Crafting pin titles on Pinterest will help to power up your Pinterest SEO and get more audience clicking on your content. Whether you knew it or not your pin title is a vital part of your Pinterest SEO strategy.
Learn how to write pin titles people want to click on including a template I have used for years!
What is a pin title, and how do I write one? If this is the question on your mind, you are in luck. This post is about pin titles and how to write them for your own Pinterest Marketing Strategy effectively.
So why don’t we dive right into pin titles and what they are and how to write them and make them strategic.
If you are reading this blog, you are likely aware of Pinterest being a marketing platform to drive traffic to your website, your store, or wherever you want them to go. A pin title is just that.
Think of it like your blog title or the title that you put in the very first line of your Instagram post. Or the things that you name your Clubhouse rooms. A pin is no different. It is descriptive of the image that people are looking at, and it gives them more context of why they need to click on it.
I teach a method of creating one piece of content for Pinterest – a pin leading to the main body of content that may be your blog post or a store item. And that piece of content on Pinterest (that pin) will have a text overlay on it. You will want to use whatever keyword you want to target for that piece of content in a few different places.
So if you are confused about what keyword research is for Pinterest, you can click here and check out my video on that.
For now, let us assume you already know what your keyword is, and you will use it in a few different places for your pin. So you can use that keyword in your text overlay, the pin title (which we are going to get into), and the pin description. You can also utilize that same keyword in the content on your blog or website.
So, if I create a pin about Pinterest Marketing Strategy in 2021, I can use Pinterest marketing strategy in 2021 on the pin text overlay, the title, and the description. I will also utilize that same keyword for the title of my YouTube video and the body of work I am creating on my website, the blog post.
You need to make sure you are strategic with your pin title. That way, you are taking advantage of all that this platform has to offer. After all, it is a search engine, and we want to make sure that we are being search-friendly.
RELATED: 6 Places to Use Keywords to Optimize Your Pinterest Profile
When you are thinking about the keyword you want to use, you want to make sure that you are niche or topic-specific. Be sure you are utilizing a long-tailed keyword instead of a short-tailed keyword. A short-tailed keyword is one to two words, whereas a long-tailed keyword is three or more.
I prefer to start with a short-tailed keyword in the search bar and then basically dive deeper into that topic. So if I start with ‘Pinterest Marketing,’ which is relatively short, I will let the search bar or the related results tell me what other people are looking for to try and figure out what keyword I need to use for that piece of content to get it found in that search.
Choosing the right keyword makes sure you are on-topic for the solution you are offering with your content. You are also using a longer version because when you use the short-tailed keyword, you are competing with a lot more people, and you’re a lot less likely actually to be found on Pinterest.
RELATED: The Complete Pinterest Marketing Strategy I Would Tell My Friends
I found this idea when I first started blogging in 2016. I was trying to grow my ‘Mom blog’ when I came across Jeff Goins. He is pretty well-known in the blogging sphere, and he has an article on his website about how to write catchy headlines. I have been using this method for not only my blog articles and email subject lines, but I also use the same strategy when writing pin titles for myself and my clients.
Often I create one variation of my pin and use the same title as the blog post or the shop item. But when I create fresh pins or new variations of that same content in pin form on Pinterest, I mix it up and use other things as a pin title.
I am trying to give people a reason to click on my image. My image alone may not stand up to actually telling the person why they need to click. They may need something more, and that is where a pin title comes in.
RELATED: Why You Need a Content Strategy Before You Ever Begin Marketing
On his blog, Jeff Goins writes about the formula he uses to create catchy headlines. His formula involves using a number with a power word and an adjective. You then add on a keyword and then some sort of promise in the end.
I have tweaked it over the years to create my own formula. Here are two variations of this:
Number + Adjective + Keyword + Promise (or statement)
So there is the number, the adjective, with the keyword being closer to the beginning and then my promise in the end. This is similar to Jeff’s formula.
Trigger Word or Adjective + Keyword + Promise (or statement)
The second variation is the power word (trigger word) with the adjective and then my keyword and the power statement in the end.
Here are a few adjectives that you can use. Some adjectives that I use pretty often are:
You can use these adjectives to describe your pin image too.
Here are some examples of Pin titles using the above formulas.
My keyword in this phrase is epic hikes in Colorado. Actually, ‘hikes in Colorado’ is my keyword, but epic really gives it some punch.
I’m always looking on the platform for ‘easy weeknight meals’, so I know that is a keyword on the platform. Who doesn’t want to find nine easy meals? That’s a whole week’s worth of dinners, and I get two pre-planned for next week.
This example comes from a Pinterest audit that I have been working on, and it is in the baby niche. The keyword here is ‘essential baby items.’ That is a highly searched term with millions of monthly searches. Who doesn’t need easy baby shower ideas or gift ideas for new moms? Which new mom wouldn’t like a list already put together for super baby items?
This title is for another client of mine in the animal niche. This client sells a specific dog product, and it will help in potty training for puppies.
I’m using power words like best, essential, fun, or epic here. These kinds of words really spice things up and bring more interest to the bland pin titles that I typically see on the platform.
It’s right inside the pin builder, and you need to fill different areas here. The first area is your Pinterest image, the second is the pin title (the box at the very top), the third is your Pinterest description, and the fourth is your URL.
The last thing you need to optimize your pin is adding a board to it and then pin it. This is how to do it in the pin builder on Pinterest.
If you are also using Tailwind, you can use their Pin builder, which is the same thing. Upload your pin image to Tailwind drafts or bring it in with the chrome extension.
As you can see on this screenshot, all of the Pinterest images I have preloaded came across because they came with the URL. I pinned them from my site. It already came with the pin title prewritten, and that is the blog post title. You don’t have to use the blog post title or the shop title. You can customize your own.
The next box below that, which is filled in with a few sentences, is your description. You get up to 500 characters. Your third box, if you need to change it, if your URL came wrong or you put the wrong one in, is the URL.
So you can use both these options with Tailwind and Pinterest to fill in and pre-write your pin title before you actually publish anything on the platform.
No, it does not. I already covered this in the last question. I actually encourage you to write multiple pin titles before you settle on one that you will go with. I typically start with writing two to three pin titles for the Pinterest image before creating the image itself.
I like to think about what that title will be the same way I brainstorm my YouTube titles for the videos and my blog post titles on my website. I am doing that first, and then I am putting in the content.
RELATED: Pinterest 101 – How to Use Pinterest Marketing for Beginners
That is my process for creating my pin titles. As I said, I cannot take full credit for it. It is definitely inspired by Jeff Goins. I have been using his method for years on my blog. There are a few other big names out there that I have read and implemented their strategies. We all find things that work for us in different places, and this one has stuck for me.
So if you like this blog post and find value in it, make sure you leave a comment below. If there is something in particular that you want to learn about, do let me know. I am always looking for new ideas for my blog, and I always like to lean in on my readers.
Heather went to school for accounting and worked for years in banking and finance. After finding all of that entirely too boring she started her first blog in her basement in August of 2016. She has started 3 blogs in the marketing, motherhood and travel niches and used Pinterest to grow them all. She quickly became the go-to Pinterest strategist in her peer circles and has been implementing strategies, driving traffic and sales through organic and paid tactics for her clients. On this blog and her YouTube channel she educates the public about clear and transparent marketing strategies to help them to grow on Pinterest and in other places online.