You’re reading this which means you are so effin’ ready to take your Pinterest marketing game to the next level, scale that amazing biz of yours and thrive online.
Am I right or am I right?
So real talk…Pinterest is not a one-and-done platform. You can automate it but it takes 3-6 months to gain traction depending on the amount of content you have, if you’re automating, how your website converts, what you offer aaaaand how consistent you are.
Sound like a lot? I mean, it can be. But that’s why Pinterest Managers like me exist. Shameless plug!
But if you’re…
- just starting out
- not ready or can’t afford to hire a Pinterest Manager
- or want to learn what it really takes to optimize that account
…then this is for you.
Let’s dive in!
5 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Pinterest Account & How To Fix Them
Do you know what the absolute WORST things you can do on Pinterest are as a business or blogger? It’s possible you’re making these mistakes but don’t worry, we’ll get you on track!
You may want to pin this for later so you can reference back to it!
Mistake #1: You Don’t Have A Business Account
Girl, you are missing out on some serious analytic power here.
Your Pinterest Analytics tell you so many cool things like how many link clicks you’re getting, who’s saving your content, your most popular boards and website traffic vs Pinterest account traffic.
Plus a whole heck of a lot more!
How to Fix It: When logged in to your account go to pinterest.com/business/convert/ > fill out your business name and website then select a business type > Click Create account.
Mistake #2: You Don’t Have Google Analytics
While Pinterest data is really important, you need to know how many sessions your site is getting from Pinterest. Sessions are different from page views. So while link click data from Pinterest can tell us how many times someone is going from Pinterest to your website, sessions tells us how many unique people are visiting your website.
How to Fix It: Set up your Google Analytics account.
Mistake #3: You Waste Time Deleting Pins
The point is, you can’t really get rid of them. It doesn’t matter if you don’t sell the product anymore, you changed businesses and websites, you deleted the blog posts or changes links. I’m sorry to say, once it’s on Pinterest, it’s on Pinterest forever.
Unless you only pinned it a few times and no one else did, you might have a chance. But you really could spend that time doing something else to increase your reach on Pinterest.
Don’t waste your precious time deleting old pins!
How to Fix It: If needed, use a redirect plugin on your website for link changes if you can. The less 404 and error pages people go to on your site, the happier Google will be.
Mistake #4: You’re Manually Pinning Without A Strategy
There is a very good reason everyone is obsessing over Tailwind. It works.
If you don’t know, Tailwind is a pin scheduler and when you sign up your first 100 pins are free and then it’s $14.99 a month. That’s not expensive at all considering you can schedule up to 400 pins a month, unlimited pins if you pay annually.
Plus you get to be a part of 5 Tailwind Tribes (essentially group boards but with potentially way more engagement), the ability to message the group as a whole and each member + data to make sure you’re getting the most out of each Tribe. Pretty awesome, right?
Plus, Pinterest is really hitting hard on spam. Meaning, if you’re pinning the same pin over and over again or the same pins to the same boards too close together, they could mark you as spam and shut down your account. Let’s avoid that!
In Tailwind you can use the interval feature to set a schedule for when your pins go out that both saves you time and prevents you from spamming.
How to Fix It: If you want to give Tailwind a try, use my link here. I don’t make any money from this but I do get a free month of the Plus Plan if you upgrade. No pressure😉
Mistake #5: You Have Random Names for Your Boards, No Descriptions and/or No Categories
So Pinterest, first and foremost, is a visual search engine. Same premise as Google, just with graphics and photos.
This means that in order to rank in the home feed or at the top of search results, you have to know your business’s keywords, how people search for those on Pinterset and then use them in your board titles and descriptions. Setting categories also makes it easier for Pinterest to sort your content.
How to Fix It: Follow these steps…
1. Go into the Pinterest search bar and look for keywords related to your business
2. Use the top keyword you want to rank for as your board title (2-5 words depending on length)
3. You see all those extra keywords that pop up? Keep clicking on those to form longtail keywords that you can use to write 2-3 sentences describing what you’re pinning to the board (in a way that makes sense, no keyword stuffing).
4. Set the category
Viola! You’re on your way to Pinterest Success!
P.S. – Screenshot your Pinterest profile, post it on your Instagram stories, tag me and I’ll follow you + blast you to my followers ❤️️