If you have visual content (or even if you just include one image per blog post) then you really need to be looking at Pinterest as one of the social media platforms for your brand.

However, it is a little bit of an intimidating place to start – you can find anything and (nearly) everything on Pinterest. So what do you do? How do you start?

How To Get Started On Pinterest

Firstly, sign up for an account. This consists of the usual type of things such as email addresses, names, usernames, passwords, confirmation links… as with most things on social media, match it to your blog name if possible. It makes it easier for your users to find you across social media. You can then set up your profile and link to your website

Look At Your Blog’s Categories

This is my my number one tip!! To get started on Pinterest, choose your top three blog categories and create a board for each of them.

Bonus: This means you have a relevant place to add your blog posts!

Lets say you write about cats, DIY renovations and gardening. Do a search on Pinterest for boards about cats, DIY renovations and gardening and start pinning things to that board.

Does your Pinterest need some help? I can help you with that help!

If you want to, you can even break this down further. You could have boards for:

DIY Renovations: Kitchen
DIY Renovations: Decorating on a budget
DIY Renovations: Bathroom
DIY Renovations: Bedroom

and on and on. Or you can use Pinterest’s sections tool. The list could become endless. But for now, keep it simple and start with about 3 boards with 3 relevant topics to your blog/business. Then all you have to do is a search on Pinterest for your board topics (eg, DIY kitchen renovations) and start pinning away!

Related: You can also Hire Me to set up your Pinterest Boards for you!

There is some debate on if breaking boards down so specifically has value now like it once did; I have one account with very specific boards and one with big boards – so far I still can’t give you an answer. Go with your gut!

General FYIs

Limits: you can have 500 boards; 200,000 pins and 100,000 likes.
There is nothing wrong with sharing your own blog content on Pinterest! Just like any social media, be sure to make a balance between promoting your own work, promoting others, and interacting with others.
Pinterest recently made some changes to their search engine, by creating guided search. This article is a good run down of the changes.
You can use Rich Pins, which basically means you have a bigger description area when you Pin things.
This article has simple tips for the blog-end of using Pinterest.