How to Design Pinterest Pins That Drive Traffic

Even though many people consider Pinterest a social media channel, the platform works differently than Facebook or Instagram.

Pinterest is actually a visual search engine. If you want to use Pinterest to generate leads for your business, you want to design your pins in a specific way.

Visual design matters a LOT on Pinterest, more than on other social media platforms like Facebook.

Before I get into how to design gorgeous pins that generate traffic to your website or landing page, I want to cover a few Pinterest basics.

How Pinterest Works

There are three types of pins, or scenarios, that lead Pinterest to show you pins.

1. Home feed. These are the pins that you see when you log onto the platform. Those pins are based on your interests, the boards you follow and previous search topics.
2. Search results. When you search for a topic on Pinterest, these are the pins that relate to the search term or keyword.
3. Relevant pins. This is the KEY to expanding your reach on Pinterest, as 40% of the engagement on Pinterest comes from relevant pins

What are Relevant Pins?

Relevant pins are well, relevant, to the pin that you looking at. If you search for something on Pinterest using a keyword (e.g. Weeknight Dinner Recipes), you will get pins that result from that search. If you click on one of the pins in the search results, below that pin will be more pins that “look like” the pin you clicked on.

If you want more people to see your pins, connecting them to other pins will make your pins show up in the relevant pins section.

How Are Relevant Pins Classified?

Relevant pins are classified based on keywords, the boards they are pinned to, and the content of the photo.

Pinterest can tell what is in the photo that you used in the pin, which is super cool and makes the quality and contents of photos in pins important.

So, when you design your own pins, you want to take all of these elements into consideration:

1. The Title & Description – they should be FULL of keywords
2. The Image – it should relate to your pin
3. The Text on Image – should also contain keywords

Pin Design Basics

There are a few key basic design elements that you should take into account when designing pins. There will be exceptions to every rule, but here are a few elements to consider:

1. Vertical Shape: Design should be a ratio of 2:3 (2 parts wide vs. 3 parts tall). For example 600 pixels vs. 900 pixels.
2. No Faces: Pins without images of faces are repinned 23% higher rate than those with faces
3. Minimalist Backgrounds: don’t clutter up a pin with a busy background
4. Bright Colors: Reds and oranges are better than blues and greens
5. Few Fonts: Don’t have too many different fonts in the pin. Ideally, 2 fonts max, and only one script font
6. How-To Design: If it fits your business, photos where you should how to use the product, or how to do something work well

Summary

To get the most exposure you can from your pins, make sure that your keywords are connecting to topics that your market is searching for on the site.

Design matters, and posts with minimalist design, bright colors and easy to read fonts will get more attention, which will translate into clicks and traffic.