Pinterest is a pretty straightforward, easy to understand platform, especially if you compare it to Facebook. But there is some poor advice floating around, some outdated advice, and just plain missteps that can hold you back on making Pinterest work for your business. Here are a few Pinterest mistakes you should avoid to make Pinterest work harder for your business:

Using “popular” topic boards to gain followers

If you are using Pinterest for your business stick to boards that relate to your business and appeal to your target market/ideal client. Don’t simply add random boards to gain followers. You want people to land on your profile and know what you are all about.

I personally have 2 boards outside my business focused account “cocktail time” and “office space”. I would recommend 4-5 boards max outside your niche/focus. It’s ok to show personality or to have boards related to your client avatar but having a ton or just adding boards for popularity is not the way to go. Sure you might up your followers, but they only care about that random Christmas board that has no connection to your actual offering.

Pinning to secret boards to build your boards

This is not necessary with the new algorithm, yes you don’t want a ton of boards that only have a few pins and looks like you are not an active account. But if you are periodically adding new boards there is no point in making them secret. If a board is secret, no can follow it! Get it out there and get those pins rotating. You don’t have to worry about flooding your followers feed with pinning too many pins at once to one board, so don’t waste your time pinning and building a board that no one can see.

From Pinterest’s website:  Who can see your secret Pins and boards?
Only you (and anyone you invite) can see your secret Pins and boards. Secret Pins and boards won’t appear in the home feed, in search or anywhere else around Pinterest.

Failing to use keywords!!!

I can’t stress enough the HUGE impact keywords can have on your reach and Pinterest success. You should have keywords in your name, your profile, your boards, and your pins. Use ALL the keywords.

So there is a debate on rather keywords need to be written in sentences or if you list keywords is just as good. The consensus seems to be that keyword stuffing is not penalized, but Pinterest does tend to follow Google SEO trends. Focus on what makes sense to your ideal client, what is your pin about, what would someone search for an your pin would answer, what information is it delivering. Just like Google, Pinterest cares about delivering relevant quality information.

Not making vertical graphics

If you blog, you 100% should be making a vertical Pinterest appropriate graphic. Regardless of whether you utilize a Pinterest profile for your business or not. I usually don’t share posts to Pinterest if they don’t have a good graphic for pinning, I know that those pins are going to get lost.

Canva has a Pinterest template you can easily use to get your content sharable, take the time and figure it out. You are really shooting your content strategy in the foot if you aren’t encouraging pinning.

Not using Pinterest

HaHa right!? But I’m serious. I do think Pinterest can/will work for almost any business IF you are already producing content on the regular (particularly blog posts but other content works too) or if you have a physical product. If you aren’t on Pinterest, you are throwing away a pretty major opportunity to expand your reach. You can get set up easily, and it’s worth at least dedicating an hour a week to do what you can to add pins and boards as you go. Again, Pinterest requires almost no follow-up; it is set it and forget it.

Capitalize on all that content you are creating and let Pinterest drive traffic & customers to you with minimal time investment. Because it’s all about hustling easier.

Want to get started using Pinterest to be your #1 traffic driver? Then join me for Pinterest Bootcamp! Let Pinterest drive traffic & customers to you with minimal time investment. Because it’s all about hustling easier.

In Pinterest Bootcamp I will provide you with 6 quick modules to get your Pinterest account optimized and you will also have access to a Slack channel to keep you accountable, get feedback, and ask questions.

Have an account but you’re not sure it’s working for you? Get a Pinterest Audit (click here)!