5 Tips to Incorporate SEO Tactics into Your Pinterest Strategy

If you are a first time or experienced author, you’re bound to have come across tonnes of articles that recommend you join Pinterest to connect with new readers. Now, this is only valid if your readers are on Pinterest, but it is sound advice. Every author and their support team (that includes you, publishers!) should always be looking to expand their reach or they risk falling behind.

When you first join Pinterest, pinning seems simple. All you need to do is upload a properly sized image and link it to a board and BOOM – you’ve mastered Pinterest. But, if you’re trying to grow your business, reach new readers, and sell books, doing the bare minimum will not get you far. Plus, as an author, you don’t have time to be pinning all day – you’ve got books to write and deadlines to meet.

This means that you need to be smart about Pinterest and make everything – from your profile to each pin – count. Plus, optimizing pins instead of freely posting doesn’t need to be hard or complicated; it just takes a little more patience. With this thought process in mind, here are 5 tips to incorporate SEO style tactics into your Pinterest strategy.

1. Optimize Your Profile

It all starts with your profile. Make sure your name is in the account name and username. Write a strong description about yourself and your books that includes a good number of searchable keywords.

2. Verify Your Website

Verified Pinterest accounts have more authority in Pinterest’s algorithm. To learn how to verify your website, click here.

3. Install “Pin It” Buttons

Encouraging users to pin content from your website is a great idea to increase engagement and create more authoritative links to your website. The more pins you get, the better your authority and the higher your posts will rank in the Pinterest algorithm.

4. Write Strong Descriptions

It’s incredibly easy to simply upload a pin and not take some time to provide a good, keyword-rich description. Make sure to fill descriptions with searchable keywords that describe what is in the pin. These descriptions are rarely changed by Pinterest users sharing them. You should also take the same approach to naming your boards.

5. Check Your Links

If you’ve been on Pinterest for a while, it’s quite possible that you may have pins directing users to dead links on your website. 404 errors hurt a site’s search ranking, anger users, and will lead to a poor Pinterest experience.