How Pinterest can benefit SEO
Pinterest is an exponentially expanding mine of information that has recently cartwheeled into the social media world waving flags and shouting ‘look at me, I’m so pretty!’ (Coincidentally, this is also Apple’s tactic.)
Humans are fundamentally visual creatures and images generally make faster impressions upon us than words, so it makes sense that a social media site based around images is going to be a big attention grabber. Pinterest is often lauded as the ideal SEO tool but you must remember that it’s easy to misuse.
Pinterest the community
Pinterest is, above all, a community and therefore should be treated as such. Blindly pinning pictures that will be popular but have little or no relevance to your site won’t benefit you at all because Pinterest is about interest.
SEO keywords boost your visibility by giving the community the information they want. Essentially, what is it, where is it and who is it for. By giving the community this information, they can drive it forward by repins and traffic.
Descriptions are half of the pin
Images in Pinterest are the hook but titles, captions and descriptions are the crucial information and the true base for SEO. Using terms that the audience won’t understand will result in the pin being ignored so keep it simple and appropriate.
SEO keywords should really get to the heart of your product or service but avoid the obscure. Yes its technical name might be such and such but if the rest of the world refer to it as a daffodil then that’s the keyword you want.
Your SEO keywords reflect your brand so use them throughout your pins, website and other platforms. Continuity shows that your site is actually about what your pins say it’s about.
Know thy audience
If you had to describe your website, service or product in five words what would they be? Your target audience will be searching for those types of words; to the point, accurate and appealing. Now if you type those words into Pinterest search, what comes up? It should be you.
Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and search for what they’d search for. Know your audience and they’ll know you.
Location
SEO keywords address all sorts of things but if your website only caters for people in the local area then that area is a primary keyword. When a Pinterest searcher types in ‘Daffodils London,’ and you haven’t specified your local area then you’re pins may not appear. Keep pins and SEO keywords relevant to what you’ve got and what the audience wants.
Linking back to you
Link your website to your pins, boards and profile. If someone likes what they see they need to be able to get to your website with a quick and straightforward click. Directing your audience to your website isn’t just that though, what page will they land on and will it keep them interested?
The SEO keywords you used in your pins should be inherent in your website too so when your pin takes someone to your site, they should want to stay there. Add Pin-it buttons to your website so visitors can pin the products they like.
SEO has changed the way we brand and market ourselves and our services. To get the most out of Pinterest and SEO, it’s important to get to grips with what works, what doesn’t and what the difference is.
Derryck Strachan is the MD of Big Star Copywriting, a leading UK copywriting agency. They have worked with several leading brands including Ladbrokes, Hilton Hotels and Ecco shoes. Through their agency partners they have worked as SEO copywriters for MBNA, Domino’s, Barclays, Tesco and Thomas Cook. They specialise in affordable, high volume SEO content including landing pages, blogs, guest blogs and articles.
