Pinterest: How to Make your Images Pinworthy

Back in February, we did a post introducing you to Pinterest and showed a few brands that were very early adopters to this shiny new social sharing site.

Early studies have shown that the majority of pins on the site are re-pins. A re-pin is when you find something you like that a friend pinned to one of their boards and you decide you would like it pinned to your boards. This information is very important as it shows how viral items in the Pinterest community truly are. Because of this overwhelming revelation, it is more important than ever for brands and marketers to ensure that images and photographs are “pinworthy.” If you would like to get your business on Pinterest, here are some tips to help make your content more “pinnable” while helping boost your search engine rankings in the process.

1. Create great images.

As we all know, valuable content is key in the online world. Since Pinterest is about images, your content needs to be valuable through photos. Make visual presentations of your information that will help build engagement. During your regular editorial calendar discussions, include Pinterest from now on.

2. Put your source link in your description.

The more links you build that point people back to your website, the better your search results will be. Currently, links in descriptions are followable links by search spiders, which means that search engines would follow these and give the URL weight. Make sure to integrate with your SEO team to take advantage of these types of link-building opportunities.

3. Put your logo on your images.

Just in case the image is disconnected from the source link, make sure to include your logo on your image. Use your brand colors and font. Make sure your overall brand that is represented on other marketing materials is represented in the same way on your Pinterest images to ensure integrated presentation.

4. Check the copyright on the image.

If you find content on other sites that you don’t own and you choose to Pin it on your own virtual Pinboard, the person who owns that image might have something to say about you posting their images without permission. As a business, it is important to treat your Pinterest Pinboard like you would treat your company website. If your legal department would not want you posting something on the website, you probably shouldn’t post it on the company Pinboard. Following this general rule could save you from receiving letters that could turn into lawsuits and monetary penalties.

5. Have a “Pin It” Button on your website.

Remind people that they can pin your images by giving them easy access to do so. Doing this will automatically give a link back to your site, helping with your link-building strategy.

6. Write enticing descriptions.

Not only should your image be considered great content, but you should also have great content to describe your pin. As mentioned previously, the majority of the pins on Pinterest are re-pinned images that generally keep the same description. Make sure that it isn’t too long and it entices users. Have the description prepopulate with your image when someone clicks your “Pin It” button. Having the description prepopulate also allows for integration with your SEO keyword strategy. Personal Pinterest profiles and private Pinterest boards are now indexed by Google. If you use these keyword phrases on your description, it will increase the chances of them appearing a search.

Help your content go viral online with Pinterest. How you have included Pinterest into your overall social marketing plan? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Bonus Tip: If you need a little boost on your SEO rankings, use Pinterest boards as a landing page on your paid search campaigns. The activity from Pinterest will increase the referral traffic to your site.