Pin Talk - Pinterest Tips and Updates for Creators

Episode: S1E5 "Our Wildly Different Pinterest Board Strategies (And How to Choose Yours)"
Release Date: November 14, 2024
Hosts: Tony Hill and Carly Campbell

1. Introduction to Board Strategies

In this episode, Tony Hill and Carly Campbell delve deep into the intricacies of Pinterest board strategies, highlighting their distinct approaches and offering insights on how creators can tailor their strategies based on their niche and objectives. The conversation kicks off with Tony emphasizing the foundational role boards play in organizing ideas and enhancing Pinterest's recommendation algorithms.

Tony: “When it comes to Pinterest, the way I see boards is a way of organizing ideas. That's probably why Pinterest created it.” (00:16)

2. Saving Pins: Profile vs. Boards

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the importance of saving pins to specific boards rather than the profile. Carly shares her experiences and the pitfalls of pinning to the profile, underscoring how it can dilute the SEO context that boards provide.

Carly: “If you're pinning only to your profile, Pinterest won't have the context around that pin anymore.” (04:10)

Tony adds that while Pinterest's mobile app offers a "Profile" option for quick saves, it's not advantageous for algorithmic relevance.

Tony: “Pinterest is making it great for users because they can just quickly save something... but it's not so great for their algorithm.” (05:38)

3. Board Sections: To Use or Not

The hosts explore the effectiveness of board sections, recounting their personal experiments. Both agree that board sections often fail to provide the necessary SEO benefits, especially when boards become too generic or overcrowded with diverse content.

Tony: “I once tested an account using board sections, and it was a waste of time.” (07:05)
Carly: “Pinterest has effectively ignored board sections for SEO purposes.” (08:24)

4. Group Boards: Are They Worth It?

Group boards, once a staple for launching Pinterest accounts, have seen a decline in effectiveness. Carly outlines the challenges of joining active group boards today and advises creators to evaluate their engagement before committing.

Carly: “Joining group boards is really difficult these days because a lot of creators consider them not important.” (10:26)
Tony: “If a group board owner decides to shut that board down, your pins are gone. So is your traffic.” (14:44)

They discuss alternative strategies, such as using multiple accounts or selective invitations to maintain control and reduce the risk associated with group boards.

5. Tony's Board Strategy: One Board per Blog Post

Tony reveals his unique strategy of creating a separate board for every blog post. This method simplifies the organizational process for his team and enhances Pinterest’s algorithmic understanding of each pin’s context.

Tony: “For every blog post, we create a board. Put all the pins in there. That's just the easiest thing to do.” (17:05)
Tony: “Pinterest has a really good understanding of what these pins are about based upon their relationship with the board.” (19:41)

He acknowledges the potential limitation of hitting Pinterest’s 2,000 board limit but finds it manageable by focusing on specific niches or deleting underperforming boards.

6. Carly's Board Strategy: Fewer, Thematic Boards

Contrasting Tony’s approach, Carly emphasizes the importance of having fewer, broader boards that encapsulate multiple related blog posts. She advocates for maximizing the number of pins per board to enhance SEO context and user engagement.

Carly: “The less boards, the better... I have focused on what is the broadest board that I can make that has a common thread.” (26:47)
Carly: “I'm using boards for every single blog post. And pin I create... I've just moved forward knowing that I'm not afraid of making extra boards.” (35:08)

Carly shares her recent shift towards creating more boards to target a wider range of keywords, demonstrating flexibility and adaptation based on ongoing results.

7. Impact on Pinterest Algorithm and SEO

Both hosts discuss how Pinterest leverages board information to understand and categorize pins. Tony explains the concept of “confidence scores” that Pinterest assigns based on board names, descriptions, and pin consistency, which in turn affects how pins are recommended and ranked.

Tony: “With algorithms, they're making the best guesses on what it is that they're trying to understand... to increase the confidence level of the algorithm.” (21:58)
Carly: “More boards targeting more keywords is working, and that's a good starting point for me.” (50:29)

8. Managing and Cleaning Up Boards

The conversation shifts to the importance of regularly auditing boards to remove unengaged or redundant boards. Tony shares his experience of deleting over 30 old boards, noting an immediate positive impact on his Pinterest traffic.

Tony: “I deleted over 30 boards... some of them were redundant. It feels totally comfortable deleting all those.” (32:22)
Carly: “Deleting your boards can lead to increased engagement because it removes unengaged or dead weight.” (37:17)

They caution creators to proceed carefully when deleting boards, as it can significantly influence traffic and engagement metrics.

9. Handling Glitch Pins

Glitch pins—pins that display inexplicably high outbound clicks and impressions—are another topic of concern. Tony and Carly discuss their strategies for identifying and managing these anomalies to maintain accurate analytics.

Tony: “There was one pin... it shows like 20,000 outbound clicks in the last 30 days for this pin. That has to be a glitch.” (35:08)
Carly: “I've always believed that glitch pin stats are not reflected accurately in your graphs.” (36:03)

They suggest monitoring these pins closely and considering their deletion if they distort performance data.

10. Niche-specific Strategies: Visual, Informational, Hybrid

The hosts categorize niches into three types—purely visual (e.g., home decor), purely informational (e.g., parenting advice), and hybrid (e.g., recipes)—and discuss tailored board strategies for each.

Tony: “If you are in a niche where it's very visual... adopting my strategy of creating a board for every blog post can go really well.” (40:54)
Carly: “If your content is informational, like parenting advice, roundups and listicles work better than individual pins.” (42:02)

They emphasize the necessity of aligning board strategies with the content type to optimize Pinterest performance effectively.

11. Practical Takeaways and Recommendations

To wrap up, Tony and Carly offer actionable advice for creators looking to refine their Pinterest board strategies:

• Understand Your Niche: Tailor your board strategy based on whether your niche is visual, informational, or hybrid.
• Organize Thoughtfully: Use specific, keyword-rich board names to enhance algorithmic understanding and improve pin recommendations.
• Regular Maintenance: Periodically audit and clean up boards to remove unengaged or redundant ones, thereby boosting overall account engagement.
• Experiment and Adapt: Don’t be afraid to try different strategies, such as Tony’s per-blog-post boards or Carly’s broader thematic boards, and adjust based on performance data.
• Monitor Anomalies: Keep an eye out for glitch pins and manage them promptly to maintain accurate analytics.

Carly: “Understand your board strategy and how you'll approach it. If you've been doing it wrong, double-check with someone before making changes.” (54:05)
Tony: “Be careful with your boards. They can really change the context of your pins and affect your traffic.” (54:29)

Notable Quotes:

• Tony at [00:16]: “When it comes to Pinterest, the way I see boards is a way of organizing ideas.”
• Carly at [04:10]: “Pinterest has created these Boards to be collections of same ideas... it's really important that we don't just save our pins.”
• Tony at [17:05]: “For every blog post, we create a board. That's just the easiest thing to do.”
• Carly at [26:47]: “The less boards, the better... I have focused on what is the broadest board that I can make.”
• Tony at [21:58]: “With algorithms, they're making the best guesses on what it is that they're trying to understand.”

Conclusion

This episode of Pin Talk offers a comprehensive exploration of Pinterest board strategies through the lens of two experts with contrasting approaches. By dissecting the nuances of saving pins, utilizing board sections, managing group boards, and aligning strategies with specific niches, Tony and Carly provide invaluable guidance for bloggers and content creators aiming to optimize their Pinterest presence. Whether you resonate more with Tony’s granular board-per-post method or Carly’s streamlined thematic boards, the insights shared pave the way for informed decision-making and enhanced Pinterest performance.