You may have wildly different results with your Pinterest account based on your strategy and it all starts with your profile. The list could go on and on about all the ways that you can optimize your Pinterest account. Obviously you should start with a quality profile picture, claiming your website, and creating some boards. These 3 are the ones you might not have thought of and absolutely should not skip over. They weigh a lot on your searchability and can also communicate a LOT to the people behind the screens.

Board descriptions

Write a description for every board

It may seem silly to you to explain a board titled “Branding Photography Outfit Inspiration”, but this detail can have a big impact on the reach that your pins get. If your descriptions are written well, they will help Pinterest guide your pins to the right people.

What to include in board descriptions

Keywords, keywords, keywords. Use words that your ideal clients would use to find the pins that you post. You can research the keywords that will work best for your business, the kind of numbers they bring, and what other pins are easily found when searching for those words or phrases.

Include your location if it is important to your business. If you do all of your work remotely or travel all over the place, your location may not be as important. But, if you do most of your work from your home base for people in or around your home base, include your location.

Keep your brand name in the first line of the description, include what you offer, and make it clear what you want people to do after looking at the board. These things will let your audience know who you are, what you do, and what the next step is toward working with you. Is the next step looking at your instagram? Exploring your website? Getting on a waitlist? Use every chance you have to include a call to action.

So, if you are a branding photographer and you have a board called “Branding Photography Outfit Inspiration” your board description may look something like this…

Need some outfit inspiration? Mara Meismer Photography has you covered for your branding photography session outfit. Mara is a branding photographer based in Peoria, Illinois serving women owned businesses in the Central Illinois area. Check out @themarameismer on instagram for more!

Pinterest Bio

THis is the first thing people read on your profile. Make it clear what your purpose is.

Keywords

If you haven’t noticed by now, keywords are the KEY to making your content easily found. Search engines (because yes, Pinterest is considered a search engine) like Pinterest determine what content to pull for a particular search based on the words and phrases it can scan that are attached to a piece of content like a webpage, blog post, or in this case a pin. You can use that to your advantage if you are conscious of the words and phrases that you attach to your pins, board descriptions, and even your bio.

When you use the words or phrases in your bio that people would search to find someone like you, you are more easily found by them. So take some time to think and research what those words and phrases are for you, and make sure you include them in your bio (as long as it sounds natural!).

what do you do?

If someone stumbles upon your profile in a search for a branding photographer and it is not clear that you are, they will move on. Make sure that you communicate what it is that you do. You have a limited number of characters to get quite a lot across in your first impression, do your best to keep it clean and concise!

who do you serve?

If you are a photographer serving people in a specific area, it won’t be helpful if you don’t include that in your bio. If you are a wedding photographer and it’s not clear that you specialize in weddings, people looking for a photographer like you may move on without a second glance. Include the specifics about exactly who it is you serve. If you focus on inclusivity in your business model, include that too! Make it clear who your content is meant for. It will work wonders for you.

Keep Boards on Brand

Turn those recipe and paint color boards to private

You don’t want to confuse your audience. Keep your boards within your niche. You are providing your audience with these collections of pins, it should all be on brand. It will look a little unprofessional and it could damage your ability to be found in the long run with conflicting keywords. Boards about your home office or studio inspiration or color palettes are totally cool. They relate to what you do and remain within the circle of relevance, just try to keep as many of the boards about your clients as possible. You want every board to be something that you could (and should) add your own content to.