As an active Pinterest user and web site owner, recently I have made some very interesting observations about the correlations between Pinterest boards and SEO.
Several weeks ago I was searching Google for some article topic ideas and was surprised to see the number of Pinterest boards that were showing up in the search results, sometimes even on the first page of results. Not only did it make my research easier by having so much helpful information in one place, it made me realize that I needed to make sure my Pinterest boards were optimized for the search engines.
Pinterest Board Descriptions
When you set up a new board on Pinterest it asks you to add a description for that board. Many people leave this field blank or have a short generic description. Not paying attention to this detail could cost you exposure in the search engines. Take some time to create a couple of sentences that will catch the eye both of readers and of the search engines. On one board I was reading, the user had written a whole paragraph to describe the board. While at first I thought it was a bit of overkill, after thinking about it I realized that it was actually a very creative way of adding a lot of important key words to the board without sounding spammy in any way. The description was actually very well written.
Descriptive Pinterest Pins
Each individual post or “pin” on Pinterest also has a place to add a description. Many people type in “love this!” or “need to make this!”, but very few people type in what the post actually is about. This description is important not only for search engines like Google, but for Pinterest's own search engine. Don't forget that Pinterest has its own search engine that many Pinterest users use to find interesting new posts. These descriptions are absolutely necessary for people to be able to find your pins. I use Pinterest search all the time to find ideas for new posts. Some say that more and more Pinterest users may even start using Pinterest search more than Google to find new interesting, relevant posts.
Optimizing Images for Pinterest
To be successful on Pinterest, great images are a must. Make sure you create descriptive file names for your images and that you also take the time to label your images. Many Pinterest images are making it into Google image search, and when people are searching through images it is important that they know what the image is all about just by looking at it. Place a short description or article title on each image you post.
Pinterest, Page Rank, and Links
More often than not, page rank is a factor in where your web site ranks in Google search results. As I have been looking at lots and lots of Pinterest boards, I noticed that some Pinterest boards are actually carrying a page rank of 2, 3, or higher. This would be influenced by how many links are pointing at these pages. This interesting fact made me realize how important it is to continually promote my Pinterest boards.
While it will always be most important to promote the link to your own web site, if you have Pinterest boards that complement your site's topics then you can't deny the power that these Pinterest boards have to drive traffic to your site and you should be promoting the links to those boards also. Every time someone re-pins one of your pins, another link to your web site is created. In the past several months I have added several thousand new links pointing to my site just from Pinterest pins and re-pins.
Keeping Your Goal in Sight
If Pinterest is a driving force behind new products or information in your field, then you should be using Pinterest in your SEO efforts. While having a link to an article or product on your site show up on the first page of Google is always the primary goal, having a pin that links to that same page show up on page one of the search results comes in a close second.
[hr]About the author: Michelle Penick is a co-founder at ContentBLVD.com, a free platform for publishers to source fresh blog content from industry insiders. She's an experienced content marketer who helps bloggers to meet their publishing goals, promote their blogs, and increase their authority through guest blogging.
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