March 19, 2012 by Barbara Holbrook · 10 Comments
Social Media
Whether you’re blogging or building a business, chances are you’ve heard about Pinterest. Are you already using the up-and-coming social bookmarking site? A lot of people are, and early adopters are proving the site can be a powerful tool for businesses that want to build their brand online.
Even if you’re not sure that your business needs a Pinterest profile, it’s a smart idea to make sure that your website is ready for Pinterest. After all, Pinterest users are busy pinning favorites all over the web! The easier you make it to pin your site, the more likely you are to get pinned.
So, how do you get your website ready for Pinterest? Follow these steps to make your site easy to pin.
How to Get People to Pin Your Site
In order to encourage people to pin your site you need to first understand how Pinterest works and what its users are looking for. Pinterest is primarily a bookmarking site where people can save and share things that they like.
Grab Their Attention With Graphics
Get People to Pin Your Site
Encourage people to pin your site by adding Pinterest buttons to make it easy.
The thing that makes Pinterest different from other bookmarking sites, such as Delicious or Reddit, is that the site has a very visual layout with a focus on high-quality graphics. If your website features interesting photos, unique products or inspiring images, then you’re already half-way to getting pinned. This is another reason to make sure that your blog posts have photos!
If your blog or business doesn’t have a lot of eye-candy, then it’s time to start getting graphic. As you plan your content strategy, it’s helpful to know that photos aren’t the only thing getting attention on Pinterest. Users can pin a variety of things online, but it mostly comes down to these three: photos, videos, and infographics.
Make it Easy to Pin Your Site
If your site has pin-worthy content, the next step to getting users to Pin you is to make it easy for them to do so. There are a couple of ways to do this including: adding a Pinterest button, coding your content to display well on Pinterest and promoting recent pins on your website. The easiest method, and therefore the place to start, is with a “Pin This” button.
Add a Pinterest Button
It’s relatively easy to add a Pinterest button on your website. If you have an ecommerce site, you should add the Pin This icon to every product page. Bloggers want to make sure they have a Pin This button on every post and photo gallery. Don’t go crazy! No one is going to be pinning your About Page. The goal is to make pinning your website simple, not add visual clutter.
In addition to making it easy to pin your page, the Pin This button serves another purpose. That little red and white icon provides a subtle reminder to Pinterest users and encourages them to take action.
To get started adding the Pinterest button on your site visit http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/. You can grab a “follow” button for you business if you have a business profile or get the code to add the Pinterest icon. If you have a WordPress site, there are also plugins available that make adding Pinterest buttons even easier.
Pinterest-Friendly Code for Your Website
The next step for getting people to pin your site is a bit more advanced. Though not difficult, it does take some thought to make sure that the content on your site is “Pin-friendly.” Here is what you need to know to get your photos and videos ready:
1. Pins are separate files. To get the most benefit from Pinterest, make sure that each photo and video is saved as an individual file.
2. Add captions and descriptions to pinnable content. Some people want to write their own description, others will use the default description. Make it easy by writing good descriptions with keywords that will make other Pinterest users want to click through to your website.
Find out what Pinterest can do for your business with The Power of Pinning, a comprehensive training course that teaches the most important strategies for generating traffic and brand exposure.
17
Never miss a tutorial!
Or grab the RSS feed!
Barbara Holbrook
Barbara is a WordPress designer in Long Beach, CA helping small businesses develop a personalized social media strategy that is based on common sense not hype.
Comments
10 Responses to “Is Your Website Ready for Pinterest?”
J.T. Shaver says:
March 19, 2012 at 12:02 pm
It’s also worth considering the fact that Pinterest will take rights to ANYTHING you post on their website to sell and reuse at will.
Chris Campbell says:
March 19, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Kind of ironic that you dont have a button to pin this post in your blog post.
Barbara Holbrook says:
March 19, 2012 at 4:45 pm
LOL. You’re SO right! I was working on the Pinterest button and got distracted before I finished getting it added. Happily, this page is now ‘pinnable’.
Adam says:
March 19, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I would say you don’t want your website to be “pinned”. Technically when someone pins your website, through pinterests TOS they takeover the rights to your content.
Barbara Holbrook says:
March 19, 2012 at 4:59 pm
For some businesses, protecting copyright may be more valuable than the traffic and brand recognition they can get from a site like Pinterest. Others might be willing to take the risk as part of a coordinated content marketing strategy. As with so much in social media, there is rarely a one-sie-fits all approach.
When deciding whether you trust a social site with your links, pins and bookmarks, it’s helpful to have context. At the end of the day, Pinterest’s TOS isn’t all that different from many other websites. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/copyrightlibn/2012/03/pinterest-copyright-and-terms-of-service.html
Social Media
Whether you’re blogging or building a business, chances are you’ve heard about Pinterest. Are you already using the up-and-coming social bookmarking site? A lot of people are, and early adopters are proving the site can be a powerful tool for businesses that want to build their brand online.
Even if you’re not sure that your business needs a Pinterest profile, it’s a smart idea to make sure that your website is ready for Pinterest. After all, Pinterest users are busy pinning favorites all over the web! The easier you make it to pin your site, the more likely you are to get pinned.
So, how do you get your website ready for Pinterest? Follow these steps to make your site easy to pin.
How to Get People to Pin Your Site
In order to encourage people to pin your site you need to first understand how Pinterest works and what its users are looking for. Pinterest is primarily a bookmarking site where people can save and share things that they like.
Grab Their Attention With Graphics
Get People to Pin Your Site
Encourage people to pin your site by adding Pinterest buttons to make it easy.
The thing that makes Pinterest different from other bookmarking sites, such as Delicious or Reddit, is that the site has a very visual layout with a focus on high-quality graphics. If your website features interesting photos, unique products or inspiring images, then you’re already half-way to getting pinned. This is another reason to make sure that your blog posts have photos!
If your blog or business doesn’t have a lot of eye-candy, then it’s time to start getting graphic. As you plan your content strategy, it’s helpful to know that photos aren’t the only thing getting attention on Pinterest. Users can pin a variety of things online, but it mostly comes down to these three: photos, videos, and infographics.
Make it Easy to Pin Your Site
If your site has pin-worthy content, the next step to getting users to Pin you is to make it easy for them to do so. There are a couple of ways to do this including: adding a Pinterest button, coding your content to display well on Pinterest and promoting recent pins on your website. The easiest method, and therefore the place to start, is with a “Pin This” button.
Add a Pinterest Button
It’s relatively easy to add a Pinterest button on your website. If you have an ecommerce site, you should add the Pin This icon to every product page. Bloggers want to make sure they have a Pin This button on every post and photo gallery. Don’t go crazy! No one is going to be pinning your About Page. The goal is to make pinning your website simple, not add visual clutter.
In addition to making it easy to pin your page, the Pin This button serves another purpose. That little red and white icon provides a subtle reminder to Pinterest users and encourages them to take action.
To get started adding the Pinterest button on your site visit http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/. You can grab a “follow” button for you business if you have a business profile or get the code to add the Pinterest icon. If you have a WordPress site, there are also plugins available that make adding Pinterest buttons even easier.
Pinterest-Friendly Code for Your Website
The next step for getting people to pin your site is a bit more advanced. Though not difficult, it does take some thought to make sure that the content on your site is “Pin-friendly.” Here is what you need to know to get your photos and videos ready:
1. Pins are separate files. To get the most benefit from Pinterest, make sure that each photo and video is saved as an individual file.
2. Add captions and descriptions to pinnable content. Some people want to write their own description, others will use the default description. Make it easy by writing good descriptions with keywords that will make other Pinterest users want to click through to your website.
Find out what Pinterest can do for your business with The Power of Pinning, a comprehensive training course that teaches the most important strategies for generating traffic and brand exposure.
17
Never miss a tutorial!
Or grab the RSS feed!
Barbara Holbrook
Barbara is a WordPress designer in Long Beach, CA helping small businesses develop a personalized social media strategy that is based on common sense not hype.
Comments
10 Responses to “Is Your Website Ready for Pinterest?”
J.T. Shaver says:
March 19, 2012 at 12:02 pm
It’s also worth considering the fact that Pinterest will take rights to ANYTHING you post on their website to sell and reuse at will.
Chris Campbell says:
March 19, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Kind of ironic that you dont have a button to pin this post in your blog post.
Barbara Holbrook says:
March 19, 2012 at 4:45 pm
LOL. You’re SO right! I was working on the Pinterest button and got distracted before I finished getting it added. Happily, this page is now ‘pinnable’.
Adam says:
March 19, 2012 at 1:42 pm
I would say you don’t want your website to be “pinned”. Technically when someone pins your website, through pinterests TOS they takeover the rights to your content.
Barbara Holbrook says:
March 19, 2012 at 4:59 pm
For some businesses, protecting copyright may be more valuable than the traffic and brand recognition they can get from a site like Pinterest. Others might be willing to take the risk as part of a coordinated content marketing strategy. As with so much in social media, there is rarely a one-sie-fits all approach.
When deciding whether you trust a social site with your links, pins and bookmarks, it’s helpful to have context. At the end of the day, Pinterest’s TOS isn’t all that different from many other websites. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/copyrightlibn/2012/03/pinterest-copyright-and-terms-of-service.html
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