The quick-start guide to getting found by your dream clients on Pinterest.

OK, by now you know that Pinterest is actually a search engine.

That’s what makes it such an incredibly powerful way to reach our dream clients!

And just as you’d optimize your website content for Google search… Pinterest also has its very own search rules that you’ll need to follow to help get your content in front of the right people.

In Part 3 of our Pinterest blog series, we’re building upon the principles + resources we’ve already covered, by focusing on the key strategies that’ll help boost your Pinterest SEO!

And if you’re just joining us, be sure to catch up on the first 2 posts in this series:

• Pinterest for business?!: An intro to the platform + how it can help your health/wellness biz
• Pinterest resource roundup: A step-by-step guide to getting your profile up + running

(Please note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of these links + decide to make a purchase I may receive a small paid commission. That said, I’ll only ever share with you resources that I personally use (+ love!).)  

Ready to dive back in?

Read on for your quick-start guide to Pinterest SEO: 

1) Optimize your account.

If you haven’t already, complete the items in Steps 2 & 4 of this post.

Basically, you want to make sure your Pinterest account:

• is a business (vs. a personal) account
• is connected to a verified website
• has rich pins enabled

2) Do your keyword research.

One of the best parts of Pinterest is how easy it makes it for you to conduct keyword research right there on the platform!

Here’s how:

1. Type one of the keywords you want to target (i.e., the words your dream client is likely to be searching for online) into the Pinterest search bar. (For example, “plant-based“.)
2. When you hit enter, Pinterest will display a row of colorful buttons with terms designed to refine the keyword (“plant-based”) you entered (e.g., recipes, quotes lifestyle, diet). Note that Pinterest displays these in order of popularity, with the more popular search terms displayed on the left and least popular on the right.
3. Click on any of these refined search terms (e.g., recipes) and it’ll reload the page with your full refined search term (e.g., plant-based recipes) displayed in the search bar. Now, if you click into the search bar (as though you’re going to type something), a drop-down box will appear with even further refined terms (e.g., plant-based recipes for beginners, plant-based recipes for breakfast). These are the kinds of specific terms associated with your keyword, that your dream clients are likely using on Pinterest!
4. Take note of any refined search terms that catch your eye, and then repeat this process for as many relevant keywords as you can think of. 
5. Now you have a solid list of keywords to refer back to as you’re constructing your profile!

3) Create a keyword-rich profile.

Recall from this post that your Pinterest profile consists of the following components:

• account name
• high-quality photo
• bio
• link
• location

To make the most of Pinterest SEO, you’ll want to make sure your profile is constructed around the most relevant keywords from your list. And other than the photo… every piece of your profile can be optimized for Pinterest SEO!

Let’s take this section by section:

Account name

Similar to how Instagram search operates, your account name on Pinterest is searchable information.

This means that unless your dream client is specifically searching for your name or business, you’ll definitely want to make use of some keywords.

This doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s simply a matter of choosing the most relevant keyword(s) from your list, and incorporate them into your account name. For example, any of these might fit our example above:

• Jane Rogers | Plant-based Health Coach
• Jane Rogers | Plant-based Recipes
• Jane Rogers | Beginner Plant-based Recipes
• Jane Rogers | Health Coach | Plant-based Recipes 

Play around with different options, and remember you can always go back and tweak it later!

Bio

You know all that effort you’ve put into getting clear on who you’re trying to reach?

Here’s where you spell it out in a carefully-crafted sentence or two.

I recommend following this basic formula:

DREAM AUDIENCE + BENEFIT + FEATURE 

In other words:

• WHO do you help?
• What’s the BENEFIT they’ll experience from working with you?
• And what’s the FEATURE of your offering that’ll make that benefit possible.

A few examples:

I help health + wellness professionals connect with their dream clients through the power of their own words.

I help stressed-out single dads experience more fun + connection with their kids by building their emotional intelligence.

I help international students enjoy more flexibility + freedom, one digital yoga class at a time.

And if you want to go that extra step (and you have character space to allow it), you can even add in a brief plug for a freebie to entice visitors to join your email list.

e.g., Get started at: {link to your sign-up page}.

Link

You get 1 clickable link in your Pinterest profile, so make sure you’re putting yours to good use!

I suggest linking either to your home page or to an email opt-in page.

But here’s the thing:

Lots of people are tempted to shorten that link (using a service like Bitly).

Don’t.

Here’s why: Your website itself is a keyword that can help your profile show up in search on the platform! Don’t miss out on the extra boost to your Pinterest SEO by removing that information.

Location

Why include your location on your profile?

Because it can only help you!

If your dream clients are scattered all around the globe, listing your location won’t put you at any sort of disadvantage. It may even help differentiate you in their minds (“Oh, yeah… she’s that plant-based health coach from Idaho. With all the dairy-free mashed potato recipes!”)

And if your dream clients are located within a targeted geographic area (i.e., if you see clients/patients in person or sell products at a physical location), then including your location is a MUST. You’ll also want to seize every opportunity to embed your location throughout your boards and pins.

More on that in a minute…

4) Choose + name your boards wisely.

Quick recap from our last post:

Your boards are the bookshelves of your Pinterest profile.

They help display all your helpful content for your dream client in a clear, organized, and accessible fashion.

I suggest creating the following boards to start out:

• 1 board dedicated exclusively to content from your site. Label this something obvious (e.g., the name of your site/business, Best Of, Top Posts, etc.)
• 5 boards on topics of interest to your dream client. These should include topics you regularly create content about + related topics. For instance, if you’re a plant-based health coach, your boards might include: Plant-based health benefits, Plant-based cooking tips, Plant-based recipes, Plant-based nutrition 101, and Kitchen design inspiration.

When naming your boards, choose one of your top keywords (e.g., plant-based recipes).

NOTE: If you’re targeting dream clients in a specific geographic area, include this information in your board name (e.g., Plant-Based Recipes Boise or Boise Plant-Based Recipes).

Then, in the board description field, include as many refined/associated keywords from your research list (Step 2, above). You’ll have up to 500 characters. On a board titled Plant-based recipes, the board description might include terms like plant-based recipes for beginners, plant-based recipes for breakfast, plant-based recipes easy, plant-based recipes cheap, plant-based recipes dessert, and so on.

5) Optimize your original content for search.

Similar to your board titles and descriptions, every pin you create on the platform should be optimized for Pinterest SEO.

This starts with the content on your website!

A few easy ways to do this:

1. Ensure your website is claimed + you have rich pins enabled. (Have I said this enough yet…?)
2. If you’re using a WordPress website, download + activate the Yoast SEO plugin. This user-friendly tool will work together with other features of your website to help you optimize it for both Google + Pinterest SEO.
3. For even more targeted help with Pinterest SEO, you can download + activate the Social Warfare plugin. This will help you optimize images and other content on your website + blog, so it plays nicely with the Pinterest platform. 

6) Optimize each pin for search.

If you’ve got rich pins enabled (see Step 1, above) + you’ve completed Step 5 (above), then when you enter the destination link in a new pin, Pinterest should automatically import several pieces of information to your pin, including:

• title
• content description 

In addition to these, you’ll want to add two more key elements to each pin you create:

Keyword-rich pin description

I recommend writing your pin description from the perspective of an enthusiastic reviewer. (Think 5-star Amazon or Yelp reviews!) Your goal is not to replicate the content description, but to generate excitement about this blog post, video, etc. + preview what readers can expect to learn from it.

For example:

Eager to incorporate more plant-based recipes into your family’s routine? In this practical + idea-packed post, you’ll learn my top 20 tasty, easy, and healthy plant-based breakfast recipes, plant-based lunch recipes, and plant-based dessert recipes. You won’t believe how much fun plant-based cooking can be! 

Hashtags

Next, you should add 2-3 targeted hashtags.

These should align with the keyword(s) you’re targeting in this pin + piece of content. You simply type them right after the pin description:

Eager to incorporate more plant-based recipes into your family’s routine? In this practical + idea-packed post, you’ll learn my top 20 tasty, easy, and healthy plant-based breakfast recipes, plant-based lunch recipes, and plant-based dessert recipes. You won’t believe how much fun plant-based cooking can be! #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedcooking #plantbasedbreakfast

7) Save to the most relevant board.

Once you’ve optimized your profile, content, boards, and pins for Pinterest SEO, it’s time to start pinning them!

Here’s a tip I learned from Pinterest expert, Anastasia Blogger:

For each pin you create, be sure to pin it to the most relevant board FIRST.

For example:

If you create a pin linking to a blog post called Top 20 Plant-Based Recipes, you’d first want to pin it to your board titled Plant-Based Recipes… not your board titled Kitchen Decor Inspiration.

Not only will this help your dream client discover valuable content more easily, but it’ll also provide Pinterest with important context for each pin you create. The more context Pinterest has for each of your pins, the more “intelligently” it will decide which users on the platform to show it to!

So logical, right? So helpful!

Yay, Pinterest!!

Let's take action!

Here's your action step for today:

• Figure out where you are in the steps above. Then, jump in + knock off the next step in the list!
  

And be sure to check out Part 1 + Part 2 of this series for more tips to help you start using Pinterest for business! 

Cheering you on!