Karen Leland, author of Ultimate Guide to Pinterest for Business, gives advice to help you drive website traffic, build your brand, and increase business on the Pinterest platform. To optimize your appearance in search and attract more traffic, give each pin a perfect description and include relevant keywords. You can be deliberate with what you write, because there is a 500 character limit for descriptions. Following are guidelines to make your descriptions count:
Provide context
If you pin images without descriptions, users won’t know why you pinned that item. You can peak a user’s interest by giving a clear, concise, and specific description of your pins. When writing a description of your pin consider the following:
- What did you specifically like about the image?
- Why will you pin the image?
- What idea does the image represent?
- What tips can you give to go along with the image?
- What is your opinion about the image?
- Is there any additional information you can give about the image?
Be detailed about the specifics
Images with vague descriptions are not as useful to the viewers. For example, if you have a pin showing a selection of great office gifts to give clients, and the description reads, “These are really great to give as client gifts.” This description will not have as much impact as one that reads, “These five gifts, all under $30, can be used by man or woman and are something every small-business person needs. For this reason, they make great holiday client gifts. Here’s a link to where you can buy them.” The latter is a useful description that will have more impact.
Link to your website
Add live links to the captions below your pins. You can do this by adding the URL to the pins’ description and clicking the red “save pin” button. The link will drive traffic to your website and/or blog.
Include a call to action
In a study conducted by Reachli.com it was found that descriptions containing a call to action had an 80 percent increase in engagement. For example, you can pin an image during tax season that shows a small business owner pulling out her hair in despair. In the description, you explain there are five ways a small business can avoid stress at tax time and you provide a link to the article on the topic. This is a good start, but by encouraging viewers with a specific call to action you can take it even further. All you have to do is add another sentence or two. Following are some call-to-action phrases you can include in your pin descriptions:
- Download the free e-book
- Read more ways to…
- To learn more…
- Sign up online…
- For more details…
- Please submit ideas and questions to…
- Call for a complimentary consultation…
- Get a free quote…
- Tell us what you think…
- Watch a video of…
Add testimonials
If you’re showcasing a garden your landscaping company created, you can include a short quote from the happy homeowner in the description.
Use keywords
An important aspect of search engine optimization is the use of keywords and phrases your target audience is looking for. Use keywords sparingly and strategically in your pin descriptions to increase your Google rankings and be more discoverable by users searching Pinterest for a particular topic.
Keep up with description etiquette
Description etiquette depends on whether the pin is yours, a repin, or sourced from somewhere on the web. If you repin an image, Pinterest will automatically bring the description over as well. If the description fits, you can leave it as is or add a few of your own words to personalize it. However, it may be more advantageous to write a new description in some cases.
If you’re pinning from a specific blog post, permlink URL, or website, don’t copy and paste the given description verbatim: this will help you avoid copyright infringement. Give credit and link back to the original source, but be original and write your own descriptions.
Source: www.entrepreneur.com
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