When it comes to Pinterest marketing and using Pinterest for your creative business, optimizing your Pinterest profile is one of the first steps. Your profile needs to be optimized using the right keywords so that Pinterest can start to understand what your account is about and the type of content you share. As a visual search engine, this helps Pinterest know who to show your content to. Here are some easy tips on how to optimize your Pinterest profile.

Pinterest Keywords and Pinterest Keyword Research

Before we can start optimizing your Pinterest profile, we need first to do keyword research to know what to optimize your account for. My absolute favorite and the easiest method for finding keywords specific to Pinterest is doing the ABC search method.To do this, open up Pinterest and start typing a keyword into the search bar to see what drops down. These are the top trending keywords that include that keyword. Next, add a space and the letter ‘a’ after the keyword to see what drops down now.Make a note of any relevant keywords that drop down, remove the ‘a’ then add a ‘b.’ Keep going until you’ve gone through the alphabet, and by the end, you should have a nice long list of Pinterest keywords and keyword phrases to use on your account.When doing keyword research, always think about your audience and what keywords they would be using and searching for to find you and your content. If you find a keyword that isn’t relative to what you offer or what you create content for, don’t use it.

Pinterest Profile Optimization: Step-By-Step

Now that we’ve done some keyword research and know what keywords we want to optimize your account with, we can start to optimize your profile!Here is a list of the most important areas to optimize:

1) Your Pinterest Profile Display Name

You have 65 characters to play with here, and you want to add one or two of your top keywords that describe what you do, what type of content you create, or what products you offer. Here are a couple of examples:

• Kara | Home Decor Candles and Gifts – okay
• Kara | Home Decor Inspiration & Gifts – better
• Hannah | Mindset Coach for Women – okay
• Hannah | Personal Development & Mindset Tips – better

2) How to Optimize Your Pinterest Profile Bio Section

This field allows 160 characters and should include the most relevant keywords for your brand, plus gives the reader (and Pinterest!) an idea about what you do. (Update: As of 2022, Pinterest now gives you 500 characters to work with!) Here are a couple of examples for the above profile examples:

• Home decor ideas and inspiration for creating a home you love. Gift ideas and soy candles for every special event, party, or celebration.
• Helping women who are struggling with personal development, overcoming mindset obstacles, and wanting to live a happier life.

3) Your Board Titles

Your Pinterest board titles should be descriptive and include keywords. Think about what board titles and keywords fit your content and products. Also consider what other boards your audience might be interested in.For example, a mom blogger who focuses on kid’s crafts might also have boards on parenting tips, motherhood quotes, etc. Those boards won’t fit their content but do fit with their target audience.

4) Your Board Descriptions

Your board descriptions should not only include keywords but also offer value to your followers. Your board descriptions should be written in sentence form, not just a string of keywords, as Pinterest would consider that keyword stuffing and might flag your account as spam. I like to also add a URL at the end of each description. For example: “Find more motherhood tips at www.yourwebsite.com”You want to make sure that the boards you create have content worth following and are relevant to the topics they’re about as well. Only pinning relevant content to your boards further helps Pinterest learn what your account is about and who to show your content to. For example, you wouldn’t want to pin a pin about Christmas tree decoration to a board about Easter crafts.

In Conclusion

I hope this post has helped you learn what you need to do to optimize your Pinterest profile! Setting up and optimizing your Pinterest profile doesn’t have to be complicated, but the keyword research needed to do it successfully can be time consuming. Need help setting up and optimizing your Pinterest profile and account? Grab my services guide to learn more about my packages and how we can work together, or book a discovery call to get started today!