If you’re a regular reader then you’ll know that I’ve become a bit of a Pinterest addict in the last few months and I’m slowly learning the tricks of the trade with this relatively new social media. It was only a few weeks ago that I shared with you an easy way to make Pinnable images for your blog posts and this last week I’ve learnt a new trick to make these images even more Pinterest friendly. Okay, maybe not ten times more, I made that up… it’s important to have an alluring headline to draw folk in and all that. But it is good, and it is easy.
Pinterest requires you to enter descriptive text for each pin
So… the thing we’re going to affect with this tip, is the text that accompanies an image that someone chooses to pin with from your blog. Every time you upload a pin to Pinterest you are required to enter some descriptive text.
Many pinners are lazy about their pins’ accompanying text
Many many pinners spend very little time thinking about what this text would say – this is evident from the fact that many repins simply carry the original text across, and countless others simply have a full stop or single word in order to enable the pinner to press go. Ideally pins from your website should be accompanied with text that is both optimised for search to help people find the pins in the first place and compelling and clear enough to encourage people to click through to your site. But you can’t control what people write in the ‘describe your pin’ box can you… Oh yes you can!
How you can ensure most pins from your blog have GREAT accompanying text
All you need to do is think about the file name of the image you upload to your blog as the filename will automatically be dragged through as the descriptive text when people pin using pinmarklet (which many people do). This means that most pins end up having text something like this:
But by simply saving the file with a new name you could have something like this:
This will please potential pinners too – there is nothing nicer than a well written text that automatically accompanies a pin. When I find sites which do this I am much more likely to browse for further pins to add to my boards because at the end of the day, like many people, I am fundamentally lazy!
Things to bear in mind
When naming your file, and therefore determining the text which may end up accompanying pins from your site, try and ensure that you have given the image a name that is not too long, explains exactly what the blog post is about and is engaging enough to encourage a reader to click through.
So there you have it – I’d love to hear how you get on with this and whether you’re interested in hearing more Pinterest tips in future because I fear I may just be feeding my own addiction…
Best wishes,
Pooky x
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Hi thanks Pooky! Now just wondering if I should be so lazy and re describe my pins? What’s the etiquette please?
Hi Bill, it just depends why you’re pinning really. If it’s a collection that’s mainly just for you that other people happen to enjoy too then it’s not a big issue but if you’re hoping to use it to build your network / traffic to your site then rewriting descriptions to optimise them is a good idea. Personally I often keep the original text when repinning even on the tesresources board, however, if there is more or less no text, I write some. If the text is clearly a kind of personal review I tend to put it in “” or say ‘a pinner says’ at the beginning.
I will think about doing a post about all this as it’s certainly something I would like to learn some more about and field other people’s opinions too.
On a slightly unrelated note, I would never repin a pin without clicking through and checking the link works / is what it says it is first too.
How are you enjoying pinterest? I’ve been enjoying your boards.
Hi Pooky,
You got me, I’m probably one of those that doesn’t spend much time on my descriptions or anything else for that matter. I admit though not being an addict of Pinterest and I still to this day am not a big user of the site.
I don’t want to get lost in the images and spend too much time just looking around. I know we have to pick and chose the sites we enjoy and can benefit from the most so I never really got into Pinterest. I guess I’m afraid that if I spend too much time there I will be in major trouble.
Thanks for sharing these tips though Pooky.
Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Thanks for taking a moment to comment Adrienne – it means a lot to me!
I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to spread yourself too thin, and how there are some social networks you click with and others you don’t. For me, it’s Google+ I struggle with. I want to love it but however hard I try I just can’t make it happen!
I’m just dipping a toe in the water with Quora at the moment too and yet to quite ‘get it’ but it may come with time…
Thanks again for commenting, I’ll looking forward to reading more of your great advice on your blog.
Pooky
Thanks for the tip, Pooky! Will put this into effect ASAP. I’m a Pinterest addict, too.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Stephanie – glad it was helpful. It makes my day when I work out a little tip like this and other people find it useful too!