Pin Design & SEO That Clicks

You can have the best strategy in the world, but if your pin looks ugly or amateurish, nobody will click it. Pinterest is a visual platform first.

The Golden Ratio: 2:3

Pinterest is vertical. Mobile screens are vertical.

• Standard Size: 1000 x 1500 pixels.
• Avoid: Squares (they get lost) or landscape (horizontal) images.
• Tools: Canva is your best friend here. It has thousands of templates pre-sized for Pinterest.

The Anatomy of a Perfect Pin

1. The Hook (Text Overlay): Unlike Instagram, where the image speaks for itself, Pinterest users need context.

   • Bad: A photo of a salad.
   • Good: A photo of a salad with text: "15-Minute Keto Lunch for Busy Moms."
   • Font: Use large, bold, sans-serif fonts. Script fonts are pretty but hard to read on a phone screen.

2. The Visuals:

   • Bright, high-contrast images work best.
   • Warm colors (red, pink, orange) tend to outperform cool colors (blue, green) in some studies, but brand consistency matters more.
   • Faces: Surprisingly, images without faces often perform better on Pinterest. It allows the user to imagine themselves in the scenario.

3. The CTA (Call to Action): Add a subtle button or text at the bottom: "Click to Read," "Download Now," or "Get the List."

Pinterest SEO: Where to put keywords

Pinterest is a robot. It reads text. You need to feed it keywords in three places:

1. Pin Title: The most important. "How to Save Money" is better than "My Tips."
2. Pin Description: Write natural sentences, not just keyword stuffing.
   • Good: "Looking for money saving tips? Here is a guide on how to budget using the 50/30/20 rule to build your emergency fund fast."
3. Text Overlay: Yes, Pinterest can "read" the text on your image using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). If your image says "Budget Tips," it helps your SEO ranking for "Budget Tips."

Keyword Research

How do you know what people are searching for? Use the Pinterest Search Bar. Type in "Traffic" and see what auto-completes:

• "Traffic for bloggers"
• "Traffic generation strategies"
• "Traffic sources"

These are the exact phrases you should use in your titles and descriptions.

In the next chapter, we'll talk about consistency and how to do all of this without spending 5 hours a day on it.