Optimize Your Account for Pinterest Growth – FREE Download

Since you’ve been using your Pinterest account for a while, you probably have a few boards that are gathering digital cobwebs. Maybe it’s your “Halloween 2013” board or that regrettable “I <3 the Jersey Shore” board – those boards that just aren’t getting the same love they used to. Well, now is the time to dust off and make sure your account is optimized for growth with our optimization checklist.

Pinterest Growth Checklist

Account Fundamentals
❑ Check that your bio is current and uses relevant keywords for your niche.
❑ Confirm that your website verifies your account (Click the gear icon on your profile, “Edit Settings”)
❑ Update your account photo to stay on brand
❑ Link your account to your other social media accounts (Click the gear icon on your profile, “Edit Settings”)
❑ Make sure boards you have in the top two rows of your profile are in line with your brand and niche

Growth Prep (Repeat for Each Board)
Click edit on each board and:
❑ Improve the board name if you can. Skip a clever name and be descriptive, use keywords instead. Make sure the name explains what the board contains to increase its likelihood of appearing in search and in front of the right audience.
❑ Improve the board description if you can. Use as much descriptive, keyword rich text as possible.
❑ Make sure the board has been assigned a category
❑ Change up the cover image so your profile stays looking fresh!

Account Health Check
❑ Which three boards have the fewest pins? Remove any that are off brand, outdated or stale – or make a note to give them some more love!
❑ Which boards have the most pins? Consider splitting them into multiple boards. For example, a recipe board could become three different boards: Appetizer Recipes, Work Week Recipes, and Desert Recipes.
❑ Are you on any shared boards? Search out shared boards in your niche, or start your own by inviting influencers in your niche to pin with you. (Remember, you should know someone before you invite them. Don’t cold call on Pinterest!)
❑ Re-arrange your boards overall position to keep your most important boards close to the top of your profile and to keep your account looking fresh.
❑ Install the Tailwind Publisher browser extension for Chrome or the official Pinterest bookmarklet, so you’re ready to pin when you’re out in the wild.

And just like that, your account is primed to attract a whole new set of fans. What are you waiting for? Get pinning!

Want more tips? Click here to download our Pinterest Growth Checklist to make sure your pinning perfect!

How to pin your work to Pinterest (without feeling weird about it!)

Sharing your work can feel weird or self-conscious, but it doesn’t have to! Pinterest can be a great way to get started for makers and image savvy creatives.

There is no one right way to pin, so do what feels right for you. To help you get started this post will answer some of the frequently asked questions about sharing your own work on Pinterest.

How to pin your work to Pinterest (without feeling weird about it!)

Start with the basics

Everything you do for other people’s pins applies to your work too. That means you’re already experienced at this and are already on your way to having great looking content on Pinterest.

The most important part is to create detailed descriptions that are keyword rich. What works best on many accounts are descriptions that capture what the pin will help others with. Aim to use short phrases that are conversational instead of technical. If you’re stuck, think about what you would say if you had to ask a friend to search for it online.

Make sure you carry put that inspiration into image creation if you’re making new images that lead to your finished work.

Put descriptions to work for you

Pin descriptions can be short or long, but a happy medium of about 300 characters seems to perform well. If you aim for longer than a tweet, or how you might describe the pin in a blog comment, you’ll be on track.

You can also put descriptions to work by crafting ones that other people will prefer to keep rather. Since many users don’t change pin descriptions at all, aim to use that and make sure yours don’t force users to edit.

Describe what you’re pinning and list your name as the creator instead of describing the work as yours. For example, “My newest website design” could be easier for others to pin as “Minimalist one-page responsive WordPress theme by _____”

Since you have more control over your own work, you can also name your pinnable image intentionally. Choose a name that uses keywords that describe the pin and what it links to. While Pinterest is visual to use, it’s still a search engine and it will considers the image file name as a source for keywords.

Mix and match your work, or keep it seperate

Some brands have dedicated Pinterest boards for their products. If you like your work all in one place, then more power to you, but you don’t have to keep your original pins seperate from the rest of what you share.

For small brands and individuals it’s worth testing to see how content performs on it’s own board, and with other similar content. This is worth checking because some users follow specific boards instead of entire accounts. If you have more people following your boards than your account, readers could miss your work if it’s seperate.

No matter what your approach, keep trying new things, mixing it up and seeing what works for you.

Let’s pin it again

When you’ve been on Pinterest for a while, you’ll start seeing a message when you’ve pinned something already. What many users don’t realise is the message is just a notice – it’s not a warning that you’re doing something wrong.

It’s fine to post things many times to the same board, or to other boards on your account. As a creator that can be a big relief! If you pin to group boards and have been feeling limited about how to do that, please consider this your permission slip to re-pin your work.

The key to pinning to the same board again is timing. Space out the content you’re re-pinning so your followers get a mix of content, using Tailwind’s interval pinning and shuffle queue options.

Remember, there is no one right way to pin so you get to experiment and find out what works for you. Keep checking your results and trying new things and you’ll be farther than you thought you could be in no time.