A complete guide to making the best Pinterest boards for your business
Pinterest boards are important, and their functions and features should not be overlooked in the Pinterest strategy for your business.
In this blog, I'll be taking a look at what Pinterest boards are, why they are important and what makes them so powerful.
What Are Pinterest Boards?
Pinterest boards are a really simple tool for you to categorise your content on Pinterest. Think of each board as an inspiring and visual mini notice board. Having clear, easy to navigate boards on your Pinterest account makes it easy for visitors to your account to see what your business is about, at a glance. Having well-organised boards also makes it much easier for pinners to find the information they need if they are browsing your account.
Organising and optimising your Pinterest boards with keywords will give your pins a much higher chance of being discovered. A keyword-rich board will strengthen the SEO of the pins you save to it.
How to Create a Pinterest Board
There are a couple of different ways to create a Pinterest board. The simplest and most strategic way is to set up your board before you start pinning. You can do this in the ‘saved' section of your profile by clicking the + icon.
Alternatively, if you are saving a pin and there is no relevant board to save it to, you can create a board on the drop-down board list as you save your pin. Just remember to go back and optimise it as soon as you can!
Names for Pinterest boards
Your Pinterest boards all need names. Make sure you are not using emoji's at the start of your board name and that you aren't spreading out the letters in the name with spaces in between. Doing either of these things will make your board names unsearchable, which is the opposite of what we want to achieve on Pinterest!
To create a good name for your Pinterest board you need to drill down a level and be more specific about the content your board contains. Don't use words that are too vague or obscure. You need to use language that is easy to understand and words that people on Pinterest are actually looking for!
Pinterest board descriptions
As with your Pinterest board names, you need to keep the words in your description in a format that is easy for Pinterest to read when it's indexing your board. No unnecessary spaces and no emojis.
Use the space available to you to write more about the content of your board, and weave a few other keyword phrases into your text. Make it as easy to read as you can without sounding clunky.
How to make Pinterest board covers
Pinterest board covers are actually pins that you then select to place as the cover to your board. This means that you create the pin first, pin it, and then select it as your board cover.
Trying to fit a standard pin into the right position on your board cover can be tricky. The view on desktop can be different to the view on mobile and often the position you select for the square cover ‘window' ends up wonky. In this instance, when you are creating your board covers, it's best to create a square pin. You can then set that as your board cover so there is no chance of the image being obscured.
How to make secret boards on Pinterest
If you want your board to be private and only seen by you (and other people you have invited to it), you can do this easily in the settings of your board. It's a good idea to do this if you have just created a brand new board and you want to fill it with a few pins before you publish it.
You can only see someone's secret board on Pinterest if you've been invited as a collaborator to the board.
How to Edit Pinterest boards
How to archive Pinterest boards
Clicking on the three dots next to your Pinterest board title will bring up a menu of actions. You will see here that you have the ability to archive your board.
When you archive your board it simply removes it from your profile, but it is not deleted permanently. It is much better to archive any old boards that no longer serve your business, you don't want to delete them. Deleting boards means that you also delete the followers of those boards as well.
How to delete Pinterest boards
If you really want to delete that board, you can do it using the same drop-down menu as above. Select ‘edit board' and scroll down the screen. The option to delete your board will be at the bottom.
How to add sections to Pinterest boards
Clicking the ‘organize' button below your board description will allow you to add sections to your board. This means that you will have your main board and within that board, there are smaller sub-sections. There is no benefit to the SEO of your account by creating these sections. You would be better off creating a selection of boards that all had a slightly different focus. This would mean that your content will have a stronger chance of being found by the right people at the right time.
How to merge boards on Pinterest
Merging boards means that you are combining two or more boards into one. You might choose to do this if you have a few smaller boards and you want to keep the content. Please be wary of doing this because it will also mean that you lose the followers of those specific boards (if they aren't following your main account).
You can merge your boards by tapping the three dots next to your board name.
Should You Have Personal Boards on your Business Account?
In short, no. You need to keep your business Pinterest account just for your own business and related content – for example, don't start pinning your healthy breakfast ideas to your profile if your business isn't about health or nutrition!
All of your boards need to be able to be filled by your own content, which is why it's important to have a few select relevant boards. By all means, have some boards that are related to your niche and industry but aren't directly yours, but only one or two. You don't want to be pinning or repinning content that isn't yours too frequently.
It's always best to keep your personal interests to your own personal Pinterest account.
How many boards should a business have on Pinterest?
Ten boards is a good, manageable amount to get started with. Like I said above, you don't want to create too many boards or they will be impossible to fill with your own content. Do your keyword research and decide on the names for the ten most relevant boards to your business.
How to Organize your Pinterest Boards
What order should you put your Pinterest boards in?
You have the ability to drag and drop your boards into the order that you would like them in. To do this, simply click on the slider icon within your ‘saved' section and select drag or drop.
Bring your most relevant and best boards up to the top row. This means that these boards will be the first ones to be seen by anyone viewing your profile, and make the most impact.
How to organize the pins inside your board.
Once inside your board, click on the ‘organise' button and you will be taken to a screen that will allow you to drag and drop your pins.
Simply click on the pins and drag them to wherever you would like them to be placed within your board.
You might want to do this if you have some pins that perform particularly well and you want to keep them at the top of your board.
You can also move pins out of one board and into another board by clicking on the pins and then selecting the ‘move' button.
How to find and follow boards on Pinterest
To find boards on Pinterest, simply type the keywords you are looking for into the search bar and then select ‘boards' before you hit enter.
To follow a board, you will need to click into that board from your search, then click the three dots next to the name, and then select ‘follow'.
You can also find group boards in this way. You can distinguish a group board from a non-group board by the circle above the group board name. If it is a group board it will have a circle present with photos of it's contributors inside.
Are Pinterest Group Boards Worth It?
Well established group boards on Pinterest can have a positive impact on the reach of your pins. However for optimum results, always remember to pin to your own most relevant board first. Then schedule a repin the your group board for 7-10 days later.
Ideas for your best Pinterest boards
To create the best Pinterest boards for your business remember to:
- Keep your board titles relevant to your business and your niche
- Use the words that people are searching for in your board titles and pin descriptions
- Create up to ten boards with topics related to your business and niche – save your breakfast ideas to your personal account!
- Don't use emojis or fancy lettering in your title
- Keep your boards organised and easy to navigate with simple, eye-catching board covers
Are you ready to get pinning? Here’s how I can help…
- Watch my tutorial about how to post your first Pinterest Pin
- If you’re brand new to Pinterest and want to learn more about how people use the platform take a look at my £7 mini-course.
Pin me! 📌
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