Using Pinterest to Improve SEO

Social and digital marketing is constantly evolving. Depending on the type of business you have, Pinterest may be an overlooked resource in your tool box. Here is a list of commonly asked questions (and answers!) when it comes to understanding the relationship between Pinterest, your business, and SEO.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is an incredibly popular social media platform that allows users to create digital corkboards or vision boards. It is highly visual, categorically organized, and encourages exploration. Users can create different boards to “pin” their interests to and each board can be tailored to a specific category. These boards can then be shared with friends and family members, allowing them to explore the user‘s interests in greater detail. Pinterest has become a great way for people to express themselves and share their passions with others.

Does Pinterest affect Google rankings?

Pinterest can help people discover your products and visit your website. A useful Pin can continue sending visitors to the page it links to, and Pinterest pages can also appear in search results.

However, saves and repins do not guarantee higher Google rankings for your website. Treat Pinterest as a discovery and referral channel, and measure the visits, enquiries, and sales it produces. Keep improving the useful content and technical health of the destination page as part of your SEO strategy.

Does Pinterest convert traffic?

Pinterest can and does convert visitors into customers, if you have the right mindset and set-up – especially if you follow a CPA marketing model (cost-per acquisition). You won’t have a high conversion rate if you don’t make it easy for your potential customers to access the product and buy it online. With each hoop a user jumps through, the less likely they are to become a customer because you’ve made it difficult for them to be one.

Examples of things that can negatively impact your Pinterest conversion rate:

• Links on pins are leading to the wrong product
• Links on pins are broken (i.e. lead to nothing)
• Product images on your pins don’t match up with images on your website

How do I optimize my Pinterest?

There are several ways to optimize your Pinterest account. Here are a few strategies to get you started.

Step 1: Make it helpful People use Pinterest for many different reasons. However, most of them are trying to solve a problem in an entertaining way. For example, users are searching for the best haircuts for their face shape, or gift ideas for their grandmothers. They have a problem, inquiry, or task, and they need to find a solution. This is where your Pinterest pins come into play.

Think about the audience you are trying to reach, their problems or tasks, and how your product or business fits into that equation. By having helpful pins, i.e. helpful solutions, you’re one step closer to having a Pinterest account that boosts your business.

Step 2: Make it attractive (and keep it accurate) Pinterest is a very visual environment. While pins have a longer shelf life compared to Facebook posts or tweets, you have a limited amount of time to catch someone’s attention. By creating visually attractive and stunning pins, you’re increasing your chances of generating likes and repins.

People want to look at their own Pinterest boards and see they’ve curated something beautiful. If your pins can add value in this way, you’ve upped your chances of converting a user into a customer. However, beware of creating inaccurate pins. Make sure your images and visuals stay accurate to your product or service, and also are consistent with your brand. Building trust with your users takes time. Inaccurate portrayals of your business can prevent you from building trust, or break the trust you’ve already built.

Step 3: Use the right words You can (and should) include words on your pins to describe them. Because Pinterest is a search engine, a good rule of thumb is to treat your pin descriptions like they’re titles of a website. Think about your target audience or who you want to reach and research trending keywords that are relevant to this audience and to your business. Try to keep the stronger keywords towards the beginning of the description you’re writing.

Write descriptive alternative text for your images so people using screen readers can understand them. Describe what the image shows rather than filling the field with repeated keywords.

After you’ve created interesting, valuable, and attractive pins with useful descriptions, you can keep track of progress using Pinterest Analytics. Take a look at impressions, engagement, and the behavior of who is looking at, liking, and repinning your posts. You can use this information to edit your existing pins and/or create more successful pins moving forward.

How do I keep Pinterest content useful?

Customers want a seamless experience from start to finish. If your Pinterest pins aren’t lining up with the webpage you’re linking to, this can throw your potential customer off. Changes you make to one (e.g. your website), you should make to the other (e.g. your pins).

You also have to make sure your pins are fresh and intriguing. Trends are constantly changing, not only from year to year, but also from season to season. Take a look at your branding, your current color schemes, and even your website layout. If you’re noticing any inconsistencies, it’s probably time to hire an expert to help you evaluate your online presence.

Claim your website and keep product information accurate

Claiming your website connects saved content with your Pinterest profile and provides insight into how your website content is shared. You need control of the website to verify it using one of Pinterest’s supported methods.

Rich Pins can sync article, recipe, or product information from your website. For ecommerce, check that pricing, availability, images, and destination links accurately describe the product. A useful Pin should take a shopper to a matching page where they can find the information they need and buy.

How can Ventura Web Design & Marketing help me?

Ventura Web Design & Marketing helps ecommerce businesses connect their social content with useful landing pages and a clear path to purchase. Our social media marketing services and SEO services can help you plan, publish, and measure your content.

Book a consultation to discuss your Pinterest and ecommerce marketing strategy.