How to Post Your Ideas on Pinterest

Posting your ideas on Pinterest is one of the most effective ways to reach an engaged audience actively looking for inspiration, solutions, and products. This guide breaks down exactly how to create and publish pins that not only look great but also drive traffic, build your brand, and connect with the right people. We'll cover every step from choosing a format to optimizing your pin for maximum discovery.

First, Understand the Different Types of Pinterest Pins

Before you upload your first image, it helps to know the different pin formats available. Each serves a slightly different purpose, and using a mix of them is a great way to keep your content fresh and engaging for your audience.

1. Standard Image Pins

This is the most common format on Pinterest. A standard pin consists of a single static image (like a photo or a custom graphic) that links back to an external website, such as a blog post, product page, or landing page. They are the workhorses of Pinterest marketing, perfect for driving traffic and showcasing anything from recipes to interior design mockups.

• Best for: Driving traffic to your website, showcasing products, sharing visual guides, and promoting blog content.
• Tip: Always use high-quality, vertically-oriented images. The ideal aspect ratio is 2:3 (e.g., 1000 x 1500 pixels).

2. Video Pins

Video Pins are exactly what they sound like: short video clips that play directly in the feed. They are fantastic for grabbing attention and telling a more dynamic story than a static image can. A Video Pin can show a DIY project in action, an exercise demonstration, or a quick-cut montage of your latest fashion line.

• Best for: Demonstrations, tutorials, storytelling, behind-the-scenes content, and brand awareness commercials.
• Tip: Keep videos short and engaging, ideally between 15 and 60 seconds. Add text overlays or captions, since many users watch with the sound off.

3. Idea Pins (The evolution of Story Pins)

Idea Pins were a multi-page video and image format that lived on Pinterest permanently. In late 2023, Pinterest started converting existing Idea pins into video pins, simplifying discoverability. While this specific format is no longer available to create under the "Idea Pin" name, its spirit lives on. Creating compelling Video Pins that include multiple clips, text overlays, and a step-by-step narrative is still an incredibly powerful way to engage users directly on the platform without them needing to click away.

• What this means for you: Focus on creating high-value video content. Instead of thinking in terms of "Idea Pins," create rich Video Pins that provide a complete idea or tutorial.

4. Product Pins

Product Pins are a type of Rich Pin that pulls real-time information directly from your website, including pricing, availability, and the product title. When a user sees a white price tag on a pin, they know it's shoppable. This format makes it incredibly easy for users to go from discovery to purchase.

• Best for: E-commerce businesses wanting to directly drive sales from Pinterest.
• Tip: To enable Product Pins, you first need to set up a business account and claim your website. Pinterest can then automatically pull product data from your site.

The Anatomy of a High-Performing Pin

A successful pin is more than just a pretty picture. It's a complete package of visual and text elements working together to stop the scroll and inspire action. Here's what you need to get right.

High-Quality Visuals

Pinterest is a visual platform, so your images and videos have to stand out. Hazy, low-resolution, or poorly composed visuals will get skipped over immediately.

• Orientation: Use vertical images and videos. They take up more screen real estate on mobile devices, which is where most Pinterest users are browsing. A 2:3 aspect ratio is ideal.
• Clarity: Make sure your visuals are crisp, clear, and well-lit.
• Branding: Subtly add your logo or website URL to your visuals. This helps with brand recognition and deters others from stealing your content.

A Strong, Keyword-Optimized Title

Your pin's title is one of the most important factors for search discovery on Pinterest. Think like a user. What terms would they type into the search bar to find your content?

• Be Descriptive: "Healthy Dinner Recipe" is okay, but "Easy One-Pan Lemon Herb Chicken Recipe" is much better. It's specific and includes multiple keywords people might search for.
• Stay Under 100 Characters: Keep it concise and focused. The most important words should come first.

A Compelling and Informative Description

Your pin description is where you can tell a bigger story and cram in more relevant keywords. It's your chance to give users context and convince them to click.

• Write for Humans and Searchbots: Write in natural, complete sentences, but be sure to include your primary and secondary keywords. Don't just stuff a list of keywords at the end.
• Add a Call-to-Action (CTA): What do you want the user to do next? Tell them! Use clear prompts like "Click through for the full recipe," "Shop the look on our site," or "Learn how to do this in our full guide."
• Include Hashtags (Sparingly): You can add a few highly relevant hashtags at the end of your description, but don't overdo it. Pinterest's search algorithm prioritizes keywords in the title and description sentences over hashtags.

A Relevant Destination Link

The whole point of most pins is to drive traffic somewhere else. Make sure your destination link delivers on the promise of your pin. If your pin shows a delicious cake, the link should go directly to the recipe - not your homepage or a generic category page. A broken link or a mismatched URL creates a terrible user experience that can get your account flagged.

Clear Text Overlay

Adding text directly onto your pin image or video thumbnail is a powerful way to provide context at a glance. Someone scrolling through their feed should be able to understand what your pin is about instantly, without having to read the smaller title or a description. Use a bold, easy-to-read font that contrasts well with the background image.

Step-by-Step: How to Post a Pin on Pinterest

Ready to get started? Here's a simple breakdown of the process on a desktop. The mobile app process is very similar and just as intuitive.

1. Log In and Click 'Create'

Once you're logged into your Pinterest account, look for the 'Create' button in the top-left navigation menu. From the dropdown, select 'Create Pin'.

2. Upload Your Visual Content

You'll be taken to the pin builder screen. Here, you can drag and drop your image or video file directly into the uploader, or you can click to browse files on your computer. If you have several similar images for one idea, you can even create a carousel by uploading multiple files.

3. Craft Your Pin's Text

On the right side of the screen, you'll see fields to fill out:

• Title: Add your compelling, keyword-rich title here.
• Description: Write your helpful description, complete with keywords and a CTA.
• Alt text: This is a short description of what's in your image. It's important for accessibility (for screen readers) and SEO. Be descriptive! For a picture of a muffin, instead of "muffin," write "Close-up of a blueberry muffin with a golden brown top on a white plate".
• Destination link: Add the URL where you want to send traffic. Double-check that it's correct.

4. Choose the Right Board

At the top-right of the screen, you'll see a dropdown menu that says "Choose a board." Select the most relevant board from your profile to save the pin to. Your boards are like file folders that help categorize your ideas, and they have their own SEO value. Saving a pin about social media tips to a board titled "Social Media Marketing Strategy" helps Pinterest understand what your pin is about and show it to the right people.

5. Publish or Schedule

You have two choices:

• Publish immediately: If you're ready for your pin to go live now, just hit the red 'Publish' button.
• Publish at a later date: If you want to schedule your pin for the future, toggle this option and select the date and time you want it to post. Scheduling is a fantastic tool for maintaining a consistent presence without having to be online 24/7.

And that's it! You've successfully created and posted a pin.

Best Practices to Maximize Your Reach

Creating one pin is simple. Creating a successful Pinterest strategy is about being consistent and strategic over time. Here are some final tips to take your pinning to the next level.

• Use Pinterest Trends for Keyword Research: Not sure what people are searching for? Use the free Pinterest Trends tool. You can type in a topic and see its search volume over time, as well as discover related keywords to use in your titles and descriptions.
• Create Multiple Pins for the Same Piece of Content: Don't just make one pin per blog post. Create 3-5 different pin designs with different images, titles, and text overlays. This gives you more chances to see what resonates with your audience and extends the life of your content.
• Create Fresh Content Consistently: Pinterest's algorithm favors creators who regularly publish fresh content. It values new pins more than repinning old content (either yours or someone else's). This is why scheduling is so valuable for maintaining momentum. Aim for a consistent schedule, whether that's one new pin a day or five.

Final Thoughts

Pinterest is an exceptional platform for organic growth when approached with a clear strategy. By focusing on creating high-quality visuals, optimizing your text with relevant keywords, and posting consistently to well-organized boards, you can successfully share your ideas with millions of users eager to discover them.

Keeping up with a consistent posting schedule, especially with the extra effort required for on-brand video clips and graphics, can become a big challenge. To make this easier, we built Postbase with a visual content calendar that lets you drag and drop your content and plan your entire Pinterest strategy weeks or months ahead of time. It's designed for modern content, so you can upload your vertical videos once and schedule them without any headaches, letting you focus on creating great ideas instead of getting bogged down in the publishing workflow.