We’ve all heard about how Pinterest should be a key element in your blog or brand’s marketing strategy, but do you know how to make the most of your Pinterest account?

In this post I’m going to share my best Pinterest Board tips, so that your blog content gets maximum exposure.

This is the second post in Next Level Blogging’s ProBound Pinterest series. You can read Post #1 here.

7 Strategic Pinterest Board Tips That Will Dramatically Increase Your Exposure

Guess what pinner’s see the first time they visit your Pinterest profile?  That’s right – your Pinterest boards.  That means you need to be on your “A” game, and have boards that are going to make sense for your niche and target audience.

Sounds simple, right?  For the most part it is, but there are a few things to keep in mind when creating your Pinterest boards.

1. Create A Variety Of Pinterest Boards

In order to save pins on Pinterest, you have to create boards to save them to.  Your boards help you categorize your pins and keep them organized.

So how many Pinterest boards do you need anyway?

Number of Boards

I don’t think there’s a magic number, but to start out, I would suggest creating at least ten boards.

Those ten boards should be exactly what your target audience is looking for, containing pins that address their pain points.

For instance, my Pinterest boards include Blogging Tips, Social Media Tips, Blogger Resources, Email Marketing, and Blog Design Tips.  These are all topics that my target audience (new bloggers) would be expecting to find on my Pinterest account.

Don’t forget to include a board for your content only, so interested pinners can find your pins easily.

Off-Topic Boards

There’s some controversy over whether it helps or hurts your performance on Pinterest by adding off-niche boards.

My opinion is that if it’s something your audience will appreciate, add it.

You can track your stats to see if the board is popular or not, and whether to keep it.

Number of Pins Per Board

Keep your boards “secret” until you have at least 25 pins saved to them.

Be sure to save your own relevant pins to each board, but the majority of the pins should be from other sources. It sounds like a lot, but you can realistically fill up your boards in one sitting.

Saving pins from your main feed is a great way to start getting noticed by Pinterest.

Just make sure anything you save to your boards is legit by clicking through the pins!

2. Create Pinterest Board Names That Make Sense

It’s important to use the right strategy when naming your Pinterest boards, and this is not the place to get creative.

Board names should be targeted keywords that describe the pins that will be saved to that board.

Yep, I said “keywords”, so if you missed the first post in this series, now’s the time to read it.  I go over everything you need to know about finding and using keywords on Pinterest.

Anyway, you’ll want to keep it simple when naming your boards.

Since you want other pinners to repin your images, make it as simple as possible for them to find what they’re looking for.

Editing Your Pinterest Boards

When you create new boards, you’re only required to create a board name.

To maximize the success of your Pinterest boards, it’s imperative that you manually edit your boards.

By doing so, you’ll have access to other elements that will give your boards an advantage over the competition.

It’s easy to edit your boards as you can see in the image below:

• Go to your Pinterest board
• Click on the edit button (pencil icon)
• Make appropriate change
• Save your changes

 

Easy, peasy, right?

Now, I’ll explain the importance of each field and how to make the most of them.

3. Use Keyword-Rich Board Descriptions

Just like your pins, your Pinterest boards should include a keyword-rich description.

Your board description should clearly describe to a stranger what type of pins they will find on your board.

Your description can be up to 500 characters, so I suggest using as many keywords as possible to describe your board, without turning it into gibberish.

Yes, I talk about keywords a lot. That’s because without keywords, your pins will never be seen by pinner’s searching for your content.

So how do you find the right keywords to describe your board?

• Use terms pinners would type in the search bar to find your content
• Use Pinterest’s smart search and type in your topic for keyword suggestions
• Look at similar Pinterest board descriptions to see what keywords are being used

Take a look at the board description below, from Ana at The She Approach:

 

With 470K monthly viewers, she’s reaping the rewards of using keywords on Pinterest!

4. Choose The Right Pinterest Board Topic

Pinterest gives you the option of choosing a topic for your board. Be sure to take advantage of this by choosing a relevant topic.

Pinterest automatically defaults to “Other”, so you’ll need to manually edit this field.

Choosing the right topic will help your boards show up in search results.

5. Create Branded Custom Pinterest Board Covers

Pinterest allows you to create a cover for each board, similar to a book cover.

I use Canva to create my pins and the covers for my Pinterest boards.

Recommended Size For Board Cover

Even though the board covers are saved to your board just like any other pin, Pinterest recommends that your board covers are 800 x 800px.  

Brand Your Pinterest Boards

Your board covers are another opportunity for you to brand yourself on Pinterest and draw attention to your blog.

Use your brand colors and fonts to keep your branding consistent and recognizable.

Your board covers should include the board name in a large font, so that it’s clear what type of pins will be found on your board.

Add A Description To Your Board Cover

Since your Pinterest board covers are just another pin, you’ll be able to add a link and a description for the cover.

I use my main blog url for my board covers but you could also use the link to a relevant post for that board topic.

For your description, use plenty of keywords and hashtags (read last week’s post Everything You Need To Know About Using Keywords On Pinterest if confused about this step).

Here’s a look at my Pinterest boards for your reference:

 

6. Utilize Your Pinterest Board Showcase

Did you know you can showcase five of your best boards right on your Pinterest profile page?

This is a great way for you to highlight your best boards. You could also highlight seasonal content if relevant to your niche.

To edit your Board Showcase, you’ll need to access your profile settings.

7. Customize Your Pinterest Board Layout

From the desktop version of Pinterest, you can choose the order that your boards appear to those checking out your profile.

The default order is alphabetical, but you can drag-and-drop your boards into any order.

Put your most popular boards at the top so your audience knows you’ve got the content they’re looking for.

Next Steps

If you follow these tips to set up your Pinterest boards, you’re one step closer to driving tons of traffic to your blog with the help of Pinterest.

You can check out these related posts:

• Create The Perfect Pinterest Image In 5 Easy Steps
• Explode Your Pinterest Growth With The Ultimate Pinterest Profile
• How To Use Tailwind Tribes To Grow On Pinterest

If you want access to all of my Pinterest tips and blog growth strategies, I do provide one-on-one coaching sessions.  You can schedule a free consultation here, to learn more about how I can help you build your own successful and profitable blog.

Have you tried any of these strategies on your boards? Do you have a Pinterest board tip not mentioned in this post?

Please leave your answers, questions or feedback in the comments section below. I’ll be sure to answer.  In the meantime, I’d love it if you’d share this post to your favorite Pinterest board!

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