How to Convert a Pinterest Account to a Business Account

Thinking about switching your personal Pinterest account to a business account? You're in the right place. This guide walks you through exactly why you should make the switch, how to do it step-by-step, and what your first moves should be once you’ve upgraded. Let’s get your account converted and ready to grow your brand.

Why Bother with a Pinterest Business Account? The Real Benefits

Upgrading from a personal to a business account isn't just about changing your account's label. It’s about unlocking a suite of powerful, free tools designed specifically to help you reach a larger audience, drive traffic, and understand exactly what content is resonating. If you're using Pinterest for anything other than personal hobby browsing, making the switch is a non-negotiable step.

Gain Access to In-Depth Pinterest Analytics

This is arguably the most significant advantage. A personal account tells you nothing about your performance. A business account, on the other hand, gives you access to a rich dashboard of analytics. You can track key metrics like:

• Impressions: How many times your Pins have been seen on screen.
• Engagements: The total number of saves, Pin clicks, and outbound clicks your Pins receive.
• Total Audience: The number of people who have seen or engaged with your Pins.
• Outbound Clicks: How many times someone has clicked through from your Pin to your website. This is a game-changer for measuring direct traffic and ROI.
• Audience Insights: Learn about your followers' demographics, including their age, gender, location, and interests. This information is pure gold for refining your content strategy.

Without this data, you're essentially posting in the dark. With it, you can make informed decisions, double down on what works, and stop wasting time on content that doesn't perform.

Unlock Ad Tools and Rich Pins

A business account is your ticket to Pinterest’s advertising platform. You can create Promoted Pins to get your best content in front of a highly targeted audience, expanding your reach far beyond your current followers. Even if you don't plan on running ads right away, having the option is essential for future growth.

You also gain the ability to use Rich Pins. These are enhanced Pins that automatically sync information from your website directly to the Pin. There are several types, but the most common for businesses are:

• Product Pins: These show real-time pricing and availability from your e-commerce store.
• Article Pins: These include a headline, author, and story description, making your blog content more enticing.
• Recipe Pins: These pull in ingredients, cooking times, and serving sizes.

Rich Pins are more informative, professional, and tend to get higher engagement rates than standard Pins.

Claim Your Website and Other Social Accounts

A business account allows you to "claim" your digital properties, including your website, Instagram, Etsy shop, and YouTube channel. When you claim your website, your profile picture will appear on every Pin that originates from your site - even those saved by other users. This adds a level of credibility and serves as powerful, passive branding. It also unlocks more detailed website-specific analytics, showing you which content on your site is most popular on Pinterest.

A More Professional and Credible Presence

Simply put, a business account looks more professional. It signals to users, brands, and potential collaborators that you are a serious creator or business. You get a customizable profile header and the ability to showcase your business name prominently. This credibility can make a huge difference in how users perceive and interact with your brand on the platform.

Upgrading vs. Starting Fresh: Which Path is Right for You?

You have two options for getting a business account: you can convert your existing personal account, or you can create a brand new business account from scratch. Here’s how to decide.

Option 1: Upgrading Your Existing Personal Account

This is the most common and, for most people, the recommended path. When you convert your personal account, you keep all your existing followers, boards, and Pins. It's a quick and seamless process that preserves the audience and content equity you've already built.

• Pros: Keep your followers and all your content. Seamless transition with zero downtime. Historic data (after conversion) will attach to your current content.
• Cons: You might have some old, off-brand personal boards (like "Dream Wedding" or "Funny Memes") that you'll need to clean up by either deleting them or making them secret.

Option 2: Creating a New Business Account from Scratch

If your personal account is a jumble of unrelated interests or if you want an absolutely pristine, on-brand presence from day one, you might consider starting fresh. However, this means leaving your followers behind.

• Pros: A completely clean slate. Every single board and Pin can be perfectly aligned with your brand from the start.
• Cons: You start with zero followers and have to build your audience entirely from scratch, which can be a slow process.

Our advice? Unless your personal account is wildly off-brand and has very few followers, upgrading is almost always the better choice. It's far easier to make a few personal boards secret than it is to rebuild an entire audience from nothing.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Convert Your Account in Under 5 Minutes

Ready to make the switch? Pinterest makes the process incredibly simple. Here’s how to do it from your desktop, which is the most straightforward method.

1. Log In and Navigate to Settings: Log in to your personal Pinterest account. In the top-right corner of your screen, click the downward-facing arrow to open the menu, then select "Settings."
2. Go to Account Management: On the left-hand navigation bar, click on "Account Management."
3. Find the Conversion Option: Scroll down the page until you see the section titled "Account changes." You'll find an option that says "Convert to a business account." Click it.
4. Describe Your Business: Pinterest will now walk you through a setup process. You’ll be asked to provide your business profile name and add a link to your website. You’ll also need to select your country and language.
5. Define Your Brand Focus: You'll then be asked to describe your business by choosing categories that best fit what you do (e.g., "Blogger," "Online Retailer," "Designer"). You'll also be prompted to define up to three goals for your business on Pinterest, such as "Drive traffic to your site" or "Grow brand awareness." This helps Pinterest tailor its advice and tools for you.
6. Complete Your Profile: After answering a few more simple questions about your business type, you're all set! Pinterest will officially convert your account, and you'll be redirected to your new business profile.

That’s it! Your account is now a business account, ready for you to take advantage of all the extra features.

Your Post-Conversion Checklist: 5 Things to Do Immediately

Converting your account is just the starting line. To truly leverage the power of your new business profile, you need to complete a few basic setup steps. Here’s your immediate to-do list.

1. Claim Your Website

This is the most important first step. Claiming your website links your Pinterest account directly with your site, giving you attribution on all Pins created from your content and unlocking another layer of analytics. To do this, go to your Settings >, Claimed Accounts. Pinterest gives you three ways to do it, but the most common is adding an HTML tag to the header of your website. If you use a platform like WordPress, you can easily do this with a plugin like "Insert Headers and Footers."

2. Optimize Your Profile for Search

Now that you have a business profile, polish it up. Make your brand instantly recognizable and discoverable.

• Profile Pic: Upload a high-quality logo or a professional headshot.
• Display Name: Your business name.
• About Profile: You have 500 characters here. Don't just use an "About Us" section, treat it like an SEO description. Use keywords that your target audience would search for to describe your business, what you do, and who you help.

3. Clean Up or Hide Personal Boards

Take a few minutes to review your existing boards. Any that don't align with your brand's image or niche should be set to "secret." To do this, click on a board, select the three dots (...), and choose "Make board secret." This keeps the board for your personal use but makes it invisible to everyone else, maintaining a cohesive and professional public profile.

4. Set Up a Few On-Brand Boards

Start thinking like a business from day one. Create 5-10 public boards that directly relate to your business's core content pillars. Give them clear, keyword-optimized titles (e.g., instead of "Yummy Stuff," use "Healthy Gluten-Free Dinner Recipes"). Add clear, keyword-rich descriptions to each board as well. This helps both users and the Pinterest algorithm understand what your content is about.

5. Get Familiar with Your Analytics

You won't have much data right away, but it's a good idea to know where to find your analytics and what to look for. Click on the "Analytics" tab at the top of your profile and get acquainted with the dashboard. In a week or two, this will become your primary tool for understanding what content connects with your audience so you can create more of it.

Final Thoughts

Converting your personal Pinterest profile into a business account is a fast, easy, and completely free process that unlocks the tools you need to grow your brand. By gaining access to analytics, ads, and professional features, you transform Pinterest from a simple hobby platform into a powerful traffic driver for your business.

Once your business profile is up and running, the next step is building a consistent content rhythm. This is where planning and scheduling become so important. To make this part easier, we built Postbase to streamline social media management. Our visual calendar lets you plan all your Pinterest content alongside updates for Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, giving you a clear, comprehensive view of your entire strategy without having to jump between a dozen different apps.