How to conduct a Pinterest audit for your business

May 28, 2020 / Social Media

As a designer, I live on Pinterest – for color inspiration, typography ideas and the casual afternoon browsing for unique branding. For a social media platform, it is an endless source of creative genius. But, did you know, Pinterest is also a very powerful search engine? In fact, nearly 2 billion Pinterest searches are conducted monthly. 2 billion! That is a lot of potential customers you could be reaching and influencing. That is why each month I conduct a Pinterest audit on my profile.

For many businesses, Pinterest is a crucial tool in boosting organic search traffic and should be considered a staple in any marketing plan. It can help you build your brand, boost your website traffic and generate user-friendly content. Win-win-win, right?! If you feel you are lacking in any of these areas, it might be time to conduct a Pinterest audit. Keep reading for the steps on how to complete a Pinterest audit successfully.

Take an inventory of your profile

The first step to ensuring your Pinterest profile is working for your business, is to review your profile. Because Pinterest is a search engine, it is important to utilize SEO tips when and where you can.

1. You profile images should be your logo (for businesses) or an image of you (your personal brand).
2. Your Pinterest name should match your business name. Your username should match your other social sites.
3. You should utilize the About Us section. Write a description of your business using keywords relevant to your ideal target audience. You can also include a link to your most recent blog post, product or e-newsletter signup.
4. You should link to all of your other social media platforms in your profile.

Take an inventory of your account

There are a couple things you can do within your account that will help improve your overall Pinterest profile. This is the second step of your Pinterest audit.

1. Make sure your Pinterest page is a business page. It is free and allows you to access analytics which is crucial for businesses.
2. Enable rich pins.
3. Verify your website.
4. Add your location if you are a local business.

Take an inventory of your boards

Once your profile is in tip-top shape, it is time to turn your attention to your boards. Your boards are the foundation of your Pinterest profile and should be a reflection of your brand.

1. Review all of your current Pinterest boards. Each board should fit with your brand and appeal to your target audience. With that in mind, determine which boards you need, which ones you could delete and which ones could be combined. Feel free to add additional boards or rename boards to make them fit better with your brand and customer base. Ideally, you should have a minimum of 5 boards.
2. Create a board specifically for your own content. This should be arranged so it is the first board on your profile.

Take an inventory of your pins

While your boards are the foundation of your profile, your pins are the heart. They are the real draw and should be well curated. Your pins should always reflect your brand and be carefully selected.

1. Board by board, review all of your pins and delete the ones that do not fit with your brand or your target audience.
2. Once you have deleted all of your pins that are not on brand, review each remaining pin to ensure that it is linking to the correct place. Delete any pins that do not link to the correct website.
3. After you have completed the deletion process, go through all of your pins one last time to make sure they are pinned to the correct board.
4. Now the biggie: review all of your pins and update the descriptions so that they include keywords. As mentioned previously, Pinterest in a search engine, so you need to pay close attention to the SEO on your profile. This is one of the places that you can utilize SEO to drive traffic.

Now that you have your Pinterest profile in working order via this Pinterest audit, you can create a Pinterest strategy to help you achieve your business goals. Remember to always keep your target audience and brand image in mind while pinning!