Pinterest and SEO

As the holidays approach, maybe you’re looking for gifts under $20. How about animal butt magnets? Metal bangles? FuzziBunz diapers? Perhaps a prickly hedgehog or bottlebrush bird ornament? Pinterest is an online pin board, allowing users to “pin” the things they like, organize them, and share. It is also getting quite a bit of buzz in the SEO world. How could the social site fit in with your optimisation efforts?

Pinterest allows users to pin their favorite products or items on their own personal boards, which are shared with their followers. The benefit is increased exposure, as well as getting your product in front of social media influencers. Since other users can “repin,” this gives you the chance to go viral in a sense. Here are some tips for leveraging Pinterest:

• Do a search and see if you can find if any of your business’s products are pinned on the site. If so, see if you can get those Pinterest users to link back to your site. There are some great suggestions to help you do that here.
• Pin your own products to the boards.  To do this, download the “Pin It” button from Pinterest. This allows you to pin any item from any website (particularly yours!) to the boards.
• Set up a profile and write a good About section, optimising with targeted keywords.  For local SEO, make sure to list your city’s name. 
• Connect your Pinterest profile with your other social media profiles, and link back to your URL.
• Be a good neighbor; follow users in your geographical area or area of interest.  Like other users’ photos.
• Encourage users to visit your business (if locally-based) and offer a prize for the best picture of your establishment.
• Don’t be spammy.  This site is fun and social – don’t let marketing speak get in the way of the good time.