Are you are a small business owner looking for a straightforward guide on how to create a Pin on Pinterest? If you are, then you are in the right place!
In this blog and tutorial, I will walk you through how to successfully create the first Pinterest pin for your business step by step.
Creating a pin is relatively easy, it’s the process of getting in front of your ideal audience that takes some thought and research. Look out for my tips throughout the blog and remember to implement them when you are creating your pin.
Before we begin it’s important to note that it takes time for a pin to gain traction. It can take months so please don’t expect over-night results from just one pin.
If you prefer to read the information, there is written step-by-step guidance under the video tutorial.
How to create a Pin on Pinterest Video Tutorial
How to create a Pin on Pinterest Written Instructions
Step 1: Select the ‘create a pin’ button on your profile
This can be found in a couple of locations. Here are the two places that I have demonstrated in my tutorial:
Step 2: Upload your pin image
This is what the pin upload screen will look like. The first action we are going to take is to click on the large grey area to upload the image for our pin.
Use either a photo or a graphic designed in an app like Canva. For best results use 1000 x 1500 px as the dimensions for your pin image. If you are using Canva, there are lots of pin templates already in there for you to use. Using templates makes the process a lot easier if you are just starting out with Pinterest.
When you are saving your pin image, it’s really important that you give it a file name that is linked to what the pin is about. So, for example, if I’m thinking about the Pin I’ve used in my tutorial, I would change the file name from something like image000023.png to trendingpinterestkeywords.png.
Pinterest is a powerful search engine and it can read the filenames in addition to your title and pin description. Make sure you are optimising this extra piece of information to achieve the best results for your pin.
It’s going to take some trial and error with your pin design before you find which designs work best for your audience. Don’t be afraid of trying something new! Try to keep designs simple and uncluttered and remember to be consistent with your branding.
Step 3: Write your title
Use this space to add value to the image on your pin. Try and avoid just repeating the same title in your image. You need to reword it in a way that explains what your Pin is about a little bit further.
People use Pinterest to search for specific content, so it’s important that you put thought into the words you are using on your Pin. Is your pin relevant to people who are searching for certain words? Can you use different words to describe your pin to reach different audiences? If your words are too vague your pin won’t get seen by the right people.
For example, I could use the title ‘How to create a Pin on Pinterest' or I could use ‘How to create a successful Pin on Pinterest as part of the social media strategy for your small business'.
The second title has opportunities for my pin to be shown to more people searching for ‘social media strategy’ ‘Pinterest for small business’ as well as ‘how to create a Pin on Pinterest’.
Step 4: Write your Pin description
Similarly to writing the title, we are going into depth about what the blog is about by using more relative words that people may be searching for. Try to keep your sentences natural and don’t stuff keywords into your description. Pinterest wants its users to have a natural and enjoyable experience on the platform. If you are creating content seen as spammy then your results won’t be as good.
If you want to, it’s fine to use hashtags. Use a few to explain what your pin is about and who you are talking to. For example, #smallbusinessideas #entrepreneur. Don’t overdo them!
Step 5: Adding Alt Text
This is an important step for the inclusivity of your post, and it means your pin can be understood by more people than if you were to omit this section. By completing this section your Pin will be read aloud by screenreaders to people that use them.
All you are doing here is simply stating what is on the image of your pin. So, for example, it could be a picture of a dog drinking water by a tree with a title. In which case I would write Image of a brown dog drinking from a puddle under a tree with the title ‘ten tips to taking the best photos of your dog’
Step 6: Add your destination link
Make sure you are adding in the right link for the blog or item you are creating a pin for. Please remember to check that the link isn’t broken! Do not create a pin and just link them to your home page or different sales page, it creates a really bad user experience.
Step 7: Optional editing abilities
You have these editing options within Pinterest if you need to make any slight changes or add anything to the image of your pin. These include:
- Cropping
- Adding your logo
- Adding text
- Tagging a product (product pins)
Step 7: Select your Pinterest Board
Pinterest will try and recommend the most relevant board for your Pin (but don’t worry as it often gets this bit wrong!). Simply click into the menu and find the board you want to publish your pin to.
Avoid tapping on Publish until you are absolutely ready! To select the correct board tap on the name of the board and not the red publish button.
Step 8: Duplicate your Pin and publish to different boards (optional)
If you wish, you can duplicate your Pin and schedule it to go out to a different board on a different date.
It’s no longer good practice to publish the same pin to a sea of different boards, so only select the most relevant ones to that pin. You can publish the same pin on up to 10 different boards, but no more than that, and try to spread out the pins as far as you can. Again, we are trying to avoid looking spammy and want to keep our business account looking as natural as possible to Pinterest and other users.
Pinterest only allows you to schedule up to 2 weeks in advance. If you wanted to pin the same pin to different boards but spread them out even further, then you can do this by using a scheduling tool like Tailwind.
Step 9: Publish or schedule your pin
You can choose to publish your pin immediately or you could schedule it to go out over the following two weeks.
If you choose to schedule your pin you will see your scheduled pins on your profile after a couple of minutes.
You can’t go in and edit your pins until after they’ve been published. If you need to edit a typo like the one I made in the tutorial 🙂 you will need to wait for it to be published first. Don’t worry about editing your post, it is absolutely fine to do so and it won’t have a negative effect on the performance of your pin.
Pin me!
Was this ‘how to create a pin for Pinterest' tutorial helpful? Pin this blog to one of your boards to keep it for future use. I appreciate every single pin and share that I receive 🧡
