When getting started on Pinterest you want to make sure to have your account set up right. You want to create boards that are relevant to your brand, optimize your account, create some new pins, and pin them strategically and much more. In this guide I want to go over eight very important things you should do when you are getting started on Pinterest. You will learn how to properly create and set up your account for success and growth.

Why You Should Create a Pinterest Business Account for Your Business

You are probably wondering why you should create a Pinterest Business Account in the first place?! Pinterest is not a typical social media platform. To be honest, it’s more of a search engine than a social media platform. People come to Pinterest from all around the world to find the best recipes, party ideas, travel guides, and so much more. The same way that people search on Google for these things, they also go on Pinterest to do a search too. This is why Pinterest is such an important platform to use for your business.

Just like Google and SEO, ranking and growth can take time. This is not overnight success so be patient with the Pinterest platform and you will see growth start to happen overtime. Being consistent on Pinterest is key. By creating new content that is relevant to your niche you will grow and build your traffic with time.

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Things To Do When Getting Started with Your Pinterest Business Account

There are many ways you can set up your Pinterest account but when you are trying to grow your business, it is important to setup your account correctly. This way, when you start using your Pinterest account strategically, you know that you will be getting the best results possible. Let’s dive in!

1. Create a Pinterest Business Account

First of all, you need to create a Pinterest Business account. By having a business account you are able to look at your analytics and overall performance on the Pinterest platform. This helps you learn what strategies are working for you and what is not helping you to make a more informed decision about your future pinning strategies.

Here’s how to set up your Pinterest business account:

1. Go to Pinterest – Create a Business Account here.
2. Add your business email, a strong password, and your age.
3. Click Create Account.
4. Build your Profile: In this section you will choose a username (profile name), profile image, your website (check Yes), country, and language.
5. Describe Your Business: Choose the primary focus of your brand and pick 3 goals. On the next page you will then choose what describes your business. For instance, if you’re a blogger, choose Blogger or if you’re a service provider, choose Consumer Good, Product, or Service.
6. Pinterest Ads: Answer if you would like to run ads. I always click yes because you never know what plans will come up in the future.
7. Pinterest Ads Expert Help: I skip this page.
8. I then click the x on the next page where it says, “Where would you like to start?”

Choosing a Business Pinterest Username

The first thing you need to do is pick a username. I would try to stick to the same username you have on your other social media accounts so this way it is the same all throughout. By having the same username, you’re making it easier for your audience from other platforms to find you on Pinterest. Make sure that this is your business name too. For instance, my business name is Coffee, Pin, Design Studio and my username for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest is @coffeepindesign .

2. Updating Your Settings on Pinterest

Yayy! You have your Pinterest Business Account created. Now it’s time to update your settings so you have the correct information displayed on your account.

Here’s how to update your settings:

1. Click the down arrow next to your profile image on the top right corner of your screen.
2. Click on Settings. A new page will open.
3. On the left hand side you will see a menu. The first thing that opens is your Public Profile but we will update this later. Let’s update your Personal Information and Claimed Accounts first.

Updating Your Personal Information

Let’s head to your Personal Information found on the menu on the left hand side. Once you are here just fill out the form. Some of these items are already filled out for you from when you created your account but the following sections need to be completed:

• Gender
• Full contact name
• Community information

Click Save to save all of your information.

Verifying Your Domain Under Claimed Accounts

Now let’s go to claimed accounts. This is where you can verify that your website and/or Shopify accounts are truly yours. It’s fairly easy to do.

If you already entered your website when you were creating your account then all you have to do is:

1. Click Claim.
2. Choose how you want to claim your website. If you have questions about each of the methods then you can find a step by step guide and more details when you click Learn More under the description.
3. Once you have finished this process then you have claimed your account. There should be a verified globe with a checkmark on your profile now by your website stating that that website has been claimed.

3. Creating a Pinterest Profile for Your Business

Now let’s work on your profile. This is very important because this is what everyone sees when they visit your Pinterest account. Your profile is also a great place to enter Pinterest rich keywords to help your business account rank on the platform. Let’s get started.

Choosing and Creating a Pinterest Profile Image

Let’s pick a photo. This can vary according to your taste and style of business. Some people choose to use their logo while others use a self portrait. I have two Pinterest accounts. One for this business and another one for my family travel and lifestyle blog. For this business I used a round version of my logo but for my blog I used a self portrait instead.

Writing a Keyword-Rich Name on Your Pinterest Profile

This is different than your username. Your name should start with your business name and then a quick description of your business in 2 to 4 words. For instance, my name on my Pinterest account is, “Coffee, Pin, Design Studio | Web and Brand Design Studio.” This helps my audience know that I am a web and brand designer and that they can find those types of services or business tips and information on my Pinterest account.

Writing a Keyword-Rich Bio on Your Pinterest Profile

Next up is writing your bio. I like to do some research on my Pinterest mobile app while writing my bio on my laptop. I search for similar accounts in my niche and relevant keywords that are for my business. I then use those high ranking keywords throughout my bio in an easy to read way. Don’t just list these keywords. Make sure you use them as if you are speaking to your audience. People don’t want to come to your profile and read a list of phrases or words, they want to get to know you and see what your business is all about.

Here’s an example:

For my business some good keywords are: Pinterest manager, web designer, web design, brand designer, Pinterest services, Pinterest management, Pinterest marketing, services, design, design studio.

I’m not going to use all of these keywords for my bio but I definitely want to use some of them to make sure to let Pinterest know what your business is all about.

Your Public Contact Information

I didn’t put a retail location or address for my business since I work from home but if you have a specific location for your business, like a retail store, and a phone number, then you can add this information and save it. This makes it easier for visitors to find your store or place of business and be able to visit you in person if they’d like.

Creating a Pinterest Profile Cover Image on Canva

Yayy! We are done in our settings section. Now let’s head on over to your Pinterest account and see how your overall profile looks now. As you can see, you are missing a Pinterest cover image. Let’s create one!

I like to create all of my images for Pinterest on Canva. I usually create branded templates for my business or my client’s business and use those all throughout their Pinterest account. Let’s get started with creating our Pinterest cover image.

1. Login to Canva here.
2. Create a custom sized design on the top right. Make sure that the dimensions for the Pinterest cover image are 800px x 450px with a 16:9 ratio.
3. Start designing your image. A simple way to create a design for your cover image is by:
   1. Go to Elements > Grids > Choose a single image.
   2. Add an image that fits your business style.
   3. Optional: You can add some text if you’d like. Your goal is to make it look on brand and not crowded or overwhelming. Make sure to use your brand’s fonts and colors.
   4. Give your cover image a name. Make sure to name your image specific to your business. Ex: Coffee, Pin, Design Studio – Pinterest Cover Image

Now it’s time to take that image an upload it to your Pinterest account. From your Pinterest profile you can see the little + icon on the bottom right side of where the cover image will be. Click here to upload your new cover image.

4. Create At Least 10 Relevant Pinterest Boards

Another important thing to do when getting started on Pinterest is creating relevant Pinterest boards. Make sure that you create boards that are specific to your niche and overall business. Pinterest boards are very important in the Pinterest world, alongside with pins. When you pin something on Pinterest it will go into these boards.

What are Pinterest Boards?

You probably already know what a Pinterest board is but just to be clear, a Pinterest board is where you can save, collect, and organize your pins. A board serves as a place where you collect pins according to it’s specific topic. For instance, when you go to a Pinterest board you are looking for more resources, inspiration, or information on the topic of that board which is the board’s title. This helps tell Pinterest and your audience what topics are found within that board, and what those pins are about.

Within the board you can create sections which are like “sub-topics” per say. These sections help people find more specific information about that topic. For example, say I have a board talking about a large general topic like blogging, I can create sections within that board to help break it up into “sub-topics.” Some of these sections may be: how to start a blog, top blog niches to write about, blogging tools, blogging resources, etc.

How to Create a Pinterest Board

Let’s start creating some Pinterest boards. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your Pinterest profile > Saved > and click the + sign on the bottom right hand corner > Click Board.
2. Give your board a name.
   • Tip: Don’t get clever with your board names. It is important to be strategic with the names you give your boards by using names that are relevant to your niche. I also like to create 2 to 3 boards that says blog, portfolio, services, etc… to display specific content for my business as well.
3. Click Create.

Best Types of Boards to Create For Your Pinterest Account

The best way of getting started on Pinterest is by making sure you create the correct boards for your business. One way of getting ideas is by searching for other similar businesses on Pinterest that are ranking well and seeing what boards they have created. You can also do some research on Pinterest keywords and create boards specific to those keywords.

The best way that you can find these keywords by going to the search bar and typing in a word relevant for your niche and seeing the dropdown menu options it generates. These options are top searched queries on Pinterest so having boards specific to these topics will help you rank. Just make sure that the content you are pinning in these boards are relevant to that board topic.

How to Edit and Optimize Your Pinterest Board Descriptions

Now that you have created your Pinterest boards, it is time to edit them and optimize them so they can rank better on Pinterest. Let’s head back to your Pinterest profile. Under Saved you can find all of your boards. On the bottom right corner of the board you can see a little pencil icon. Click this to edit your board.

You have to option to add a board cover and a description. Let’s work on the board descriptions for now. Just like you did with your Profile bio, you want to write out a board description the same way. Find relevant keywords by searching the name that you gave your board. Use those keywords to write a detailed description of the board.

Adding a Board Cover to your Pinterest Board

Now let’s add a board cover. This part is totally optional. Many businesses don’t do it but if you want your profile to look uniformed, it’s a good option to create board covers. You will create these board covers on Canva. The image ratio for a Pinterest board cover is 600px by 600px. The main components you want shown on your board cover is the board title, your logo and/or website, your brand’s fonts for the text and colors for the design.

Once you have created a board cover for all of your boards, it is time to upload them to Pinterest. The only way to make them a cover image for your board is by pinning the image you created directly to your Pinterest board and then going back to your Pinterest board and edit it the same way we did to edit the description shown above.

When uploading each board cover aka new pin, make sure to add a pin description. I usually use the same description I used for the board or write something similar to it using the same keywords.

Pinning Strategically to Your New Pinterest Boards

Now let’s add some pins to your boards. Let’s go to the first board listed on your Pinterest Profile under Saved and look for pins relevant to that board on the search bar at the top of your screen. Pin about 10 relevant pins to that topic that come from a verified source (not spammy websites) to each board.

How to Organize Your Pinterest Boards on Your Profile

Now that your boards all have cover images, are optimized, have descriptions, and up to 10 relevant pins, it is time to organize your boards. The easiest way to organize your boards is by going to your Pinterest profile under Saved and just drag and dropping the boards where you wish to have them located at.

What Order Should You Put Your Pinterest Boards In

I usually place my business specific boards first (blog, services, portfolio, products…) and then work my way through the top relevant article for my brand down to the least. As your account continues to grow you will see which boards are ranking best. You can always come back and rearrange your boards as your analytics change and provide you with new information.

How to Add Sections to Your Pinterest Boards

You don’t necessarily need to do this when getting started on Pinterest but it never hurts to add a few sections to some boards. Not all of your boards need to have sections to rank and perform well on Pinterest. The easiest way to add a section is by going to your Pinterest board and hitting the + sign at the bottom of your screen and clicking Section. Make sure to add sections that are relevant to that board’s topic and name.

5. Create Pins For Your Pinterest Business Account

When getting started on Pinterest it is important to not leave your boards filled with other people’s pins. You also have to pin some of your own content. While you may not have content for all the boards you created, you should still aim to create pins for every blog post, product, or service that you currently have. Another thing you can do is create a few Idea Pins to help you gain some traction from the start.

How to Create Branded Templates for Your Pinterest Pins on Canva

First off, you need to create some branded Pinterest templates for your pins. You can create these on Canva or purchase templates on platforms such as Etsy and Creative Market or even purchase them from other designers.

The best way to create a pin is on Canva. I find this to be the easiest way to create multiple pins most time effective.

Here’s the best way to design your Pinterest templates:

1. Create a design on Canva. You can click on the top right and search Pinterest templates or just create a custom design with the dimensions of 1000px x 1500px.
2. Once you have a canvas to work on you can start designing your pin template or you can choose one of the Pinterest templates that Canva already has to offer. You can find the Canva templates on the left hand side under the tab called “Templates.”
3. Once you have a visual idea of what you want your template to look like, you then want to add your brand colors and fonts. You can play around with your different brand colors and fonts to see what combinations work best.
4. When you are done designing click Share > More … > Template > Publish Template .

Make sure to create a few different designs so you can rotate pins around. Some designs work better than others depending on the topic or the text going on the pin.

Pro Tip: Pinterest can read your pin. Make sure that when creating a pin, you add the title of your product to your pin on the image. However, this is not necessary for product or shopping pins. Also make sure to give your pin the same title of the product, blog post, article, etc. For instance: Instead of using FL USA Travel 1 put Guide to the Best Beaches in Miami Florida.

How to Create a Pin on Pinterest

It is very easy to create a pin. Here’s how:

1. Click Create > Create Pin on the top left on Pinterest.
2. Upload your image.
3. Choose a relevant board.
4. Add your title.
5. Add your pin description (do NOT use hashtags).
6. Add the link to your pin.
7. Add alt text about the image.
8. Hit Publish.

You can even schedule your pins in advanced by clicking Publish at a Later Date at the bottom underneath the link. This way you can schedule out your pins in advanced if needed.

If you need to bulk create pins with the same image and description just hit the three dots at the top left of the pin box and click duplicate. Then all you have to do is change the image to the new pin image. I would change a few words in the description just to change it up a bit. Pinterest loves NEW!

How to Optimize Your Pins on Pinterest with Good Pinterest SEO

Time to do some research. If you really want this pin to rank, you need to write a keyword-rich description. Similar to what you did with your board descriptions, you are now going to do the same with your pin descriptions. Only this time you will only have one to three sentences. Make sure that your description is relevant to what the pin is about.

Pro tip: Avoid hashtags at all cost. Pinterest tends to mark accounts that use hashtags as spam.

Strategically Pinning to Your Pinterest Boards When Starting Out

If you’re business is starting out then you probably don’t have a whole lot of content. Instead of creating all these pins and pinning them all at one time, spread them out over the next few weeks (depending on how much content you have). Say you created 20 pins. Then pin 2 pins per day for the next 10 days.

6. Enable Rich Pins on Your Pinterest Business Account

If you already have a claimed website or account, then it is very important to make sure you have enabled rich pins on your Pinterest business account. But before we continue, you are probably wondering what rich pins even are?!

“Rich Pins are a type of organic Pin that automatically syncs information from your website to your Pins. You can identify rich Pins by the extra information above and below the image when you click into the Pin.”

-Pinterest

Why Rich Pins are Important

Rich Pins are very important to your business account because if you change something on your website specific to that pin’s URL then it will reflect that change on Pinterest as well. You will also be able to share extra information for your audience about that pin.

How to Validate Your Rich Pins on Your Pinterest Account

Here’s a step by step guide on how to validate your Rich Pins on your business account.

1. If you are pinning products, articles, or recipes on your website, make sure to add rich meta tags to your webpages. I use Social Warfare Pro on my WordPress website so I am able to edit my Open Graph which goes towards my meta tags for each blog post I publish.
2. After adding your meta tags to each web page you can then validate one of your content pages. It doesn’t matter which one. It will start creating rich pins for all the pins created for that domain. You can validate your website here.
3. If you have your webpages marked correctly then you will see an approval message at the bottom of the page.

7. Follow Similar Businesses on Your Pinterest Account

Another great way to get started on Pinterest is by following similar businesses, accounts, or other content creators in your niche. This is a great way to grow on the Pinterest platform. Here are a few tips on how to find and follow relevant accounts and how to do it strategically.

How to Find Similar Pinterest Accounts to Follow

It’s fairly easy to find similar Pinterest accounts to follow. Start at the search bar at the top and look for content similar to yours. When you click on the pin you will see brief info about the account that pinned that pin. You can click to view their profile and give them a follow there or even directly on the pin itself. I personally like to follow accounts that are pretty well established so I like to look at the account and make sure they are worth following.

Another way to find similar accounts is by looking back at some of the pins you have already pinned and see who the account is and give them a follow.

You can also view the people that those accounts are following and see if there are any similar accounts in your niche that you can follow as well.

Why You Should Follow Similar Pinterest Accounts

It is good to follow people that are in your niche on Pinterest. This is an easy way of telling Pinterest what your account is about and the type of accounts and content that you are interested in. Pinterest will start to associate your account with that niche and pushing your content and account to others searching for the topics or products that you share.

How Many Relevant Pinterest Accounts Should You Follow

You don’t have to go crazy following accounts left and right. Be strategic about it and build your Pinterest account overtime. Follow at least 20 accounts that are in your niche at first and then follow at least 1-4 every other day or 6-10 per week. You can play around with this number. And don’t stress it either. If you forget to follow a few accounts a week or two, that’s okay too.

8. Branding Your Pinterest Account

You want to look professional on Pinterest. Pinterest is a visual search engine. When you share something on Pinterest you want people to know that that is YOUR pin! This online presence is something that you will build over time. As long as you are using your brand colors, logo, brand fonts, and images related to your brand to share content on Pinterest, then you are golden.

Here are a few things to do to make sure to keep your Pinterest Business account on brand.

• Have a logo or url on your pin image.
• Use your brand colors, logo, and fonts on everything.
• Make sure you have branded board covers, cover image, and pin templates.

FREE Pinterest Pin Templates Just For You!

I’ve created some pin templates just for you to help you get started on the Pinterest platform. You can grab them below.

Pinterest Services to Help You Up Your Pinterest Game

Are you looking to up your Pinterest Game? I can help you get started or even manage your Pinterest account. Pinterest is my jam and I am absolutely obsessed with pinning and learning new techniques to grow. Here are some of the services that I offer.

• Pinterest audit
• Pinterest 1:1 coaching calls
• Pinterest management (monthly)
• Pinterest template designs
• Pinterest business account setup

Summary of 8 Things To Do When Getting Started on Pinterest

Wow! That was a lot of information. I hope that you have learned something and are able to properly setup your new Pinterest business account. But first, here are a few things to remember…

• Create a Pinterest business account.
• Update your settings on Pinterest.
• Create a Pinterest profile that stands out.
• Create Pinterest boards and pin relevant content to each board.
• Create pins with your own content and pin them to relevant boards.
• Enable rich pins and validate your URL.
• Follow similar accounts in your niche.
• Keep your Pinterest account on brand.

What are other things that you think are important for setting up your Pinterest account? Let me know in the comments below. If you are just starting out please remember that Pinterest is a platform that takes time to build. Some accounts see growth within the first 3 months while others see growth after 6 months. Patience and consistency is key on the Pinterest platform.