your Pinterest strategy.

Some of the main analytics to look at are Impressions, Repins, and Clicks.  Impressions are the number of times a Pin showed up in the home feed, search results and category feeds.  Repins are the number of times someone saved your pin to one of their boards.  Repins are how Pins are shared across Pinterest.  Clicks are the number of clicks to your website from Pins on your profile.  Pinterest allows you to check the Top pins and boards from the Last 30 days.  This includes the Pins with the highest impressions, Repins and clicks.  Another great indicator is the top posts of all time.  These include your most “Repinned Post”, “Power pins” and “Best in Search”.

Congrats You're a Pinterest Master!

Well, that was easy right?   Now you know how to Pin like a pro.  These basics are sure to jumpstart traffic to your content and will help you meet your goals.  Remember that Pinterest is free and has a huge reach!  Don't hesitate to start pinning right now and show the world that your Pinterest game is strong.