How to Set Up Your Pinterest Account for Success

If you haven’t set up your Pinterest account for success, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to expand your reach.

Millions are looking for ideas that inspire them or solutions to their problems. As a Content Creator, you can take advantage of this to maximize the platform’s potential.

Here are some benefits you can receive from using Pinterest:

• Grow your email subscribers
• Drive organic traffic to your website
• Increase following on other platforms
• Earn income from affiliate links
• Promote your services and products

What I love the most about Pinterest is your content can go viral at any time. You may not see a lot of traffic for a specific topic right now, however, that can change in the future.

I have a blog post that I wrote in 2018 that still receives impressions, link clicks, and saves like the one below:

Before you can start driving organic traffic to your content, you want to set up your Pinterest account for success.

In this post, I’m sharing 7 steps that can help you start getting seen by your target audience. There’s no point in promoting your content if no one will be able to find it.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information

How to Set Up Your Pinterest

Switch to a Business Account

When you set up your Pinterest, the first thing you want to do is switch to a business account.

This will provide access to analytics such as:

• Monthly viewers
• Impressions for a pin
• Link clicks to your content
• Number of saves
• Top performing content

If you already have a Pinterest account, you can still change it to a business and clean up your profile. You don’t have to start over.

Related Post: 6 Time-Saving Blogging Tools for Beginners

Create Niche-Specific Boards

I’m sure you’ve been saving DIY recipes, wedding ideas, and other inspiring content you find while scrolling. However, if these topics have nothing to do with your brand, you want to hide those boards from your profile.

Instead of deleting them, you can make the board private or secret. That way, you’ll still be able to save ideas you come across without confusing the algorithm.

You want to create boards that are relevant to the topics you’ll be promoting the most on Pinterest.

Having niche-specific boards will help your target audience find your content. You can create as many as you want, however, make sure they align with your purpose and that you save fresh content to them regularly.

Here are examples of boards you can create depending on your niche:

• Food: “Easy Keto Diet Recipes”, “Quick Holiday-Inspired Recipes”

• Mental Health: “Self-Care Tips and Resources”, “Daily Positive Affirmations”

• Fashion: “Personal Style Tips”, “Plus-Size Fashion Inspiration”

• Beauty: “Makeup Tips and Hacks”, ” Natural Hair Growth Remedies”

Create a Board for Your Blog

Creating a board dedicated to your blog content is important when you set up your Pinterest. This will allow your audience to find your content in one place!

Include Keywords on Your Profile

SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is important if you want your content to be found. You want to use keywords throughout your profile that’ll attract your target audience.

Here are some areas to include keywords:

Username

Your username should include the niches you discuss on your platforms. When someone searches these terms, your profile will pop up.

Since I discuss beauty, wellness, and tips for bloggers, I included those after my brand name.

Your Bio

Use 1-2 sentences to describe the purpose of your brand and the topics you discuss.

Think about how you’d summarize what someone can expect when visiting your social media platforms and website.

Board Names

If you want your boards to rank in the algorithm, include keywords in the names. It’s important to make them as specific as you can.

For example, instead of naming a board Self Care, it can be called Easy Self Care Tips.

Instead of Skincare Tips, you can name it Skincare Tips for Dry Skin.

The more keywords that you add, the better!

Board Descriptions

Once you create a board, you’re able to write a description for it.

In this section, include relevant keywords to describe what type of content will be pinned to the board. This will ensure they’re visible when someone is searching for these topics.

Pin Titles and Descriptions

Another place to include keywords is in your pin titles and descriptions.

A strategy I like to follow to write mine is:

• Include an effective title for your pin that’s eye-catching

• Use at least 2-3 descriptive keywords to explain the content in complete sentences

In the example above for my blog post “How to Negotiate Brand Deals As An Influencer“, you’ll see that I included power words in the title to make it more appealing when people see it.

I also explained in a few sentences what my reader can expect from the post. It’s great to keep your descriptions straight to the point and include enough information to spark the interest of your audience.

How to Find Keywords on Pinterest

If you want to find different phrases people are actively searching for, type a few keywords in the search bar on Pinterest.

The words that you see in the dropdown box with bold letters are what you should include in the places we talked about in the last section!

If you write a post on starting a blog, here’s an example of how you can include the above keywords in the title and description:

Pin Title: How to Start a Money-Making Blog As A Beginner

Description: “Are you ready to start a blog to make money as a beginner? In this post, you’ll find an easy-to-follow checklist that will help you build your website.”

As you can see, the words that I highlighted in bold are keywords from the search box. When people look up these terms, your content can potentially pop up.

Using keywords will help your content and profile rank higher in the Pinterest algorithm.

If you’re still confused about how to use SEO, I highly recommend checking out this eBook from Baydian Girl. Her knowledge on SEO has been helpful for my journey!

Use Tailwind

Tailwind is a Pinterest-approved scheduler that posts your content when your audience is the most active. I’m sure you don’t want to spend all day scrolling through Pinterest, saving content, and then promoting your posts on top of that.

Instead of having to manually pin throughout the day, let Tailwind take care of it for you!

Figuring out how to use it takes time, however, it’ll help you stay consistent on Pinterest while you work on other platforms.

One feature on Tailwind that can help increase your reach is called Communities. These are niche-specific groups you can join to promote your content.

You want to join groups that are within your niche so your content can get seen by your target audience. Here’s an example of my reach from one community I’m in:

Test it out and see how much of a difference you notice not only with your reach but how much time you save by scheduling your pins.

Create Graphics Using Canva

Since Pinterest is a visual search engine, you want to create attractive content that’ll grab someone’s attention while they’re scrolling.

I love creating my graphics on Canva. They have a variety of templates to choose from and you have control over your fonts, colors, and the type of photos you use.

When you go to Canva, there’s a section dedicated to Pinterest. You can choose any template and edit it to fit your brand’s style.

I stick with the same colors and fonts. It’s great to do this because people will start to notice what belongs to you based on how it looks. You want to brand yourself on Pinterest to stand out.

On your graphics, you want to use an engaging title and fonts that pair well together. Also include the name of your website somewhere on the pin.

Related Post: 5 Gorgeous Stock Photo Subscriptions for Bloggers

Pin Other People’s Content

Start following similar people within your niche and repin their content when it interests you.

Saving other content besides your own will help you fill up the boards you created. This will ensure you have plenty of content so you can stay consistent on Pinterest!

When you’re on Tailwind, some of the communities have a rule where you have to pin someone else’s content whenever you upload yours. There’s nothing wrong with supporting others and it won’t take away from the hard work you’re putting in to promote your pins!

If anything, those same people will start engaging back and save your content for their audience to see!

These are the steps I’ve been following and it has brought me to where I am now on Pinterest. I can’t imagine not utilizing this platform because it has proven to be valuable.

Set up your Pinterest account for success by following these tips and strategies! You’ll notice a difference as you continue to remain consistent.

Check out these other posts!

• How to Use Pinterest Ideas as a Content Creator
• 6 Ways to Make Money on Pinterest as a Creator
• 16 Gift Ideas for Bloggers and Content Creators