A strong Pinterest foundation means you've created an SEO-optimized profile and established a system to stay consistent on the platform.
That means you'll be able to grow much more quickly and creating Pinterest content will take less time in the long run, which means you can rely less on time-consuming marketing tactics and more on actual business development and your personal life. 🎉
The key to all of this starts with one simple step: keyword research
Okay, so it's not exactly "simple," but it's also not as hard as it sounds, pinky promise
But as a basic refresher, keywords are the words and phrases your audience uses to look for content on Pinterest.
Your goal in doing keyword research is to learn what those phrases are so you can use those keywords throughout your profile and Pinterest content.
That way, when Pinterest users search for those keywords, Pinterest is able to match your content to their needs and BOOM you're reaching your ideal clients.
Once you've done your keyword research, these are the steps you'll take to build your Pinterest foundation:
1. Create a Pinterest Business account
A Pinterest Business account is necessary to claim your website and track analytics, two very important steps. You can either convert your personal Pinterest account into a business account, or start a new business account.
(I personally recommend starting fresh!)
2. Claim your website domain
If you have a website (
if not, start here), you need to "claim" it. This is essentially telling Pinterest
"Hey, this is my site, and I want to know if someone saves something from it!" If anyone saves a pin from your website, you'll be able to see those details in your analytics.
Pinterest will always prefer pins that link to your own claimed domain because they know it's your own fresh content that you're pinning.
3. Fill in your profile details
When optimizing your Pinterest profile, it's important that you're being mindful of SEO and that you're clearly communicating what you do, what kind of content users can expect to find, and what you're all about.
Your profile is the first impression you're giving to users who land on it, so this info should be communicated quickly and clearly!
Here's a checklist you can follow:
✅ Your name (or your brand name) & a high-level keyword in your profile title
✅ Keyword-rich bio that describes what you do & why users should follow you
✅ Visual representation of your content in the header image & a branded profile pic
4. Create your boards
As we know, boards are like the "rooms" of your Pinterest house. They're the categories you'll be saving your pins to and are an important part of Pinterest SEO.
To figure out what boards you need to create, first think of all the content you want to post on Pinterest — blogs, podcast episodes, lead magnets, client work, etc.
Then, see which keywords from your keyword research encompass those overarching topics. Start with at least 5-10.
Make sure to add a keyword-rich description to each board!
5. Set up a system for success
An optimized Pinterest profile isn't going to do much if you aren't pinning to it consistently.
Take an honest look at your current capacity and schedule, then see where you can fit some Pinterest time into it.
I recommend batching your work weekly or monthly so you can stay on top of it.
One of the greatest things about Pinterest is that you can schedule pins out for weeks and months at a time, without worrying about having to be active or "engage" whenever you pin something new. Just let the platform work its magic!
